One day, every digital assistant will be at our fingertips no matter what platform we prefer—so yelling at Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, or whoever else comes along will be as easy as clicking an icon and fumbling through verbal commands. Until then, however, there’s clever workarounds to get things like Google Assistant on our Windows or Mac desktops.
If you want to try out this sorcery, know that the implementation—courtesy of the “Google Assistant Unofficial Desktop Client”—isn’t perfect. You won’t be able to access Google Routines from your desktop, nor your favorite streaming services. It’s unclear whether that’s simply because this utility is so new or whether it’s a technological challenge that’s difficult to overcome. Stay tuned on that front.
Also, you’ll have to go through the semi-laborious process of setting up the Google Assistant API in Google Cloud. There’s a great guide for this that walks you through the entire process, so you’ll have a helping hand the entire way. Still, this isn’t a simple “install an app and poof!” kind of a solution. You’ll have to work for it a little to get Google Assistant on your desktop.
