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Google Privately Tests Native Gemini App for macOS With 'Desktop Intelligence'

The invite-only beta previews a screen-aware capability designed to pull context from Mac apps only when Gemini is active.

Overview

  • Google has begun invite-only external testing of a native Gemini client for macOS, internally codenamed Janus, according to Bloomberg reporting and test materials.
  • Testers were told the build is an early version with only critical features and not full parity with other Gemini clients.
  • Current capabilities include web search, analysis of uploaded documents, persistent conversation history, and content generation for images, video, music, tables, and charts.
  • In-app wording describes a Desktop Intelligence feature that can view on-screen content and draw from other Mac apps only while Gemini is in use.
  • No public release timeline has been announced as Google works to reach desktop parity with rivals that already offer macOS apps such as ChatGPT and Claude.