Today at OpenAI's spring update, the company announced that ChatGPT will soon become more accessible with a new desktop app launching on Mac.
A new Mac app makes ChatGPT more accessible to users
Apple and OpenAI were recently rumored to be partnering ahead of WWDC. This partnership will bring ChatGPT to iOS 18 as a native, system-integrated chatbot option.
In anticipation of this partnership, OpenAI announced the release of its own ChatGPT app for Mac. The app is designed to make ChatGPT more accessible and always available to users. A very brief preview of the app was shown during the presentation, but more details were provided in the press release.
For both free and paid users, we're also launching a new ChatGPT desktop app for macOS that makes it easy to integrate everything you do on your computer. With a simple keyboard shortcut (Option + Space), you can instantly ask ChatGPT a question. You can also take and discuss screenshots right within the app.
You can now have voice conversations with ChatGPT right from your computer, starting from the voice mode that was available in ChatGPT at launch with the new GPT-4o . audio and video capabilities that will appear in the future. Whether you want to come up with a new idea for your company, prepare for a job interview, or discuss a topic, tap the headphones icon in the bottom right corner of the desktop app to start a voice conversation.
ChatGPT for Mac is available to Plus users today and will be available to all free GPT users in the coming weeks. A Windows app is also planned for release later this year.
9to5Mac's Take
It's always great to debut a new third-party app for Mac. I always prefer to use a native app rather than a web app, and ChatGPT will be no exception.
Previously, Mac users could only use ChatGPT through a web client or third-party application. OpenAI has offered a ChatGPT app for iPhone for nearly a year, but it was unknown whether the AI-powered service would ever get a dedicated Mac app. It's good to see this change happening today ahead of what we hope will be more OpenAI-related news from Apple in the coming weeks.
