Messaging
Google Chat on your desktop, inside Franz
Run Google Chat as a desktop app on Mac, Windows, and Linux, with spaces and direct-message notifications, alongside your other chats in Franz.
- macOS
- Windows
- Linux
Google Chat is where a lot of conversations happen for anyone living in Google Workspace: direct messages, group chats, and spaces threaded right alongside Gmail and Drive. The catch is that it usually lives inside a Gmail browser tab or chat.google.com, which means it competes with every other tab you have open and goes quiet the moment the browser throttles it. Franz gives Google Chat its own focused service tab in your sidebar, signed in and ready, so it stands on its own next to the rest of your conversations.
Google Chat as its own dedicated tab
Franz loads the full chat.google.com experience, so your direct messages, group chats, and spaces are all right there as a service of their own rather than a panel tucked inside something else. You sign in once with your Google account and Google Chat stays connected, so you are not relaunching it or digging through a Gmail tab to find it. Spaces, threads, direct messages, and shared files behave exactly as they do on the official web client, because it is the official web client, wrapped as a desktop tab you can pin and switch to instantly.
Notifications for spaces and direct messages
Google Chat only helps if you catch the message meant for you. Franz gives it native desktop notifications with the notification sound, so a direct message or an active space surfaces right away instead of waiting silently inside a background tab. The unread badge on the Google Chat service shows how many conversations are waiting at a glance, and because it runs as its own tab it keeps notifying you reliably while you are focused on another service.
Google Chat beside the rest of your day
Franz is a native desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux, so Google Chat works the same wherever you are, with a real dock or taskbar presence and a keyboard shortcut to your other services. Instead of leaving Google Chat trapped inside a Gmail tab, you give it a place of its own beside Telegram, your email, and your other work chat in a single window.
Other Messaging services
Frequently asked questions
Which platforms does Google Chat work on in Franz?
Franz runs Google Chat as a native desktop app on macOS, Windows, and Linux, with the same notifications, badges, and fast switching on every operating system.
Can I use multiple Google Chat accounts at once?
Yes. Franz lets you add Google Chat as many times as you need, one tab per account, all signed in at once. Each tab keeps its own session and unread badge, so you never sign out of one to check another.
Is Google Chat in Franz free?
Franz is free to use with Google Chat and every other service. A free account covers the essentials and takes minutes to set up; paid plans add extra features, but running Google Chat in Franz costs nothing to start.