Listen
5 min
Comment
Gift Article
Share
For many who gab with ChatGPT, their conversations mainly live in browser tabs on their phones or computers. Now, there's another way to talk to OpenAI's clever large-language model.
This week, OpenAI released a ChatGPT app meant for use on iPhones and iPads. (An Android version will be released later.) It’s free and syncs with your chat history, and you can even talk to it — sort of. While you can blurt out things for the app to transcribe and respond to, the experience is pretty basic; in other words, don’t expect it to talk back at you like Siri or Alexa.
As with any launch, this one comes with some caveats: There’s no access to OpenAI’s latest and greatest large language model — GPT-4 — which requires a monthly subscription. (If you’re just trying to get a feel for how these AI-powered bots work, don’t even think about paying.)
Advertisement
But for many people, the lure of a free, simple app offering access to a seriously sophisticated chatbot will be hard to resist. Our advice? Have fun with it, but keep these questions in mind before you download anything.
Which ChatGPT app is the real one?
The official app is just called “ChatGPT,” and its icon in the App Store — and on your homescreen — is a black-and-white version of OpenAI’s floral logo. It’s free and there is no “In-App Purchases” label anywhere on its App Store listing.
Accept no substitutes.
Skip to end of carousel
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT has stunned users because it can generate fluid language, complete novels, computer code and poems. Chatbots are trained on troves of internet data, from Reddit conversations to digital books, finding patterns in the information to imitate speech. They answer questions from prompts, like an advanced form of instant messenger.
What does GPT mean?
GPT stands for “generative pre-trained transformer.” “Generative,” meaning that it uses AI to create things. “Pre-trained,” means that it has already taught using a large amount of data. And “Transformer” is a powerful type of neural network that can process language.
What is OpenAI?
OpenAI is the San Francisco AI start-up and research lab behind ChatGPT and image generator Dall-E. It launched as a nonprofit to build “artificial general intelligence” outside of big tech’s control. But it’s become a major corporate player, and is now for-profit, working with companies including Microsoft and Salesforce.
1/3
End of carousel
It might sound like we’re being a little fussy, but there’s a good reason for that: Punch “ChatGPT” into the App Store’s search box and you’ll find loads of results, many of which proudly proclaim that they’re “powered by ChatGPT.” And that’s technically true — software creators are allowed to build apps and features that rely on OpenAI’s language models. (Snapchat’s love-it-or-hate-it MyAI system is one example.)
But developers trying to tap into the AI hype cycle with chat apps of their own have to pay to tap into ChatGPT, which means they have to pass that cost onto you. That often happens in the form of subscription fees, and at least a few of these app developers try to get that money from you with free trial schemes that can feel a little scummy.
Is ChatGPT listening to you?
Tap the tiny dictation button inside the app’s text field for messages, and you can recite a question or prompt out loud for ChatGPT to chew on. But is it listening to more than that?
Advertisement
We get the anxiety — despite the evidence that suggests our phones aren’t constantly listening to us, finding reasons to feel otherwise doesn’t take long. (After having a jokey chat with my partner this week about cremation, I started getting ads for funeral pamphlets.)
From what we’ve seen so far, there’s little to suggest the ChatGPT app is listening to you more intently than any other app on your phone. It helps that you have to manually start and stop a voice recording for transcription — that can help make sure that only the things you want to be heard ultimately get converted into text.
That said, OpenAI’s speech recognition feature doesn’t work if you’re not connected to the internet, which suggests that your voice recordings are quickly being shuttled to a server for processing. (OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.) That’s not necessarily a dealbreaker — many older smart speakers did the same — but that may not feel right to everyone.
Advertisement
Thankfully, there’s a workaround. Most newer iPhones perform speech recognition directly on-device, so you can use iOS’s built-in Dictation feature to transcribe your requests without sending recordings of your voice anywhere.
What does this mean for your privacy?
For all the attention the app has received since it launched, ChatGPT on your iPhone doesn't feel all that different from using it inside a web browser.
And unless you were really excited about playing with that speech-to-text feature, there isn't a huge benefit in using the app compared to chatting on OpenAI's website.
