Meta's assistant is now a Mac app that reads your screen and types into any window — and what it sees can train the model
Meta released its first desktop app for Meta AI on 19–20 August, a free beta for anyone with a Meta account. Two things make it more than a wrapper around the website. You can attach a specific window or screen from the prompt bar and have the assistant answer questions about what is on it, using Meta's Muse Spark model. And a system-wide dictation shortcut lets you hold a key, speak, and have the text land in whatever app you are in — mail, a document, a code editor. It also connects to Facebook and Instagram accounts to answer questions about ad campaign performance, and to Google Workspace for documents. The build is native rather than a packaged web page: AppKit and SwiftUI, 16MB installed, Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later. The caveat is in Meta's own terms. Material that passes through the assistant, including what is on screen during a sharing session and data pulled in from connected services, can be used to train Meta's models. Meta has also begun testing rate limits on heavier tasks, and the app lacks the deeper coding workflows and browser control that rivals offer.
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