ChatGPT's Free Mac App Is Actually Pretty Cool

When OpenAI first rolled out the ChatGPT app for Mac, it was exclusive to ChatGPT Plus subscribers. Unless you paid $20 per month, you needed to stick to the web app or the one on your smartphone. As of Tuesday, however, the Mac app is now free for everyone. And, honestly, you should probably give it a go.

At first glance, OpenAI's Mac app offers the usual ChatGPT experience you're used to. When you log in, you'll find all your previous conversations saved to the sidebar, just as they are in the web and mobile apps. You can type your prompts in the text field, use the mic button to ask questions with your voice, and click the headphones icon to enter Voice mode. (Not the "Her" Voice mode, mind you: That feature has been delayed.) You can also use features like Temporary Chats (conversations that don't pull from your chat history), change your GPT model, generate images with DALL-E, and access GPTs.

A better experience than the web app

But there are some Mac-specific features that make this particular app worth using over the web option. First, in addition to uploading files and photos to ChatGPT, you can take a screenshot of any open window on your Mac directly from the app. If you click on the paperclip icon, and select Take Screenshot, you can select an active window from the pop-up list to share with ChatGPT. (The first time you do this, you'll need to grant the ChatGPT app access to screen recording.)

Alternatively, you can take a screenshot of the window manually, then share it to ChatGPT as an image, but this skips a step and makes the bot feel a bit more integrated with macOS.

But what's even more convenient, in my opinion, is the ChatGPT "launcher." This launcher is essentially Spotlight search, but for ChatGPT. Using a keyboard shortcut, you can bring up a ChatGPT text field directly over any window you're currently using on macOS to start a conversation with the bot. You'll then be taken to the app to continue chatting. This basically saves you the step of switching out of the current app you're in and starting a new thread in ChatGPT; if you see something on your Mac you want to know more about, you can hit Option + Spacebar, type your query, and get started.

This launcher also has the same paperclip icon as the app itself, which means you can upload files and take screenshots directly from the shortcut. If you're a ChatGPT power user, this launcher should be a welcome feature. (I don't even use ChatGPT that much, and I really like it.)

Unfortunately, OpenAI is only making the ChatGPT app available on M-series Macs—the machines running Apple silicon. If you have an older Intel-based Mac, you'll still have to head to the web app in order to use ChatGPT on your computer.

If you have a Mac with an M1 chip or newer, you can download the app from OpenAI's download site.