Have you always wanted to use Google Assistant on your computer? Unless it’s a Chrome OS machine, you’re probably out of luck. Now, however, a smart developer has managed to assemble an unofficial Google Assistant client for Windows, macOS and Linux, but it is a little complex.
Let’s start with the good. This unofficial Google Assistant client from Melvin L. Abraham (available for download on GitHub) visual Very well. It has a simple design that fits well with Assistant on other platforms. It’s a kind of mix between a smart display and the interface you see for Assistant on Chrome OS. It even has a dark theme and a light theme to suit your preferences. There is also a robust settings menu with automatic startup options and more granular controls. Notably, there is also a shortcut key to start the application and the microphone. On Windows, it is Win + Shift + A. It is also good that the application remains at the top of the UI.
Functionally, this app seems to work relatively well, but not perfectly. Basic commands work well, like asking for details about the weather or general questions. Some more advanced functions also work, such as smart home controls and broadcast messages, but you may notice that some of these commands do not have a suitable UI. Some may take too long to load.
Many other commands also don’t work, such as trying to trigger music playback or Assistant routines. Notably, however, another customer claims to support Spotify and other music players.
What’s the catch? As this is an unofficial customer, there are much to configure everything. If you saw the unofficial version of Assistant on Samsung’s Galaxy Watch models in 2019, the process may seem relatively familiar. The project creators have an excellent detailed tutorial on Github. Essentially, the process comes down to using Google Cloud to use the Assistant API.
As it is unofficial, it can technically stop working whenever Google decides to eliminate it. If you are concerned about the security of your account, using a spare or burner account that has shared smart home controls from your primary account can be a good measure, but the app is only using official Google APIs to make it all work , it’s just using them in a Google way technically does not support.
If all goes well, you will probably be able to make things work in about 10 to 20 minutes. In my case, I encountered an “unexpected exception” error that I was unable to resolve without clearing the application data on Windows.
Personally, I am very happy that it exists. I’ve been wanting a Windows-friendly desktop client for years, as I love running smart home commands quickly on my Chromebook when I work from it. Whatever interest this app arouses in the community, I hope it will be enough to get Google’s attention so that the company finally gives us something official, even if it’s just a web app!
H / T: Android Police
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