But you should be careful all the same. While OpenAI has told The Washington Post in the past that it doesn’t use chatbot interactions to build profiles of its users or for advertising, it still hangs onto the messages you send it to further train its language models. In other words, you absolutely shouldn’t disclose any sensitive or deeply personal information while using ChatGPT — something OpenAI warns you about up front.
Advertisement
There’s one more thing about the app that gives us a little pause. If you don’t want OpenAI to save your chats and use them to further train those language models, there’s a “chat history and model training” option you can manually disable. After you do that, OpenAI will only hold onto your conversations for 30 days before they’re deleted permanently.
It doesn’t feel great that you’re not opted out of model training by default, but here’s the kicker: You can’t turn that feature off inside the app at all. You can only do it when you’re logged into the ChatGPT website, which isn’t made clear to people who sign up and use the service through the app. (OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about this, either.)
Help Desk: Making tech work for you
Help Desk is a destination built for readers looking to better understand and take control of the technology used in everyday life.
Take control: Sign up for The Tech Friend newsletter to get straight talk and advice on how to make your tech a force for good.
Tech tips to make your life easier: 10 tips and tricks to customize iOS 16 | 5 tips to make your gadget batteries last longer | How to get back control of a hacked social media account | How to avoid falling for and spreading misinformation online
Data and Privacy: A guide to every privacy setting you should change now. We have gone through the settings for the most popular (and problematic) services to give you recommendations. Google | Amazon | Facebook | Venmo | Apple | Android
Ask a question: Send the Help Desk your personal technology questions.
- WhatsApp just added this long-requested featureApril 25, 2023WhatsApp just added this long-requested featureApril 25, 2023
- Safety advocates see red flags galore with new tech at CES showJanuary 10, 2023Safety advocates see red flags galore with new tech at CES showJanuary 10, 2023
- Got a computer collecting dust? Google’s new software could bring it back to life.February 15, 2022Got a computer collecting dust? Google’s new software could bring it back to life.February 15, 2022
FAQs
Does ChatGPT have an official app? ›
SAN FRANCISCO -- ChatGPT is now a smartphone app, which could be good news for people who like to use the artificial intelligence chatbot and bad news for all the clone apps that have tried to profit off the technology.
Is ChatGPT available in the App Store? ›Details: ChatGPT for iOS, available from Apple's App Store, functions largely the same as the Web version, with the addition of speech input support using Whisper, OpenAI's open-source speech-recognition system.
What is the official ChatGPT app for iPhone? ›The new ChatGPT app from OpenAI accepts text and voice input for instant answers, advice, and tasks. OpenAI released the first official ChatGPT app for iOS users. The iPhone app allows ChatGPT users to log in to their accounts, access their chat history, and converse in an ad-free environment.
What ChatGPT app is best? ›- ChatGod for Android.
- Aico AI Chat for Android.
- Wisdom Ai — Your AI Assistant for iOS.
- Write For Me — Chat AI Chatbot for iOS.
- Wiz AI Chat Bot Writing Helper for iOS.
- Frank: The AI Chat Assistant for iOS.
- Chatsonic.
- Jasper Chat.
The ChatGPT app is free to use and syncs your history across devices. It also integrates Whisper, our open-source speech-recognition system, enabling voice input. ChatGPT Plus subscribers get exclusive access to GPT-4's capabilities, early access to features and faster response times, all on iOS.
What is the other app like ChatGPT? ›- Chatsonic.
- OpenAI playground.
- Jasper Chat.
- Bard AI.
- LaMDA (Language Model for Dialog Applications)
- Socratic.
- Bing AI.
- DialoGPT.
First, you can navigate to the ChatGPT website and save it as a Windows app through Edge. Go to the site, click the ellipsis menu, and hover over Apps. Select Install this site as an app to load ChatGPT from your desktop. Other tools like MacGPT also allow shortcuts to access the browser service from your desktop.
How do I use ChatGPT on my phone? ›Open any web browser and visit chat.openai.com, the official ChatGPT website. Login using your credentials (or sign up if you aren't yet registered). Once you're done signing up/logging in, you'll be greeted by a few disclaimers about the chatbot. Tap Next for all of these, and then tap Done to start using ChatGPT.
How to download ChatGPT for free? ›- Open Safari or Chrome browser on your Android device and go to chat.openai.com.
- Tap the three dots icon and choose "Add to Home Screen".
