Google gives developers Apps integration tools

Google has launched tools that allow in-house IT departments to build Google Apps and integrate these with its cloud-based services in the same way that commercial developers can.

The new service — the Google Apps extension console — means that IT departments and in-house developers can access the same extension points as the Google Apps Marketplace, Andrew Wansley, a Google developer, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.

"The extensions console helps in-house developers create new projects, manage team permissions, retrieve OAuth credentials, and upload their application manifest. Once the app is ready to deploy, administrators can install the app to their domain control panel for wider release," Wansley wrote.

Developers can now do things like create links in the navigation bar alongside the Calendar and Documents links, share a single sign-on with Google accounts and run inside Gmail using contextual gadgets.

On Wednesday, the company announced that Google Apps would stop supporting all but the two most recent major releases of the Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari browsers from 1 August.