When OpenAI When we released desktop app versions of ChatGPT, it was clear that the goal was to encourage more users to integrate ChatGPT into their each day workflows. Now, recent updates to Mac OS and Windows PC versions encourage users to remain within the ChatGPT apps for many of their tasks.
Some users of ChatGPT on Mac OS can now open third-party applications directly from the app. ChatGPT Plus and Teams subscribers – ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu users coming soon – can access VS Code, Xcode, Terminal and iTerm2 from a drop-down menu.
This type of integration jogs my memory GitHub Copilot's integration with coding platforms was announced in October.
Alexander Embiricos, product lead for the ChatGPT desktop team, said one in all the most important user behaviors the corporate saw was copying and pasting text or code generation using ChatGPT into other applications. Embiricos was CEO of Multi, a screen sharing and collaboration startup that was acquired by OpenAI in June.
“We wanted to begin integrating with (integrated development environments) IDEs because we all know lots of our customers are developers, as we saw a variety of text-based material being copied from the app and pasted into other platforms,” Embiricos said.
He added that OpenAI desired to give attention to privacy when constructing the integrations, so the third-party apps would only be opened manually.
Users can start coding with ChatGPT and select VS Code within the app. Once launched, VS Code will open with the identical code that was worked on. Embiricos said in theory that users can open multiple third-party apps while using ChatGPT on Mac.
Currently, third-party app integration is barely available on Mac OS, but Embiricos said PC users will eventually get this feature as well. OpenAI also plans to expand the variety of apps in the long run.
The Windows PC doesn't lag behind
The Windows PC version of the ChatGPT desktop app is now available for download to all ChatGPT users following its limited release to subscribers. In addition to expanding the user base, OpenAI has updated the PC app with access to enhanced voice mode and screenshot capabilities.
Embiricos said customers have been asking them to make use of Enhanced Voice Mode on the desktop for a while, which is why they desired to give attention to the feature for the PC app. The screenshot feature also takes advantage of some specific features of Windows computers, allowing users to decide on which windows they need to take a photograph of.
“ChatGPT can after all understand what you describe to it, but once you add a photograph to your chat, the responses are more extensive, and we see that many users copy and paste photos into ChatGPT, so adding a screenshot option achieves that “Easier,” Embiricos said.
Many of the Mac OS desktop app's features will even be available on PC, but Embiricos noted that the team was initially focused on making the PC app more widely available.
Interfaces are the brand new battlefield
Chat interfaces like ChatGPT proved incredibly useful for a big selection of users, but before the appearance of desktop versions, users needed to go to a web site to generate text, code, or photos and push chat responses into the applying the one you’re currently working with.
So it's no surprise that corporations like OpenAI need to capture a bigger portion of their customer base by bringing their workflows closer to their user interface.
GitHub has made this possible through its integrations with VS Code and Xcode. While Anthropic's Claude doesn't integrate with third-party apps, it has created artifacts so users don't need to go elsewhere to see what their generated webpage looks like. OpenAI followed with Canvas, which works similarly.
Meanwhile, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has just integrated its Q Developer AI assistant into the favored IDEs Visual Studio Code and JetBrains as an inline suggestion and code completion add-on, allowing them to focus on parts of their code and directions directly can enter the LLM without having to modify to a different screen.
App integration is nothing recent for software, with many corporations often collaborating to bring services where users are. For example, Slack includes apps from Zoom, Atlassian, Asana and Google that may be accessed inside a chat window.
