Are you curious to know if you can use Google assistant on your Macbook just like you can do it on an Android smartphone?
You Are Not Alone. I was also looking for similar functionality since I use Macbook for my laptop and my smartphone is Android.
Although Macbook does have Siri it does not work well with all the smart devices. I have configured all my smart devices you with Google assistant so that they can be controlled using voice commands.
I was curious if there is a possibility of using Google assistant on MacBook as well so that it makes it easy for me to control my devices when I am using a laptop.
Can you use Google Assistant on your MacBook?
With this question in mind, I started looking up on the internet. Came across several articles claiming you can use Google Assistant on your Mac.
Some even pointed out software that you can install on your computer. In mostly all the cases the software came from independent developers who are passionate about are simplifying things.
Eppendorf articles pointed me to open source projects on GitHub, some of which I even tried installing on my computer.
To my disappointment, none of them work now, in 2020, as of writing this article.
What’s the workaround?
Unfortunately, since you cannot use Google Assistant on your MacBook natively, there is still work around getting things done.
Use Siri
For example, if you want answers to questions you can use Siri. It has improved a lot over the years, and it is now able to understand even my thick Indian accent.
Siri works pretty well for simple questions like weather reports, mathematical calculations, or simple general knowledge questions.
Use Voice Search Google.com
If that does not I give you optimal results you can turn to google.com and use the voice feature to make a search.
Do it will not be as intuitive as getting a query answered we are Google Assistant but you will still be able to get the answers you are looking for.
For Controlling Smart Devices from MacBook?
My main purpose for trying to use Google assistant on MacBook was to control the smart devices I configured with Google Assistant.
Although Mac does offer a Home app which can be used for configuring smart devices so that you can control them from any Apple device, sadly, you would need an iPad or iPhone or iPod Touch to add smart devices to 8 so that you can use your Macbook to control your smart devices, Plus, it is a completely different ecosystem.
The majority of the smart devices available in the market, at least in the Indian subcontinent, support Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. And if you are looking to control those devices using MacBook, tough luck for you, as well as for me.
