Google keeps upgrading its Gemini desktop app toward a proper super app intended to compete with Codex and Claude Desktop. The latest update adds a new toggle that lets users switch between Ask and Assign modes, analogous to Chat and Work in Codex. Ask presents the standard Gemini interface, while Assign works like Gemini Spark, the AI agent Google introduced recently, but with expanded capabilities.
Assign will let users choose the folder in which Gemini operates. They can set a default folder, return to one used in a previous session, or select a new folder for a task, keeping the agent within that specific scope. The app also includes an option to connect to other computers running Gemini desktop. This could enable remote control features, although exactly how the connection will work is still unclear. It will likely resemble the approach used in Codex.
Two integrations stand out in the current testing. With computer use, users can tag the computer use skill and trigger tasks from Gemini desktop that operate local apps. Google is also testing connections with Obsidian. It is unclear whether this points to a broader knowledge base concept or whether Google is using Obsidian internally while it works toward equivalent functionality in Gemini, but the integration will be very welcome either way.
Google is also working on a Customize tab where users can select skills, apps, connectors, or plugins. The current build remains quite limited, offering mostly Google apps or extensions already found in the existing Gemini interface. Hopefully, Google will add proper MCPs and plugins later, as seen in competing apps.
Code traces indicate that Google is preparing the app to work with the next major model, potentially Gemini 4. The code also points to an upgrade for Nano Banana, specifically Nano Banana 2.5 Flash.
And in other parts of Google, there is another new model that caught the attention of my crystal ball
— Bedros Pamboukian (@bedros_p) September 4, 2026
Nano Banana 2.5 Flash
Interesting https://t.co/s4aIRXh4Gy
On macOS, Finder integration will let you send any folder directly to Gemini for inspection or a targeted task.
All of these features remain in closed testing, and the timeline for a public release is unclear. For now, let's see when, and in what form, these capabilities reach Gemini users.
Editorial notes 👀
- Spark background — May 19, 2026. Google introduced Gemini Spark as a personal agent that works continuously in the cloud, connects to Workspace, and uses Gemini 3.5 with the Antigravity harness. Google also outlined future macOS support for local files and desktop workflows. Google's Spark introduction
- Existing desktop and integration roadmap — June 30, 2026. Google announced Spark for macOS in beta for adult U.S. AI Ultra subscribers, including permissioned local-file tasks. It described phone-initiated tasks on a Mac as forthcoming. It also announced third-party connected apps and a rollout of custom MCP support. Google's macOS Spark update
- Obsidian context — undated documentation, checked September 5, 2026. Obsidian stores Markdown notes in local folders called vaults, and its documentation describes editing those files with other tools. That makes file-oriented knowledge workflows a relevant follow-up angle, but this is an inference about possible utility, not proof of Google's integration design or intentions. Obsidian's data-storage documentation
