Google Launches Native Gemini AI App for Mac

[MacRumors]

Google is bringing Gemini to the Mac with a new native macOS app that's available starting today. Gemini for Mac can be activated with a keyboard shortcut, and it has built-in tools for generating images, analyzing what's on your screen, reviewing files, and more.

Gemini is the last of the three major AI services to have a dedicated Mac app, because OpenAI and Anthropic have had Mac apps for quite some time.

Gemini can be brought up anywhere on the Mac with an Option + Space keyboard command, so there's no need to swap over to a dedicated window. Option + Shift + Space is available for opening the full Gemini chat window. Gemini can also be accessed from the Dock or through the Menu Bar.

Any window on the Mac can be shared with Gemini, allowing Gemini to provide contextual assistance on anything that you're looking at. After activating Gemini, selecting the Share Window option will let Gemini see what it is you want to ask questions about. Gemini will need Accessibility access to read full pages in a browser window.

Nano Banana is available for creating images, and Veo can be used for generating videos.

Gemini for Mac is available for Macs running macOS 15 and later, and it is free to download and use. Free access to Gemini is limited, and Google has subscription plans with increased usage limits. Google AI Plus is $7.99 per month, Google AI Pro is $19.99 per month, and Google AI Ultra is $249.99 per month.

Google says that the Mac app is the first step toward a personal, proactive, and powerful desktop assistant, with more news to follow in the coming months.

Article Link: Google Launches Native Gemini AI App for Mac

 

[DocMultimedia]

Bring on the "I'll never let Google near my computer" posts. 🤣

I'll download and give it a try.

 

[gleepskip]

I'm going to go ahead and say nope.

 

[Eminemdrdre00]

It's a real native Mac app too, built with Swift:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2044452464724967550

 

[StoneJack]

I have Claude app and will like to have Gemini too

 

[BabyBoii]

claude, download gemini app for me, make no mistakes

 

[ryanmp]

Bring on the "I'll never let Google near my computer" posts. 🤣

I'll download and give it a try.

Funny, it was literally the next post after yours. LOL

 

[jarman92]

I have Claude app and will like to have Gemini too

It’s unfortunate that the Claude app is such utter garbage…I switched to Anthropic after the Pentagon fiasco but the app is so bad that I’m seriously considering going back to ChatGPT just for its excellent Mac app.

 

[zachz]

If it’s better than the unusable Claude app, I’ll take Google over Claude

 

[zachz]

It’s unfortunate that the Claude app is such utter garbage…I switched to Anthropic after the Pentagon fiasco but the app is so bad that I’m seriously considering going back to ChatGPT just for its excellent Mac app.

Same here, I pay for Pro yet I feel like half my usage every day goes toward “sorry try again” or “oops no connection!” and then when it finally seems to be working and 90% done it tells me I’ve used my usage up… like c’mon I’m barely asking it to do anything intense

Oh and every 5 minutes it seems to want to update, older chats load very slowly if at all, and it’ll randomly delete new chats I’ve started and then show me my prompt in the textbook as if I never pressed send (but of course it eats up my usage)

 

[Schtibbie]

I'm going to go ahead and say nope.

Bold. Assertive. Edgy.

 

[TheBeverage]

LLMs are nauseating

 

[dominiongamma]

Bold. Assertive. Edgy.

Exactly people think they are being cool or edgey but in reality people living in the Apple bubble pretending it’s the only thing that should exist.

 

[Eureka20]

ah yes, slop I don't need on my devices.

 

[TwoBytes]

Claude hits the free limits too early and unusable. Gemini works, but the answers are so ‘different’ to gpt and Claude. It’s not a good different, just inconsistent

 

[Rychiar]

I use chat gpt for images and grok for talk. not sure why I'd need more at this point.

 

[contacos]

Native Google Photo Mac app next please

 

[CalMin]

I switch between ChatGPT and Gemini. I've been using a web app for Gemini. So getting something native is finally awesome.

I'm actually looking forward to WWDC this year because I think that finally we'll be getting some of the Apple intelligence features we were promised a couple of years ago. At this point in time I can't imagine using a computer without one of these AI apps. They save me a ton of time each day.

 

[madmin]

everyone's entitled to their slopinion

 

[WilliApple]

This is the only thing that made ChatGPT feel better to me lol, this is a great day!

 

[macbookj0e]

I’ll stick with GPT, google ai has been poor in my experience so far.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

I'm hesitant to load this up locally until I hear whether it's slurping up local data for training. Like if you inadvertently give it access to Documents, can it pull in other files and train on them.

 

[Chazak]

Downloaded it and deleted it 30 minutes later when I found it automatically installs a setting to open automatically as a log in item. Deleting it in system settings does not solve the issue. It automatically returns it to the auto login setting. It takes control of the setting. Invasion of my privacy and control over my own machine. I've returned to the web app version. Plus, it makes my focus return to ChatGPT as the preferable AI service.

 

[Populus]

Bring on the "I'll never let Google near my computer" posts. 🤣

With all this AI apps being installed on our Macs, I am worried about the access this apps could gain to our personal folders or notes… as far as I know Mac uses containers managed by TCC, but it’s not as secure as iOS/iPadOS samdboxing…

 

[tkermit]

I'm hesitant to load this up locally until I hear whether it's slurping up local data for training

I'll give you three guesses…