- Add a name for the app icon and then click "Add".
To locate a hidden page of apps on your iPhone you need to do a long press on the Home Screen until the apps jiggle on the screen. Now you need to tap the dots at the bottom of the display and you will be shown all of the different pages for the Home Screen.
Where is the hidden app iPhone? ›
All you need to do is swipe down from the middle of your Home screen to access Spotlight. Then, just type in the hidden app's name in the search bar. If you have the app installed, you'll be able to tap on the icon to open it.
What is the number 1 ChatGPT app? ›The best Chat GPT apps are:
After thorough research and comparison, it has become evident that Chat AI: Ask & Write Anything and AI Chat Plus PRO with GPT stand out as the best chat gpt apps for iOS and Android (mobile).
Chat GPT is owned and developed by OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence research and deployment company based in San Francisco that was launched in December 2015.
Is there an Android app for ChatGPT? ›The ChatGPT service is accessible via Android devices, just as it is on desktop or laptop computers – via the OpenAI ChatGPT page. There are some 'GPT' apps on the Google Play Store.
Is the BoligPortal app free? ›More than 20 years of experience with helping and understanding the needs of landlords. You can rent out your property and find a new tenant through BoligPortal for free.
Is the secret app free? ›We will be with you every step of the way, guiding you, encouraging you, and inspiring you through The Secret Super App. All you have to do is use it!” Get The Secret Super App FREE for Android or Apple devices today. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.
Is ChatGPT no longer free? ›It is a paid service, although OpenAI has made it free for those looking to use it for non-commercial and educational purposes. The API pretty much allows you to input text to receive generated responses to tasks such as question answering and text summarization.
Can I use ChatGPT without an account? ›You can use ChatGPT without signing up by using Bing Chat, Snapchat, or Discord.
Is ChatGPT better than Google? ›Is ChatGPT better than Google? Both ChatGPT and Google are accurate. But ChatGPT's data can be more accurate than Google's because its AI understands the nuances much better than Google. This feature of ChatGPT helps it answer those questions which Google may not answer correctly.
Can I use ChatGPT for free? ›Can I Use Chat GPT for Free? The short answer is yes. OpenAI has made ChatGPT free to use. However, the free tier has some limitations, including limited capacity during peak times.
Does ChatGPT cost money? ›
OpenAI's ChatGPT is free to use, and anyone can do so. This free version does come with some drawbacks for now.
Why does ChatGPT not have an app? ›Yes, there is an official ChatGPT app, but it's only available for the iPhone as of May 2023. OpenAI says the Android app “will be coming to your devices soon!” Android users can access ChatGPT in a mobile browser and add a shortcut on the home screen.
How to use ChatGPT for free on iPhone? ›To use ChatGPT on an iPhone or iPad, download the official ChatGPT app for iPhone. This app was released on May 18, 2023. To use the web-based version of ChatGPT instead, simply visit chat.openai.com in a browser such as Safari—you can also add a shortcut to the home screen for easy launching.
What does ChatGPT stand for? ›What is ChatGPT? ChatGPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer. No wonder we're not chatting; that's a mouthful.
Is the ChatGPT app real? ›ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI and released in November 2022. The "Chat" in the name is a reference to it being a chatbot, and the "GPT" stands for generative pre-trained transformer—a type of large language model (LLM).
Can I download ChatGPT for offline use? ›Once you have installed the implementation, you can download a pre-trained GPT model and use it locally without an internet connection. However, please note that this requires a significant amount of computational resources and storage space.
What is the original website for ChatGPT? ›What is the official website for ChatGPT? The official website for Chat GPT is https://chat.openai.com/chat . Here, you can find information about the chatbot, its features, and how it works.
Is there a chat app which can be disguised hidden? ›The most private way to text is by using secret text apps with hidden chat features. Some of these secret messaging apps look like games (like Hago, Plato, and Yubo). At the same time, some hide private chats, like Signal, line, Viber, etc.
How do you tell if you have a hidden app on your phone? ›Tap on the three dots that are present at the upper-right of the device screen. Click on the home screen settings. It will navigate you to the Hide apps menu; tap on it. Here, you will see the hidden apps that are not showing in the app list.
