OpenAI has unveiled an official iOS app for ChatGPT, making its popular AI chatbot accessible on the go. This release addresses concerns about unofficial services flooding the App Store. The ChatGPT app is free, devoid of ads, and supports voice input, although it will initially be limited to U.S. users upon launch.
Similar to its desktop counterpart, the ChatGPT app allows users to engage with the AI chatbot, ask questions, receive advice, find inspiration, conduct research, and more, all without resorting to traditional web searches. Given the limitations of Apple’s own voice assistant, Siri, and the company’s slower progress in AI, this new release may encourage users to adopt ChatGPT as their primary mobile assistant. Moreover, this launch could potentially impact Google’s dominance as the default search engine on Safari for Apple’s iPhone.
When utilizing the mobile version of ChatGPT, the app synchronizes users’ search history across devices, ensuring accessibility to previously searched queries via the web interface. Additionally, the app integrates with Whisper, OpenAI’s open source speech recognition system, enabling voice input functionality.
OpenAI highlights that ChatGPT Plus subscribers will be able to leverage GPT-4’s capabilities through the new app. Subscribers will also enjoy early access to new features and faster response times, as mentioned in the company’s announcement. The ChatGPT Plus subscription, introduced in February, costs $20 per month and offers enhanced features, including access to ChatGPT even during peak usage periods.
The rollout of the new app commences in the United States today, with plans for expansion to other countries in the coming weeks. OpenAI has also teased the upcoming release of an Android version.
OpenAI’s release of the ChatGPT app follows earlier rumors about the company working on a mobile client, although OpenAI had initially declined to comment on those reports. The launch of the app coincides with other tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook exploring AI technologies and integrating them into their search engines. However, accessing ChatGPT directly on mobile, without relying on a search engine or browser, could potentially disrupt the way people use their phones to search for information and connect.
One notable advantage of OpenAI’s mobile app is its ad-free experience, as mentioned in the company’s blog post. Users can obtain instant answers without the need to sift through advertisements or multiple search results. This distinction subtly contrasts with OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft’s Bing, where ads are being integrated into the AI-powered Bing Chat, and could be seen as a slight dig at traditional search engines.
The ChatGPT app’s description on the App Store also highlights its ad-free nature, along with features such as history synchronization and access to the latest OpenAI models.
Interestingly, the release of the ChatGPT app comes shortly after Google made its AI chatbot, Bard, available in English, lifting the waitlist during the Google I/O developer conference.
There appears to be a growing demand for ChatGPT and AI applications on the iPhone. According to research from app store intelligence provider data.ai, the top 10 mobile AI apps had already generated over $14 million in consumer spending by late March this year, with daily consumer spending increasing by 11% compared to February.
