Ever wanted to use Google Assistant on your computer? Unless it’s a Chrome OS machine, you’ve probably not had any luck. But a smart developer has managed to put together an unofficial Google Assistant client for Windows, macOS and Linux, but it’s a bit complex.
Let’s start with the good. This unofficial Google Assistant client by Melvin L. Abraham (available for download on GitHub) corpse pretty amazing. It has a clean design that fits well with Assistant on other platforms. This is a bit of a mix between a smart screen and the interface you see for Assistant on Chrome OS. It even has a dark theme and a light theme that suits your preference. There is also a solid settings menu with automatic start options and more detailed controls. In particular, there is also a keyboard shortcut to launch the app and the microphone. On Windows, it’s Win + Shift + A. It’s nice that the app stays on top of the UI.
Functionally, this app seems to work relatively well, but not perfectly. Basic assignments work just fine, such as asking for weather information or general questions. Some more advanced features also work, such as serving smart home and broadcast messages, but you may notice that some of the commands do not have a proper user interface. Some may also be slow to charge.
Many other tasks also do not work, such as activating music playback or assistant routines. However, it is noteworthy that another client supports Spotify and other music players.
What is the catch? Since it is an unofficial client, there are very work to set it all up. If you saw the unofficial port of Assistant on Samsung’s Galaxy Watch models in 2019, the process seems relatively familiar. The designers of the project have an excellent detailed manual on Github. In essence, the process involves using Google Cloud to use the Assistant API.
Because it’s unofficial, it can technically stop working when Google decides to kill it. If you’re worried about your account security, it might be a good idea to have an extra or a smart home management surfing account shared from your master account, but the app only uses Google’s official APIs to make all of this work. use it in a way Google technical does not support.
If everything works out right, you’ll probably be able to get things done in ten to 20 minutes. In my case, I got an “unexpected exception” error that I could not fix without deleting the app information in Windows.
Personally, I am so glad it exists. I’ve wanted a proper desktop for Windows for years, because I quickly enjoy using smart homework on my Chromebook when I work from it. Whatever the interest of this app in the community, I hope it is enough to grab the attention of Google so that the company finally gives us something official, even if it is just a web app!
H / T: Android Police
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