The day after its launch, the ChatGPT app is already in first place for the number of downloads: but only in the United States, the only country where it is available, and only on the iPhone, the only platform where it is possible to install it.
Apple’s dual registry
There are no reviews yet on the App Store, there isn’t even a vote, but Apple meanwhile puts it in the foreground among the applications to download. And, with a highly developed practical sense, it simultaneously prohibits its employees from using ChatGPT and other AI platforms such as GitHub’s Copilot, used mainly for writing code. The fear is that confidential data may be visible to unauthorized persons, as happened last March with ChatGPT, which made public the chats recorded in the user history due to a bug.
Many things have changed since then, with the arrival of plugins and web browsing, and many things will change again, with the mobile version. We tried it in preview and we’ll tell you how it works.
Download
You need to have an account on the American App Store, we repeat, but then it doesn’t take much to download, it weighs only 16 MB, installing it is a snap and even registering isn’t difficult: you can use Apple, Google, or email. Unless, of course, you already have an account, in which case you just need to enter your login and password.
The interface is minimalist to say the least: a white screen with a text box for questions. Above, for those who have the $20 premium subscription, the possibility to choose whether to use the CPT 3.5 engine or the GPT4 engine. at the top right, three dots allow access to a meager menu with the settings and the archive of previous chats, synchronized with the desktop version.
For the rest, the experience is the usual one, and in fact the app looks like this: “You can ask me everything, from word definitions to updates on the latest news, to recipe suggestions, travel tips and more”. And he immediately puts his hands forward: “Remember that, like all artificial intelligence models, I could make mistakes or provide information that is not entirely accurate, so it is always advisable to verify the information from reliable sources”.
The difference is, whichever template you use, it’s much faster than using it on the web. The haptic feedback is also fun, which makes the iPhone vibrate weakly for each letter typed.
talk to me
The real novelty is in the use of the voice: in fact, a question can be recorded, the system analyzes it and transforms it into text, then inserts the question in the box. We don’t have specific information on how it works, but it seems clear that the system adopted is the proprietary one of OpenAI; i.e. Whisper. Processing, as far as we can understand, does not take place on the device, and in fact it does not work in the absence of a connection or by activating the airplane mode. The audio files are sent to OpenAI, and perhaps for this reason it is currently not possible to use the ChatGPT app in other countries. It is not possible to have any indication of the content of the files, to listen to them again, to delete them (as happens for example with Alexa), and this opens up potentially disturbing scenarios: in fact, it is not difficult to obtain information from the recording that could jeopardize the privacy of those who use voice transcription. For example, the echo (a room, a large space), external sounds (traffic on a street, wind or rain), various noises (a subway announcement, a television on), details such as the frequency of the breath or intonation of voice. It’s not science fiction, because Whisper works very well, even if in the release notes it is indicated as compatible only with the English language: in Italian, however, the transcription is always rather rapid and the result absolutely faithful to what we have said.
Small detail that arouses further suspicions: recording starts with a touch and ends with another touch, while similar systems usually work either by holding down a button for the entire recording time or have an automatic stop when there is an interval of silence. Instead, the vocal transcription of ChatGPT continues for several minutes (we have exceeded 15).
Knowing Apple’s attention to privacy, we went to the App Store to find the summary where the data shared with the developer is summarized. The list is long: every time we use the app, for how long, every tap, click, scroll, and in general every interaction is recorded. ChatGPT for iOS accesses mail, name, phone number, user ID; it is not explicitly stated that audio files are uploaded to OpenAI’s servers, “other user-generated content” is generically mentioned. Disturbing, but there are also those who do worse.
App o browser?
What is the advantage of the ChatGPT app compared to using it via a web browser? We ask the app and the answer is this:
- Quick and convenient access: Having the app installed directly on your iOS device, you can access ChatGPT at any time without having to open a browser and search for the corresponding website. The app is easily accessible from the home screen of your phone or tablet.
- Mobile-optimized interface: The ChatGPT app has been specially designed for iOS devices, offering a mobile-optimized interface. You can enjoy an intuitive user experience, with a user interface optimized for the smaller screen of mobile devices.
- Seamless Experience: Since the app is dedicated to using ChatGPT, you can avoid the distractions associated with using the web browser, such as advertisements, multiple tabs or notifications that could interrupt your conversation experience.
- Offline access (potentially): Depending on the capabilities of the specific app, it may be possible to use ChatGPT even when you are not connected to the internet. This can be useful if you want to have access to ChatGPT in places where connectivity may be limited or non-existent.
Actually, without internet connection ChatGPT doesn’t work at all, at least for now. Qualcomm, at the last Mobile World Congress, showed a version of Stable Diffusion optimized for the Snapdragon processor, but at the moment every creative AI implementation cannot do without exchanging data with a remote server. So, for now at least, the app is giving an incorrect answer.
And also, from the very beginning, ChatGPT has been accessible via browser on all smartphones, and it’s not that different from the app; indeed in some ways it is better: first of all it is possible to activate the web browsing mode and the plugins, which radically change the user experience, as we explained in our test. With the browser we also gain autonomy: using the app, in fact, the iPhone heats up a lot and the battery runs out quickly, a sign that the processor is subjected to a considerable work, even if it is not clear on what.
And then, for those who still want to use the vocal interface, just tap the microphone icon on the iPhone keyboard instead of typing: it works great and doesn’t transfer any other data to OpenAI. If you want, then you can ask the iPhone to read the answer in another voice, and so you get a kind of enhanced voice assistant that dwarfs Siri (this function can also be activated using the app).
In fine
“I apologize if the ChatGPT iOS app is not yet available in Italy”, replies the app to our request for explanations. “The geographical availability of applications may depend on various factors, such as local laws, restrictions or company policies. OpenAI, the organization that developed ChatGPT, may have specific reasons for limiting distribution in some regions. The native application will certainly come to us too, but in the meantime we don’t think we need to complain too much about it.