Andrew Heinzman
OpenAI just launched the first official ChatGPT app. Available today on iPhone and iPad, the app allows you to communicate with ChatGPT through text or voice input. This rollout is exclusive to iOS users in the United States, though global and Android availability are coming soon.
We’re a bit surprised by this announcement. Up until now, Microsoft has been the leader in ChatGPT’s smartphone availability—the company has integrated ChatGPT in its Bing mobile app and SwiftKey virtual keyboard. Now, ChatGPT users can access the AI on a mobile device without installing a Microsoft product (or using their mobile browser).
The app itself is free, of course, and it syncs conversations with your OpenAI account. You can type out questions to communicate with ChatGPT, though the app also leverages Whisper (an open-source voice-recognition tool) for speech-to-text input. GPT-4 is also supported, but it requires a subscription, just as it does on desktop.
Notably, this app’s voice-recognition capabilities hint at how ChatGPT could replace Siri, Alexa, and other voice assistants. But an actual voice assistant feature isn’t included in today’s release. Some people use third-party tools to turn ChatGPT into a convenient voice assistant, but many people (including myself) would prefer an official solution due to security or privacy concerns.
I should also note that there are a lot of ChatGPT scams floating around. And most of these scams revolve around fake apps or software. By launching an official app, OpenAI could curb some of this fraudulent activity. (Although I expect fake software to be a big issue until people are better educated on AI.)
You can download the ChatGPT app on iPhone or iPad for free. Again, this launch is exclusive to the United States, though a global rollout is planned. OpenAI also promises to release an Android app.
Source: OpenAI