How do you tell if someone has hidden apps on their phone? ›From the app drawer, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of the screen. Tap Hide apps. The list of apps that are hidden from the app list displays. If this screen is blank or the Hide apps option is missing, no apps are hidden.
What is the fake iPhone app that hides things? ›
- UPDF - Scan and Secure Files.
- HiddenVault Secret Photo Album.
- Private Photo Vault.
- Locker: Photo Vault & App Lock.
- KeepSafe.
- Pick Lock 2.0.
- KYMS.
- Calculator# Hide Photos Videos.
ChatOn from developer AIBY is a ChatGPT-powered iOS app that has been climbing the charts in recent days. One of its advantages is the prompts that it provides separated out into topics.
Can I chat with GPT-3? ›Can I chat with GPT-3 AI? Yes, you can chat with GPT-3 AI. The chatbot built with GPT-3 AI can understand and generate human-like responses to your queries.
Is there any ChatGPT app for iOS? ›OpenAI has officially launched a standalone ChatGPT app for iOS users and it's free to download and use.
What is the best ChatGPT app for iPhone? ›Best ChatGPT apps for iPhone
AI Buddy is a GPT-3 powered AI chatbot. Similar to ChatGPT, you can chat with the AI bot, asking it any question your heart desires but discreetly within WhatsApp. This mobile app has a monthly subscription of $16, giving you up to 500 conversations a month.
Besides the risks that ChatGPT directly poses to you as a user, there are other major risks you should consider. ChatGPT has the potential to be used by attackers to trick and target you and your computer. For example, fraudsters could use ChatGPT to quickly create spam and phishing emails.
How much does ChatGPT cost per query? ›The new report comes from Dylan Patel, chief analyst at the research firm SemiAnalysis, who says it costs approximately $700,000 per day, or 36 cents per query, to keep the chatbot up and running.
Will ChatGPT replace programmers? ›The short answer is no, ChatGPT will not replace programmers entirely. However, it has the potential to automate some aspects of programming, such as code generation, bug fixing, and documentation. ChatGPT can learn from vast amounts of code and data, making it possible to generate new code similar to existing code.
Does CASEpeer have an app? ›We love CASEpeer at our office—it has completely changed our entire process to be more efficient and streamlined. I was so excited that the app came out because I wanted an alternative to the mobile website on my iPhone and iPad Pro.
Does TruFit have a app? ›The official app of TruFit Athletic Clubs. Download the app today to find TruFit locations near you, view class schedules, scan your barcode to enter, and more.
Does OpenAI have an app for Android? ›
OpenAI launches official ChatGPT app for iOS, Android coming 'soon'
Do I need an account to use ChatGPT? ›You need to create an account on the OpenAI website to log in and access ChatGPT. If you've never created an account before, click on Sign up and follow the prompts to enter your information.
What is fit grid app? ›FitGrid is an all-new fitness social network. Now you can find your new favorite workout classes and stream them along with all of your favorite people. FIND VIRTUAL & IN-STUDIO CLASSES YOU LOVE. Leverage our AI-powered recommendation engine to find and manage your classes in one place.
What is just fit app? ›JustFit is a scientifically designed virtual coach who will definitely help you. It is high time for you to start your training. JustFit has got everything ready. Workout plans, a huge library of exercises from top to bottom, JustFit even can give you personalized recommendations regarding your requirements.
What is fit app used for? ›With Google Fit, you can measure, track, and store your fitness information on your mobile devices and smartwatches. You'll need a mobile device and a Google account to get started with Fit.
Does Replika use OpenAI? ›What both Replika and Microsoft have in common is they use OpenAI's large language models (LLMs) to power their services. Replika uses its own version of GPT-3 in addition to scripting to power its chatbots, and Bing uses a more updated version of the model, similar to the GPT 3.5 model used for ChatGPT.
Can you link Google Assistant to ChatGPT? ›Integrating ChatGPT with your personal assistant, such as Siri for iPhone or Google Assistant for Android, can greatly enhance your mobile experience. This article will guide you through the steps to connect ChatGPT with Siri and Google Assistant.
Who uses OpenAI? ›Microsoft uses OpenAI technology by integrating language models into its products. For example, Microsoft has incorporated OpenAI's Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models into Microsoft Office, Microsoft Teams, and Bing to enhance natural language processing capabilities.