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Back in April, Google joined OpenAI and Anthropic in offering a dedicated Mac app<\/a> for its AI chatbot software. Two months later, it\u2019s clear that Gemini for Mac isn\u2019t as good as it could be. <\/p>\n Gemini for Mac isn\u2019t a very good macOS app<\/p>\n Because I\u2019m interested in AI technology and its progression over time, I\u2019ve used Gemini on my Mac regularly since before the Mac app was rumored. <\/p>\n I\u2019m also a Safari user. For that reason, my solution to using Gemini on the Mac has been Safari\u2019s \u201cAdd to Dock\u201d feature<\/a>. <\/p>\n When Gemini first arrived on the Mac as a dedicated app, I still preferred my Safari \u201cAdd to Dock\u201d instance. I just like that Command + N opens a new chat window, and I can have many open chat windows.<\/p>\n This way of multitasking is better for me than switching between conversation threads. I\u2019m more likely to forget about a task in a chat thread if it\u2019s not an open window on my Mac.<\/p>\n Missing features and app icon jail<\/p>\n I also have at least one chat thread that doesn\u2019t actually work on Gemini\u2019s Mac app. It works fine in the Safari \u201cAdd to Dock\u201d version, though, since that\u2019s just the website presented as an app. <\/p>\n Instead of letting me continue the chat, Gemini\u2019s Mac app replaces the text entry box with a button to open the website. I\u2019d rather just use my Safari web app version where it works fine. <\/p>\n The use of the word \u201cyet\u201d in the message is doing a lot of work at this point. <\/p>\n Another complaint is the icon. Gemini\u2019s Mac app is in icon jail.<\/p>\n Icon jail is a dumb Apple behavior<\/a> for app icons on macOS Tahoe that aren\u2019t drawn in the exact shape and size that Apple forces.<\/p>\n While that\u2019s an Apple-forced problem for Mac apps that predate Apple\u2019s dumb rule, the Gemini Mac app arrived months after macOS Tahoe was released.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the thing that prompted me to mention how I\u2019m using Gemini on my Mac in the first place.<\/p>\n This week on Daring Fireball<\/a>, John Gruber wrote about why he uninstalled the Gemini Mac app:<\/p>\n The thing that really turns me off about the Gemini Mac app is Google\u2019s gall. The Gemini app installs a background helper named \u201cGeminiAppLauncher\u201d in your login items. It also installs \u201cGoogleUpdater\u201d as a process with the privilege to launch in the background whenever it wants. Gemini never asks for permission to install either of these, and, most arrogantly, if you, as an informed user, remove either of them, the Gemini app silently adds them back. There is no setting in Gemini to disable this.\u00a0<\/p>\n This made me realize that I\u2019ve literally kept the Gemini Mac app around just to check for app updates. While there are occasional updates, they haven\u2019t fixed my two issues with the software yet. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-05-at-3.57.37-PM.png\")
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