I tried out Gemini on Mac — the native app is more useful than I expected

The MacBook Pro I picked up in 2018 still works like a charm.

In its current state, it still handles all of my web browsing, music streaming and writing duties without any issues whatsoever. Getting my enjoyment out of my old reliable Mac machine also results in me playing around with ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity through a web browser.

Google just went ahead and gave me easier access to its central AI tool by having me skip that whole “open up Google Chrome first to access your chatbot” step and pulling up Gemini as a native app on Mac devices. I figured I’d give it a try and see if it’s worth keeping in my laptop’s app rotation—after putting it through its paces, I came away a bit more impressed than I thought.

It turns out that having quick and easy access to Gemini with the press of two buttons while you’re working on a MacBook is more beneficial than you might expect.

Summarizing articles with Gemini’s instant assistance

Launching the Gemini app opens an interface similar to the web version, which feels instantly familiar. But I wanted to know whether Gemini’s window-sharing feature lived up to Google’s claims, so I tested it on two pieces of content: a preview of an upcoming video game and a YouTube news report about ticket sales for a major wrestling event.

For the first test, I visited one of my favorite gaming outlets, Game Informer, to read its impressions of the upcoming post-apocalyptic shooter Metro 2039. Instead of reading the article myself, I asked Gemini to summarize it and checked how accurate the results were.

Using the feature was simple. Pressing Option + Space opened the Gemini prompt bar in the center of the screen. From there, I clicked the + button, selected Share window, and asked Gemini to summarize the active tab.

Within seconds, Gemini delivered a quick primer on the article without me needing to copy and paste the link into another tab:

• Title: "Metro 2039: Grim Fiction Inspired by Darker Realities"
• Author: Marcus Stewart
• Published: April 16, 2026
• Premise: Developed by 4A Games, the sequel continues the story of "Metro Exodus" and draws inspiration from recent global crises and war.
• Background: Based on the novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky
• Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
• Publisher: Deep Silver
• Release window: 2026
• Rating: Mature

Explaining videos with Gemini at the ready

Once I saw how easy it was to use Gemini as a native explainer on my MacBook, I gave it another test to see how well it could interpret video and turn it into a clear summary. This time, I used it on a news segment explaining why ticket sales for this year’s WWE WrestleMania are lower than last year’s event.

Thankfully, Gemini handled the task with ease and delivered everything I needed to know from the shared footage in just a few seconds.

The video from News 3 Las Vegas focused on high ticket prices for WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium and how they may be affecting attendance.

Key highlights:

• Sky-high prices: Fans and experts said ticket costs have surged. Average WrestleMania ticket prices have risen from under $200 a few years ago to more than $600 last year. Ringside seats are reportedly listed as high as $16,000, while upper-level seats start around $200.
• Impact on attendance: Ticket sales are said to be down by roughly 9,000 compared to the same point last year. Reasons mentioned included price fatigue, no major headline attraction like a John Cena retirement run, and Las Vegas hosting the event for the second straight year.
• WWE’s response: To help boost demand, WWE reportedly offered a last-minute 25% discount aimed at making tickets more appealing for families.
• Economic impact: Despite slower sales, WrestleMania remains a major economic driver. Last year’s Las Vegas event reportedly generated more than $322 million in economic output and supported over 2,600 local jobs.
• Fan perspective: Even CM Punk weighed in, saying prices should be lower so families can afford to attend. Longtime fans described the trip as a “big sacrifice” that requires saving money all year.
• Title: "WrestleMania attendance body slammed"
• Channel: News 3 Las Vegas

Final thoughts

After seeing how easy it is to pull up Gemini on my MacBook and how useful it can be for summarizing articles and videos already open in my browser; I came away impressed by the possibilities.

It could be especially handy for quick bullet-point breakdowns of lengthy documents, complex code or large amounts of data. Plus, being able to generate an image or video instantly without opening a browser is a nice bonus.

For now, I’ve decided to keep Gemini on my MacBook. The next time I need quick edits on a Google Doc or want to improve one of my headshots, I know I can summon it with a simple two-button shortcut and get straight to work.

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