Google is Reportedly Testing New Gemini App for Mac

Google has reportedly started testing a new Gemini app for Mac to compete with other AI chatbots that are natively available on desktop platforms. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Google made an early version of the app with a limited set of features available for external testers. However, Gemini on macOS should eventually become more capable than the web version and gain the ability to pull data from other Mac apps.

The report says that the current version of Gemini for Mac looks similar to the iPhone and iPad apps, and it offers generative AI features and analysis capabilities, including for uploaded documents. However, to provide a better experience than the Gemini web app, the upcoming Mac app will offer a ‘Desktop Intelligence’ feature that will let the chatbot improve its responses by analyzing what’s on the screen.

“When you enable apps for Desktop Intelligence you are enabling Gemini to see what you see (such as screen context) and pull content directly from these apps to improve and personalize your experience only when Gemini is in use,” says a message in the app’s code seen by Bloomberg. Overall, this sounds similar to how Microsoft’s Copilot on Windows app can analyze what’s on the screen with the new Copilot Vision feature.

On macOS, apps like ChatGPT and Perplexity can already pull data from other Mac apps, even when they’re not on the screen. The ChatGPT Mac app has a “work with apps” option that integrates with Apple Notes, Notion, VS Code, JetBrains, and a couple of other apps. The Perplexity app, however, lets Mac users interact with files, databases, and applications by leveraging Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP).