- The official app for OpenAI ChatGPT is now available for Windows 11 and 10 users and is more than just a web wrapper.
- The Windows app has the same functionalities as the web version, but you also get the companion chat experience, the ability to upload screenshots and photos, and you can use voice mode.
The official ChatGPT app from OpenAI is now available for subscribers and free users with a Windows 11 (or 10) computer, and while the native app looks almost exactly the same as the web experience, I’m surprised that it comes with some additional features.
The ChatGPT app is another way OpenAI allows users to interact with its chatbot AI directly from their Windows computers, and even though you can access the advanced language model from your web browser, the native app has some additional benefits.
Companion chat
One of the key features of the ChatGPT app is quick access to the chatbot directly from your desktop using the “Alt + Space” keyboard shortcut without opening the web browser.
The companion chat is the same app but has a smaller interface that stays on top of your applications.
Using the shortcut, you can have even quicker access to chatbot AI. If the keyboard shortcut is already in use, or you want to use a different key combo, you can change the ChatGPT shortcut from the “App” settings page.
Also, once you install the ChatGPT app on your computer, you can right-click it and choose the “Pin to Taskbar” option so that the chatbot is always one click away.
Screenshots and photos upload
Another advantage of the OpenAI chatbot app is the additional options for uploading and analyzing images. For example, on the web version of the chatbot, you can only upload files on the web, but when using the ChatGPT app for Windows 11, you can also take and upload screenshots or photos using the webcam.
If you want to take a screenshot of something on the screen to allow ChatGPT to analyze, you have to click the “Attach files” button in the text prompt and choose the “Take screenshot” option.
When you select the option, the app will leverage the Snipping Tool app already available on Windows 11 to help you take a screenshot of the entire or part of the screen or a specific window.
Once the screenshot is taken, the file will attach to the prompt. You can compose a question or anything you want to ask about the image and press Enter to submit.
If you want to take a photo of an object or your surroundings, click the “Attach files” button in the text prompt and choose the “Take photo” option.
When you select the option, the Camera app built into Windows 11 will open to help you take the picture, which is then attached to the text prompt. You can compose a question about the image and press Enter to submit.
Voice conversations
If you install the ChatGPT app on your computer, you will also be able to access the “Voice mode,” which allows you to interact with the chatbot AI using voice instead of text prompts.
This feature aims to make conversations with the chatbot more human-like. You can even interrupt the AI to cancel, rephrase, add, or change topics.
To get started with the ChatGPT voice mode, click the “Use Voice mode” button in the text prompt. If this is the first time accessing this mode, you will have to allow the chatbot access to the microphone, camera (but the chatbot doesn’t offer a vision feature), and firewall for cloud communication.
You can also click the button from the top-right to access the settings to change the voice. ChatGPT offers nine different voice types, including Sol, Cove, Breeze, Juniper, Ember, Vale, Maple, Arbor, and Spruce.
Once you have selected the voice type, click the microphone button and start the conversation. Click the microphone button again to mute or the End button to switch back to the text prompt.
It’s important to note that your voice conversations are kept as chats in the chatbot history.
I’m only including the app capabilities over the web version for Windows users. This guide isn’t about the capabilities of the chatbot, including ChatGPT Search, which is only available for subscribers.