ChatGPT Mac app now available to all

OpenAI has announced that the ChatGPT app for Mac is now available to all users. OpenAI showcased the desktop ChatGPT app for Mac at its spring update back in May, and the Mac app was available for Plus subscribers the same month.

The ChatGPT mobile app has been around for over a year, and this new release means that a dedicated desktop ChatGPT app for Mac is now available for anyone to download and use completely for free. Even without a paid account, you can access ChatGPT’s GPT-4o model, although there are limits on the number of interactions for free users. The ChatGPT Mac app is available to download directly from the OpenAI website.

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What can the ChatGPT Mac app do?

Easier interaction with content on your Mac

You can already use ChatGPT in a browser on your Mac, so is there any need for a dedicated Mac app? Having been using the app since its launch for Plus users in May, I can definitely say that there is. That’s because the ChatGPT Mac app makes it much easier to interact with the content on your Mac.

First off, you can bring up ChatGPT just by pressing Option+Space. If you’re used to using Spotlight, this soon becomes second nature, allowing you to ask ChatGPT anything you want as soon as you think of it. You can also use the app to take screenshots of content on your Mac desktop or in other apps, and then query ChatGPT about the content of those images.

As with using ChatGPT in a browser, you can upload files and images that you can refer to in your prompts, but with the desktop app, it’s quick and easy to open ChatGPT and drag an image from your desktop straight into the app.

Using the ChatGPT desktop app also allows you to search in previous ChatGPT conversations, if there’s some information you want from a conversation you’ve had previously. This isn’t currently possible in a browser.

Is the new voice mode available?

New audio and video capabilities are coming later

At its spring update, OpenAI showcased some impressive new voice and video features. These included the ability to have more natural conversations in Voice Mode, allowing you to interrupt ChatGPT mid-flow if you want to ask something different. Also on show were some truly impressive video features, that allowed you to show ChatGPT a real-time view through your camera or webcam and ask questions based on what ChatGPT could see.

The standard Voice Mode that is already part of the ChatGPT mobile app is included in the ChatGPT Mac app, but OpenAI has stated that the new audio and video capabilities will be coming in the future.

ChatGPT is going to be baked into macOS Sequoia, the upcoming version of the operating system, as part of Apple Intelligence, giving even more ways to interact with ChatGPT on your Mac. A Windows version of the ChatGPT app is also in the pipeline.