ChatGPT just launched on your iPhone – should Siri be worried?

Two iPhones on a blue background showing the official ChatGPT app
(Image credit: Future)

Welcome to the mobile age of the chatbot. Bing AI is already there, and now OpenAI has launched its first mobile version of the wildly popular ChatGPT, on iOS (here's how to download ChatGPT on iPhone). 

Just days after CEO Sam Altman outlined before Congress the dangers of unregulated AI, OpenAI announced and delivered another expansion to its platform of generative AI, Large Language Model services, bringing it to the best iPhones.

As a free and official version of the ChatGPT chatbot, this is built on GPT-3. However, you can access the ChatGPT+ and those GPT-4-powered services (which means more recent training and possibly better accuracy) by logging into your account or upgrading through the app.

This is a limited rollout in that it's US only and there's no Android version. OpenAI does promise in its blog post that, "Android users, you're next! ChatGPT will be coming to your devices soon."

ChatGPT on iOS works similarly to the desktop, web-based version. On installation, it reminds you that "ChatGPT is inaccurate." This is, though, a significantly pared-down interface and certainly leaner than what you'll find on the mobile version of Microsoft's Bing AI

A new chat screen opens with a white screen with a black (sometimes blue) dot in the center. Below that is the prompt window where you can type in your query. I asked about a business plan for a new ice cream shop we want to build on the beach in San Diego. The response was almost instantaneous and quite detailed.

ChatGPT on iOS

This what it looks like to run ChatGPT on iOS for the first time. It's a simple interface and the answers come very quickly. (Image credit: Future)

Speak it

New in this mobile version, though, is the ability to add voice queries. On the right-hand side of the prompt window is a little voice recording icon. As soon as you select that, the area below the text prompt shows that it's recording. You have to tap to stop. However, in multiple attempts, the Whisper-powered, open-source speech recognition system failed to capture my query and instead displayed an API error. 

It turned out though that ChatGPT was listening and when we selected "Retry Transcription" it did interpret our query and throw it into the prompt window. On the fifth attempt, it finally captured the query and dropped the recognized text into the prompt field. I still had to hit the "up arrow" to enter and deliver the prompt to ChatGPT.

We suspect OpenAI will have solved the aforementioned bugginess by the time you read this.

ChatGPT on iOS

ChatGPT on iOS adds voice recognition, though it's not without fault in this first version. (Image credit: Future)

Because your ChatGPT history is synced across devices, you can open History in the app and, as I did, see prompts that I added today on the mobile app and all the others I've done going back four months.

You can even go back and continue any of those conversations. I hopped into one from February about if ChatGPT would always remain free and noted that now it is not always free. It basically said, "Hey man, I don't have control over this, talk to the boss man at OpenAI." Okay, not in those words, but that was the gist of it.

There aren't a lot of other controls beyond launching a new chat, signing out, and deleting your account – in case you really are afraid of AI.

Even though ChatGPT is now on your iPhone, it's no Siri. It can't for instance set a timer on your phone (though it is possible to give your Siri brain surgery with ChatGPT). On the other hand, neither Siri nor ChatGPT can directly control the brightness of my iPhone. 

Guess they both have some way to go before they're the ultimate mobile, voice AI.

The ChatGPT app is available for download right now in the App Store. Look for "OpenAI ChatGPT" if you want the real one and not one of the myriad, free, knockoffs.

TOPICS
Lance Ulanoff
Editor At Large

A 38-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.

Lance Ulanoff makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC. 

Read more
Using ChatGPT for desktop on a Mac with XCode.
ChatGPT's Mac app gets a glowup with new coding and notetaking features
ChatGPT on a phone
What is ChatGPT: everything you should know about the AI chatbot
ChatGPT logo
ChatGPT explained – everything you need to know about the AI chatbot
xAI Grok
Grok steps out to mobile with new standalone iOS app
ChatGPT WhatsApp
You can now message ChatGPT on WhatsApp or call it on your landline (if you still have one)
An iPhone showing the ChatGPT logo on its screen
ChatGPT-4.5 is here for Pro users now and Plus users next week, and I can't wait to try it
Latest in Artificial Intelligence
Google Gemini Robotics
Gemini just got physical and you should prepare for a robot revolution
Gemini on a smartphone.
I used Gemini AI to declutter my Gmail inbox and saved myself 5 hours a week – here’s how you can do the same
AI writing
ChatGPT just wrote the most beautiful short story, and I wonder what I'm even doing here
ChatGPT
ChatGPT wants to write your next novel, and readers and writers alike should be very worried
Apple products with Apple Intelligence against a white background
Apple rushed Apple Intelligence and now the company is stuck playing catch up
Deep Resarch
I test AI agents for a living and these are the 5 reasons you should let tools like ChatGPT Deep Research get things done for you
Latest in News
Google Gemini Robotics
Gemini just got physical and you should prepare for a robot revolution
Lilo & Stitch Official Trailer
Stitch crashes into earth and steals our hearts with the first trailer for the live-action Lilo & Stitch
GTA 5
GTA Online publisher Take-Two is gunning for a black market that’s basically heaven for cheaters
Y2K cast looking shocked
Y2K has a streaming release date on Max, so you can witness the technology uprising at home
The Discovery+ homepage
Discovery+ just got a big update to its streaming app that makes it more like Max – here are 5 great new features to try
Two Android phones on a green and blue background showing Google Messages
Struggling with slow Google Messages photo transfers? Google says new update will make 'noticeable difference'