Google releases a Gemini app for Mac

In short: Google has launched a Gemini app for Mac that lets you chat with its AI assistant from anywhere on your desktop.

What happened

Google released a new Gemini app for macOS, Apple’s operating system for Mac computers. The app is free to download in countries and languages where Gemini is available.

With the app installed, you can press Option and Space to open a small, floating chat window. It works like a quick pop-up, so you do not have to switch to a browser tab or another app just to ask a question.

The Mac app also includes an option to share a window with Gemini. That means Gemini can look at what is on your screen in that window and use it to answer your question, like asking a helper to read the page you are looking at. Before you do this, the app asks for permission to access system information.

Google says the app can also do the same things Gemini can do on the web and on phones. For example, you can upload files, photos, or documents from Google Drive, and you can revisit past chats tied to your Google account. The app can also generate images, videos, and music.

The release comes one day after Google made its similar desktop app available more widely on Windows.

Why it matters

More people are using AI chat tools while they work, study, or create content. By putting Gemini directly on the Mac desktop, Google is trying to make it as easy to reach as a built-in search box, and to encourage people to use Gemini instead of other AI apps.

Source: The Verge AI