This is how I replicated 3 of the Googlebook’s greatest options on a $60 Linux laptop computer

Googlebook’s clumsy launch made me want that I wasn’t a product reviewer. I needed to spend two weeks utilizing a laptop computer with what felt like an unfinished working system (cue the global community’s smallest violin), and all through your entire course of, I simply stored considering how good it might be if Google had taken all of its largest Googlebook options and slapped them on a mainline Linux distro as an alternative of attempting to reinvent the wheel.

Anyways, I attempted to duplicate these options on an previous Surface Go that I purchased for about $60 and loaded up with CachyOS, primarily as a result of I believed it might be humorous to take action, but additionally to exhibit that you just needn’t drop $800+ on a Googlebook to get a few of its key performance.

KDE Connect for Android smartphone integration

It’s extra feature-rich than the Googlebook’s Phone Hub

If you’ve got by no means tried KDE Connect, go set up it now. Not solely does it allow texting out of your Linux, Windows, or macOS desktop, nevertheless it allows you to sync Android notifications to your PC, switch information between your units, and sync your clipboards. You may even use KDE Connect to control your PC from your phone, which seems like witchcraft, though it is arguably the least helpful of those options.

Best of all, KDE Connect operates inside your native Wi-Fi community, so it would not depend on exterior Google servers to sync your clipboard or notifications. You aren’t restricted wherein units you join, both. I’ve bought a number of Android telephones at my desk, plus an iPhone and Mac, and I can join all of them to my Linux laptop computer without delay via KDE Connect if I need to.

GooglebookOS treats fundamental Android telephone integration as a significant promoting level, which feels a bit odd to me, as KDE Connect and comparable instruments (together with the official Microsoft Phone Link utility) have been round for years. Plus, the Googlebook’s Android integration is pretty damaged at launch. I could not get fundamental options like Quick Share file transfers working in any respect after I reviewed the ASUS Googlebook 14.

Though I’ll admit that the KDE Connect interface is form of ugly. The excellent news is that Google Messages is out there on the net, so I can simply entry it via my Linux laptop computer’s browser if I need a prettier texting expertise. There are additionally some file switch instruments with extra enticing frontends than KDE Connect, akin to Packet.

Phone mirroring with scrcpy

I could not even get this engaged on Googlebook

One of Googlebook’s headline options—display screen mirroring—did not actually work for myself, my colleagues, or too many different folks at launch. It would possibly nonetheless be form of busted when this text goes dwell, for all I do know.

Anyways, establishing Android telephone mirroring in Linux took all however 5 minutes and labored and not using a hitch, all I needed to do was set up scrcpy, join my Android telephone to the laptop computer with a USB cable (after enabling USB debugging in Android’s developer settings), and punch the scrcpy command into my terminal.

Not solely does scrcpy mirror your Android telephone’s display screen to your Linux desktop, nevertheless it allows you to work together with the display screen utilizing your mouse and keyboard, identical to how Googlebook telephone mirroring is meant to work. You may even use autoadb to mechanically fireplace up scrcpy once you join your telephone to your PC, however I did not trouble, as I really want the guide startup conduct.

To be sincere, I used to be fairly delighted to see this engaged on my pathetic little Surface Go, which makes use of a Pentium 4415Y processor. But scrcpy’s wi-fi mode, which you’ll set off via the scrcpy --tcpip command (run the command whereas your telephone is plugged in, then unplug it) did not appear to be significantly keen on my Surface Go’s Wi-Fi capabilities, and establishing wi-fi mirroring and not using a USB cable is considerably cumbersome, so I assume scrcpy loses factors there.

Is smartphone mirroring really helpful? To be completely sincere, I have not discovered any use for it past watching TikToks whereas studying emails on my Mac. But display screen mirroring is a landmark Googlebook characteristic that did not work for me or my colleagues at launch, so I needed to replicate it in Linux out of spite.

I can set up a Magic Pointer clone, however I needn’t

Why trouble after I can simply drag a screenshot right into a chat window?

Some of the Googlebook’s Gemini integrations really feel a bit lazy or clunky, however Magic Pointer is surprisingly polished. It’s a desktop-based tackle Android’s “Circle to Search” characteristic: wiggle your cursor and spotlight one thing on display screen to indicate it to Gemini. The AI will clarify what you are or present strategies with out pulling up a full chat window.

I managed to seek out some instruments that loosely replicate Magic Pointer performance. The greatest trying possibility is AIPointer, a software that lets you choose an space in your display screen and ship it to your LLM of selection. You may even use AIPointer to immediately ship as much as 5 information to an LLM, which sounds fairly useful to me.

The drawback is that AIPointer and comparable instruments require an API key. And after spending a couple of weeks with a Googlebook, I’ve come to the conclusion that I do not use Magic Pointer sufficient to justify paying for it.

So, I’ve give you a free resolution—I can simply take a screenshot and drag it right into a ChatGPT or Claude window. If I want to ask an LLM about one thing on my display screen, then it is in all probability going to require a dialog with some back-and-forth anyway, so it isn’t like I’m “losing time” by opening a full chat.

This resolution does lack a few of Magic Pointer’s automation options, akin to the power so as to add a date to your calendar by wiggling your cursor and pointing at it. But there are browser extensions like Text to Google Calendar that provide comparable performance, so I’m not too harassed about it.

I can run Android apps in Linux, it simply kinda sucks

Let’s not rely this one towards my tally

Googlebook OS is constructed on Android’s desktop interface, so naturally, it runs Android apps. It’s a neat thought at a conceptual stage, and it is one thing that is bought a whole lot of potential if builders put their greatest foot ahead, nevertheless it’s fairly clunky at launch.

Plenty of apps merely aren’t accessible on the Googlebook Play Store, whereas others aren’t optimized for the desktop in any respect. Plus, important apps like Chrome at the moment lack key options which were supported on Linux, Windows, and macOS for years.

Anyway, I attempted replicating this functionality with Waydroid, which is a containerized utility that permits you to run a full Android working system in your PC. It even allows you to go into multi-window mode so that every app is handled like a standalone window in your desktop.

But I shortly gave up on attempting to duplicate this Googlebook characteristic as a result of it simply is not price it on my poor, weak little Surface Go. There are visible bugs that I do not really feel like placing within the effort to repair, and the efficiency is simply usually tough. Nevermind the tedium of grabbing apps and establishing networking, that are simply too time consuming, seeing as I’ll in all probability by no means open Waydroid on my Surface Go once more.

This is an space the place the Googlebook clearly has an enormous leg up. Whether Android apps are literally price working on desktop is a matter of opinion, after all.

Rambler managed to flee me, too

My favourite Googlebook characteristic, which can also be accessible on Pixel 11, is the Rambler speech-to-text processor. I’ll admit that this characteristic is considerably area of interest, nevertheless it’s the very best speech-to-text software I’ve used so far.

There are loads of instruments that accomplish Rambler-like performance, most of that are primarily based on OpenAI’s Whisper model (which works offline and would not require API credit). Unfortunately, my poor Surface Go’s Pentium 4415Y processor is manner too weak for this stage of realtime transcription. I gave the OpenWhispr and Handy frontends a go simply to see what would occur, and my Surface Go threw up an overheating display screen. Oops!

I can in all probability get round this situation through the use of a text-to-speech software on my Android telephone, copying the output to its clipboard, and syncing the clipboard to my Surface Go via KDE Connect. But there’s not a lot utility in that exterior of long-form writing since it’s kind of tedious.