Update
Following its initial US-only launch, ChatGPT on iOS is now available in more than 30 countries:
Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Qatar, Slovenia, South Korea, Tunisia, the UK and the United Arab Emirates.
Android users can expect a similar app to follow.
Original article (19/05/2023)
Artificial intelligence company OpenAI has launched an official ChatGPT app on iOS after getting requests from users who wish to use the chatbot on the go, says Android devices are next.
Similar to the web-based version, the ChatGPT iOS app is free to download and use from the App Store. Users can sync their chat history with the web and use the voice input feature which is powered by Whisper, the company’s open-source speech recognition model.
OpenAI also says that ChatGPT Plus subscribers will get exclusive access to GPT-4’s capabilities and will be the first to get early access to new features as well as enjoy faster response times. The popular AI company did not previously mention that a ChatGPT mobile app was in development, but it was inevitable.
OpenAI wrote, “We’re starting our rollout in the US and will expand to additional countries in the coming weeks. We’re eager to see how you use the app. As we gather user feedback, we’re committed to continuous feature and safety improvements for ChatGPT.”
A new way to access the chatbot
Despite initially launching as an experiment, ChatGPT is reported to have amassed more than 100 million users so far, but the company is yet to acknowledge these numbers. The majority of users that utilise the chatbot range from students prompting it to write college essays to business owners leveraging it to craft business applications.
Microsoft’s Bing has been the most effective way to access OpenAI’s language models on mobile as it allows users to access GPT-4. The launch of an official ChatGPT app could see many Bing users switch to the ChatGPT app and get direct access to the chatbot.
“With the ChatGPT app for iOS, we’re taking another step towards our mission by transforming state-of-the-art research into useful tools that empower people, while continuously making them more accessible,” said OpenAI.
And as usual, the company has urged users not to share sensitive information while using the ChatGPT mobile app as feedback will be used to improve the app. In addition, ChatGPT can still fabricate information and provide inaccurate facts about people and places with confidence.
Currently, there are dozens of fake unsolicited apps on mobile stores that claim to offer similar chatbot features like ChatGPT. The launch of an official ChatGPT app should render these fake apps obsolete.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
