Barely a few weeks have passed since the ChatGPT App arrived on iOS, with a broad and ambitious expansion plan that has made it grow rapidly in presence in multiple countries (Spain already included among them, in case you’re wondering). It was clear that OpenAI had to respond to the increasing pressure imposed by Microsoft with Bing, and now also by Google with Bard, extending its reach to smartphones and other portable devices.
It is true, yes, that it has always been possible to access ChatGPT from the smartphone, because we must not forget that it is a web service, so it was enough to open the browser, enter its URL, log in and start chatting with the dean of this new generation of AI-based chatbots. In my case, I have done it on more than one occasion and its operation has always been more than correct, since (logically) its interface adjusts to the aspect ratio of the device’s screen.
However, it is known that apps work better, in terms of making the user use a certain service. Having an icon on the desktop acts as a reminder of the existence of the service, in this case of ChatGPT but this is applicable in many other cases, while web services, or persuade the user to create a shortcut on the desktop ( and there are not many who do) or surely its volume of use will end up being much lower.
Thus, as I remembered at the beginning, iOS has already had a ChatGPT app for a few weeks, and OpenAI affirmed that there will also be a specific development for Android. But in the meantime, it seems the company’s development teams haven’t been taking a break. Quite the contrary, and using the app as an entry point, they have decided to try to make their chatbot have a much more active presence in the day-to-day life of iPhone users.
Thus, as we can read in Engadget, ChatGPT for iOS already integrates with Siri and with the Shortcuts of the operating system. Obviously the OpenAI chatbot cannot replace Apple’s voice assistant (Cupertino would not allow it in any way, except by legal imposition), but in this way we can create Shortcuts that integrate the use of ChatGPT, and we can also ask Siri that interacts with the app for a specific purpose.
This may be a wake-up call for Apple, which intends to improve its position in the field of artificial intelligence, since it will surely see that ChatGPT can be more and better integrated into the daily lives of its users, covering a plot that perhaps a more evolved Siri could have assumedThey shouldn’t be too amused.
