LinkedIn will now show recruiters which apps you actually use, not just which skills you claim

LinkedIn launched Connected Apps, a feature that links the software you use to your profile and auto-generates descriptions of how you use it. The descriptions are based on real activity data from the connected app. Users cannot manually edit them.

“Once connected, each app generates a simple statement based on your real activity,” the Microsoft-owned platform said. LinkedIn calls each summary “a structured, data-backed description of what you actually do with the tool.” The goal is to replace self-declared skills with verifiable evidence of product usage.

Descript, Duolingo, Lovable, Relay.app, and Replit are among the first supported apps. Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly, GitHub, and others are on the way. Users can add Connected Apps via their profile’s “Add section” menu.

The feature matters because LinkedIn profiles are full of claimed skills that nobody verifies. A recruiter scanning a profile has no way to confirm whether someone actually uses the tools they list. Connected Apps changes that by making usage provable. If you connect GitHub, your profile reflects what you actually do on GitHub, not what you say you do.

Importantly, users get notified when a summary is added or updated. The platform controls the description language, not the user, which prevents inflation. CEO Dan Shapero said: “We’re building new ways for members to show real, credible proof of what they’re capable of.”

LinkedIn already collects detailed data about what software its users run, as TNW reported in April when the platform was found silently scanning 6,000+ browser extensions. Connected Apps takes a different approach: opt-in, transparent, and designed to benefit the user rather than the platform’s ad targeting.

LinkedIn now has 1.3 billion members and grew revenue 12% year-over-year last quarter, even as it cut roughly 5% of staff in May. Connected Apps is the kind of product feature that strengthens the platform’s position as the default hiring infrastructure. If recruiters start filtering by verified tool usage rather than self-reported skills, every professional who does not connect their apps is at a disadvantage. That is how a feature becomes a requirement.