ChatGPT

OpenAI unveiled its ChatGPT app for Macs at its most recent launch event where it also unveiled GPT-4o, a multi-modal LLM that manages to be significantly faster than previous iterations of the GPT language model. The Mac application was said to bring most of the features available on iPhones to your desktop, with the biggest being an instant-access hotkey that you can access at any time.

To bring up ChatGPT in your normal workflows, pressing a key combination of Option + Space will bring up a window like Spotlight search, except it goes straight to ChatGPT instead. It’s a game-changer and makes using ChatGPT in your day-to-day life even easier if you use a Mac.

ChatGPT’s Mac application is a big deal

It can screenshot applications running on your Mac

ChatGPT’s Mac app manages to make it even more convenient to use the service, and essentially baking it into the system (in a way indistinguishable from other applications) is what makes it especially appealing. There’s an even better integration though, and that’s the ability for the ChatGPT app to take screenshots of other applications running on your Mac.

To do that, you’ll need to give it access to see what’s on your screen. The first time you try to take a screenshot it’ll tell you how to do that, but then once you’ve given it access, it will be able to see what’s happening in other applications and describe them through its multi-modal abilities. For example, I chose to take a screenshot of my Terminal application when I was pinging Google, and it worked perfectly.

This is great for users who want to ask ChatGPT to help with code debugging, understanding pictures, or more. It makes it a part of your system in a way that it wasn’t previously, as it would only work through your web browser. Plus, you had to manually screenshot and submit the image to ChatGPT, whereas this application can screenshot an application directly without any user intervention.

If you’re looking to get access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Mac application, It’s starting to roll out to users now, and you might be able to access it if you have a ChatGPT Plus subscription.

OpenAI’s Mac app makes Siri even more redundant

It’s really easy to use

In the above screenshot, you can see what happens when I press the Option key and Spacebar. That bar looks very similar to Spotlight, except it’s a gateway to AI goodies rather than a way to search your laptop. It’s significantly better than anything Siri can offer on my laptop, and while I don’t ever use Siri, I could definitely find myself using ChatGPT for quick look-ups and questions with a hotkey as easily accessible as this.

If you want to give the ChatGPT Mac application a try, you can check out ChatGPT to see if you’re prompted to give it a try. If you’re a Windows user, OpenAI says that the official app for Windows will be coming later this year.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is one of the best LLMs out there, and it’s completely free to use. You’ll need to make an account, but there’s not much else to it.