OpenAI has unveiled ChatGPT on iOS, with a free app hitting the App Store today for both iPhone and iPad. There is news of an Android release too with OpenAI confirming that a release is coming “soon”. Uh, thanks. We’ll keep an eye out next time ‘soon’ rolls around.
Welcome to ChatGPT
A mobile version of ChatGPT has certainly come as a surprise. There was no mention of a mobile port even being hinted at until today. But anyone with a brain (and an internet connection) could see that some form of mobile integration was on the way. Well, here it is.
Of course, South Africa isn’t at the top of the list for a release. In fact, nobody other than the U.S. will have access to ChatGPT Mobile for the time being. OpenAI hasn’t yet landed on a firm release date in other regions, only mentioning that it’ll come to other countries “in the coming weeks”. As for which countries that’ll encompass, we can’t be sure.
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The app itself is free, offering the same functionality you’ve come to expect from the standard web app, mistakes and all. A few extras have been thrown in, namely, chat history syncing across devices and voice input – powered by OpenAI’s own open-source Whisper model. You’ll still have the option to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus, which uses the company’s most advanced LLM – GPT-4 (and a few other features).
ChatGPT’s timing of a mobile release isn’t an accident. What with the rise of AI and every company’s insistence on following OpenAI’s example, the company needed something to draw people back in. Give the people a reason to stop using Bing and they will. Well, they’ve got it now.