Key Highlights –
- Gemini for Mac is live today for free, available for macOS 15 and above.
- Window sharing now works and users can share any screen with Gemini mid-conversation for context.
- Another hidden feature in the app settings
Google released a native Gemini app for Mac today. It free to download, requires macOS 15 or later and is available at gemini.google/mac.
The app was built in native Swift by a small team. According to Google, over 100 features were shipped in under 100 days. Sundar Pichai announced it on X this morning.
What It Does
Pressing Option + Space from anywhere on the Mac opens a floating chat overlay. If required, users can open the full interface by using Option + Shift + Space. Both shortcuts are customisable in settings.
Window sharing is included at launch. Users can share any open window or local file with Gemini and ask questions about what is on screen. Say for example, if upon sharing a spreadsheet, one can ask for the three biggest takeaways from a chart.
Introducing Gemini on Mac.
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) April 15, 2026
It’s the first time we’re bringing the @Geminiapp to desktop. The team built this initial release with @Antigravity, and it went from an idea to a native Swift app prototype in a few days.
More features on the way! pic.twitter.com/YRy0Pqq6zo
The tools available at launch are image generation, video generation via Veo, Canvas, Deep Research, Guided Learning, and NotebookLM integration. Users can also access Personal Intelligence through a submenu.
Gemini is free with usage limits. Paid tiers are AI Plus at $7.99 per month, AI Pro at $19.99 per month, and AI Ultra at $249.99 per month.
Gemini is the last of the three major AI assistants to have a dedicated Mac app, since both ChatGPT and Claude had been on Mac for sometime. Interested users can download the app here.
The Hidden Feature Revealed
TestingCatalog examined the app’s code and found settings for a Live Mode voice feature that is yet to be functional.
The hidden configuration includes voice selection options that mirror Gemini Live on mobile, a sphere overlay UI intended to appear during active voice sessions, and references to screen sharing specifically during Live Mode. This also means that speaking to Gemini while it sees your screen in real-time is already available in the chat interface.
Currently, real-time voice with screen awareneess is only avialble trhough AI Studio;s Gemini Live models, not in any consumer Gemini product.
Anthropic’s Claude for Mac has no voice mode. OpenAI’s ChatGPT for Mac has Advanced Voice Mode but screen sharing during voice is not standard.
Google describes the current release as “just the beginning” and says it is “building the foundation for a truly personal. proactive and powerful desktop assistant, with more news to share in the coming months.” To be fair, Google I/O is scheduled for May 19 to 20.
You may also be interested to read – Google Introduces “Skills” in Chrome for Saving and Reusing AI Prompts through Gemini
If You Didn’t Know
Apple announced a collaboration with Google in January 2026 to bring Gemini capabilities to Siri and Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 and macOS 27. The native Mac app arrives approximately six weeks before WWDC 2026, where Apple is expected to detail that integration further. Whether or not Apple users appreciate this move, is to be seen in due time.
