OpenAI releases official ChatGPT app for iOS; coming soon to Android

OpenAI has released the official ChatGPT app for iOS. The AI-powered chatbot app is currently available for users in the U.S.

ChatGPT's official app is here for iPhone

You will need an OpenAI account to use the app/service, if you already have one, just sign in to get started. Creating an account is free, but you will have to provide your email address and phone number while signing up.

When you have logged into your account, you will be able to start using ChatGPT. The experience is similar to the web version, just tap the text box at the bottom, type in your query, and the chatbot will provide the relevant answers. You may use your voice to type your query, ChatGPT uses OpenAI's Whisper API, if you choose to use it, the app will request permission to record input from your device's microphone for the speech recognition feature.

You can use it to write poems, letters, code, etc. Since it is identical to the web version, the same limitations apply to the mobile app, which means ChatGPT for iOS cannot provide data from beyond September 2021, as its database has not been updated since.

Tap and hold on a reply from the bot (i.e, long press), to access a context menu that lets you copy the text, select text, or to regenerate the response to your question. You may also upvote or downvote the response's quality.

The app syncs your chat history across devices. Tap the menu button in the top right corner to access your history. This is also where you will find the Settings. One thing that stands out in the ChatGPT for iOS app, is the haptic feedback, it's a nice touch. You may disable it from the app's settings if you don't like it.

ChatGPT for iOS has an in-app purchase that costs $20 per month, this is for the ChatGPT Plus subscription that lets you use the service without waiting in a queue. It also grants access to GPT-4's functions, which are in beta. The IAP is completely optional.

Download ChatGPT for iOS from the App Store, as I mentioned earlier, it is currently only available for users in the United States.  It will be expanded to more Countries in the coming weeks. For those of you who are not located in the US, but want to try the app right now, there's a way to do it. You may bypass this restriction by signing out of the App Store on your iPhone, and use a secondary account based in the US region. Tap on your profile in the App Store, scroll down the list of app updates, and tap on sign out.

Note: The option to sign out may not appear if you have set up account restrictions under Screen Time.

Create a new Apple ID and set your Country to the United States while signing up. Don't give a fake phone number or email address, use your real number and email, as they will be used to receive verification codes from Apple. The App Store will ask you to enter your payment information, you may skip this. But you will need to enter your street name, city, state, zip code and phone number. You can provide fake details for the first 4 of those, but I recommend using your legitimate phone number. Once you have done this, use the account to log in to the App Store, and you will be able to download ChatGPT for iOS from any Country. You can switch back to your regular account after the app has been downloaded.

I don't think you're missing out on much if you're already using it via your mobile browser, as they are functionally identical. I also found that the ChatGPT app is using quite a bit of the battery (22% in 17 minutes), and my iPhone was warm to the touch.

Now that the official ChatGPT app is available on the App Store, it is up to Apple to clean up fake ChatGPT apps on its storefront. There are far too many clones out there that try to phish users with subscriptions.

OpenAI has confirmed that the official ChatGPT app for Android is coming soon. If you don't like signing up to access ChatGPT, maybe you want to give Microsoft Bing Chat a try, although it is currently rolling out slowly, so you'll probably have to wait for it to be available.

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