Googlebooks are a bit starved of desktop-class features at launch, but one of Google’s pitches around this platform is how apps can be built for it, and the company’s own employees are showing off what that looks like with some clever apps that just so happen to add features that feel a lot like they’re replicating macOS staples.
In a Reddit thread, three Googlebook apps built by Googlers through Antigravity are shown off, and they’re pretty cool, regardless of how you might feel about the platform itself.
“BentoBox” is a utility that gives you control over the status bar on Googlebook, enabling you to fill the status bar with shortcuts, mini-apps, and more. It’s full of glancable information such as weather conditions, battery charging speeds, and more, but also includes useful tools such as being able to access a clipboard history, set a timer, and more. The app requires permissions including accessibility overlays, but it works like a charm.
I had no idea the status bar on Googlebook could even be used like this, and it really makes that space a lot more useful. Of course, you have to draw a comparison here to macOS, which also uses this space for app shortcuts and tools, though BentoBox offers a different type of customization.
BentoBox is available for download
The other Mac-like app here is “Booklight,” a launcher that’s basically Apple’s Spotlight, just for Googlebook. It has a transparent design and lets you search “apps, settings, and the web.”
Technically, Googlebook already can do this in its built-in search bar (in the app drawer), but Booklight has more customization and functionality, including being able to write out shorthand commands all in one sentence with the app then completing the command in the appropriate apps, as well as having a clearer UI for experiences such as typing in quick math equations. It’s also good at finding symbols (so you don’t have to remember the U+ codes that carried over from ChromeOS). Not one I found myself wanting to use, but the potential is there.
Booklight is also supposed to be on the Play Store, but it’s disappeared in recent days.
Both BentoBox and Booklight were developed by Alexander Kuscher, VP over Laptops & Tablets at Google.
The other app highlighted in Google’s thread was Wayfinder, a file manager app described as a “desktop-grade file manager.” The big bonus here is network file access for NAS boxes and other uses, but the app also just has a more advanced UX compared to Googlebook’s built-in Files app.
Googlebook’s app gap is a real problem at launch, but these apps do show there’s a lot of potential in the platform, it’s just a matter of getting developers on board – which itself will require Google and its partners to actually sell some of these laptops… classic chicken-and-egg situation.
More on Googlebook:
- Big Googlebook November update rolling out with 31 fixes, improvements
- Henry Cavill builds 16-bit ‘Mustache Protocol’ game on Googlebook for a good cause [Video]
- Google says Googlebook ‘detachables’ are coming soon
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