This week’s app news showed three different ways companies are trying to shape how people use their phones: by putting AI chatbots within easier reach, adding AI tools to familiar apps, and developing new ways to share short updates. The moves could change where people ask questions and how they follow conversations, though their longer-term impact remains uncertain.
ChatGPT gets an official iPhone app
OpenAI introduced an official ChatGPT app for iOS, giving iPhone users a mobile option for asking questions and getting help with tasks such as learning, research and finding inspiration. The app is free and has no ads. Users can also speak their prompts using Whisper, OpenAI’s voice input technology.
At launch, the app was limited to users in the U.S. OpenAI said support for other markets would follow in the “coming weeks,” and that an Android version would arrive “soon.” The company did not provide more specific timing in the source report.
The launch gives users a direct route to ChatGPT after the App Store had filled with unofficial services, some of which misled people into expensive subscriptions. People who want additional features, including faster responses or GPT-4 access, can pay OpenAI for ChatGPT Plus.
That shift may also affect how people use existing mobile helpers. The article raises the possibility that users might turn to ChatGPT instead of voice assistants such as Siri, or use it to reach information they would otherwise seek through search. It also points to a potential challenge for Google, whose search engine is the default in Safari on Apple’s iPhone.
The app quickly reached No. 1 on the App Store’s top free apps chart and appeared prominently in the Apps tab. At the same time, the article reports that Apple staff had been banned from accessing ChatGPT over concerns about confidential data leaks. The launch’s broader effect on competing chatbots and unofficial apps remained an open question.
Microsoft spreads Bing AI through its apps
Microsoft announced a set of updates that make Bing Chat available in more places and add features across its mobile products. Bing Chat gained videos, Knowledge Cards, graphs, improved formatting and social sharing. Chat history is also coming to desktop and mobile, with mobile set to receive the feature first.
On iOS and Android, users can add a Bing Chat widget to their Home Screen for quicker access. Microsoft also said users would be able to begin a chat on desktop and continue it on a smartphone, with that option expected by the following week. The company expanded country and language support for voice input as well.
The updates reach beyond the Bing app. Microsoft is adding Bing Chat to the mobile version of its Edge browser, where people can ask questions about the site they are viewing or request a summary. A planned feature would let readers highlight a word or phrase and start a Bing conversation about it.
SwiftKey is also gaining AI writing and translation tools. Its new compose feature can draft text based on a user’s requested topic, tone, format and length, with email given as one possible use. The feature was expected to come to iOS and Android in a couple of weeks. Skype users can now use Bing in group chats.
These changes reflect Microsoft’s effort to put AI inside products people already use, rather than limiting it to a separate chat experience. The article notes that Bing Chat had launched 100 days earlier and that Microsoft had continued to add features. Google, meanwhile, had opened Bard to users without a waitlist and was testing AI tools through Search Labs.
Instagram’s planned short-posting app takes shape
More details emerged about a new app from Instagram, described in the source as a Twitter clone and expected later that summer. The decentralized social app would let people use existing credentials to post short updates, including text, links, photos and videos.
According to the report, account details such as usernames, profile photos and block lists were expected to carry over. The app was also said to interoperate with decentralized apps like Mastodon, which could connect it to social services beyond Instagram.
Leaked screenshots or mock-ups showed a timeline with text posts, likes and comments, giving the app a look that the article compared with Twitter. The design was described as less focused on media than a typical Instagram feed. Meta had reportedly begun approaching celebrities and high-profile influencers as potential early adopters, with athletes, actors, producers, showrunners and comedians among its priorities.
Those details offer a picture of the product’s planned features, but they cannot show how people will respond once they can use it. Whether the app becomes an alternative for people who want short updates, and how it connects with decentralized services, remained uncertain.