Google is reportedly testing a Gemini app for Mac
Google is testing a version of its Gemini application for macOS, Bloomberg reports. The app would take the AI assistant into uncharted territory, and compete more directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, both of which offer standalone Mac apps.
Gemini remains accessible via the web, and it appears the macOS app offers the same feature set, with the ability to respond to prompts, search the web, and generate text, images, and code. The Mac app’s major differentiator could be a feature called “Desktop Intelligence,” which gives Gemini a new source of information and context for its responses. According to a message in the application code viewed by Bloomberg“When you enable apps for Desktop Intelligence, you enable Gemini to see what you see (like screen context) and extract content directly from those apps to enhance and personalize your experience only when Gemini is used.”
The ability to reference information in apps and what’s currently on your screen is offered by the macOS apps Claude and ChatGPT, and Gemini is able to do this on mobile devices. It’s unclear whether Gemini for macOS will actually be able to take action in the apps it can view – like, for example, Anthropic’s popular Claude Cowork feature – but Google has already started offering this experience in a limited form on smartphones, so who’s to say it couldn’t also come to desktop operating systems.
Bloomberg reports that the Gemini app is being tested with non-Google employees, which could be a sign that it’s on its way to release. Thanks to Apple and Google’s AI partnership, whether the app sees the light of day or not, some of the technologies that make Gemini possible will work on macOS in the future. Google and Apple announced in January that Google’s Gemini models would power future versions of Apple Intelligence. Apple is also reportedly turning Siri into a chatbot, an experience likely made possible by Gemini.
