Outside of Chrome, Drive, and Quick Share, Google rarely makes native desktop apps with everything usually being based in the browser. That’s changing today with a new experimental “Google app for Windows.”
The goal of this app is to “help you find what you need, faster.” Hitting Alt + Space brings up a familiar pill-shaped field to search your local files, Google Drive, installed apps, and the web. Results appear below the field and are grouped accordingly.
You might get Knowledge Panel-esque results (just like in Search) for immediate answers, while “Apps and website” lets you launch or open. Then there’s Google Drive, Files, and web (to get search results). You can also quickly get to AI Overviews or AI Mode.
Meanwhile, next to the “Search your files, web, and screen” bar is Google Lens for Circle to Search-like functionality on Windows. It lets you highlight text and images to translate, while you can also just copy text.
This is launching in Google Labs (with “limited” space), and it’s “currently only available in English to users in the US.” The company is emphasizing today how “this app is still experimental and has some known limitations.” This requires a personal Google Account with Workspace not supported.
The Google app on Windows is available on Windows 10 and newer. You can download it from Google Labs.
This new application is clearly coming from the Google Search division, and basically equivalent to the Android app mobile users are familiar with. It’s interesting in the context of how Google is delivering Gemini to Windows and Mac via Chrome.
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