Googlebook apps from Google staff add macOS-style shortcuts and search

Google staff show off new Googlebook apps

Googlebook launched with a limited selection of desktop-class software, but a new wave of apps built by Google employees shows what the platform can do. According to 9to5Google, three apps were highlighted in a Reddit thread, and several of them echo features long associated with macOS.

The apps were built through Antigravity, Google's development tool. Two of them come from Alexander Kuscher, Vice President of Laptops & Tablets at Google, which gives the demos particular weight.

BentoBox turns the status bar into a control centre

BentoBox is a utility that repurposes the Googlebook status bar, the strip at the top of the screen that usually shows system information. It fills that space with shortcuts, mini-apps and glanceable information such as weather conditions and battery charging speeds.

It also carries practical tools, including clipboard history and a timer. The app needs permissions such as accessibility overlays, which let it draw over other parts of the system. BentoBox is available for free through Google Play.

The closest comparison is Apple's macOS, which reserves the same top area for app menus and tools. 9to5Google notes BentoBox offers a different type of customisation, but the idea is clearly borrowed from the desktop world.

Booklight brings a Spotlight-style launcher

Booklight is a launcher that works much like Apple's Spotlight search. It uses a transparent design and lets users search apps, settings and the web from one place.

Googlebook can already do some of this through the built-in search bar in the app drawer, but Booklight goes further. It supports shorthand commands written in one sentence, which the app then carries out in the relevant apps, and it offers a cleaner interface for quick maths. It is also good at finding symbols, so users no longer need to remember the U+ codes carried over from ChromeOS.

The 9to5Google reviewer found the app promising rather than essential, saying the potential is there even if it did not become a daily habit.

Wayfinder adds a desktop-grade file manager

The third app in the thread is Wayfinder, a file manager described as desktop-grade. Its standout feature is network file access, which means users can reach files on NAS boxes, network storage devices that sit at home or in an office, and other network locations.

Wayfinder also has a more advanced interface than the Files app that ships with Googlebook. That makes it one of the clearer examples of software designed for laptop-style use rather than touch-first phone habits.

Why it matters

The app gap on Googlebook is a real problem at launch, as 9to5Google puts it. New platforms need software to sell hardware, and hardware sales are needed to attract developers. The site describes this as a classic chicken-and-egg situation.

These three apps show the platform has potential, and the fact that they come from Google's own staff suggests the company is keen to demonstrate what developers can build. Whether enough outside developers follow will likely decide how the platform develops.