At first glance, no big surprise: the interface is very close to that of the web and mobile versions. But here, the large screen and keyboard make it easy to have long discussions or send images for analysis. Small downside, the limit of free interactions remains the same. If you chat too much with the bot, it may nicely ask you to wait or upgrade to the Plus plan.
Smarter ChatGPT on Mac
For premium users at $20 per month, the app makes perfect sense. With a dedicated window on the desktop, it fits easily into a workflow. Useful for pros who juggle multiple tasks. And let's face it, this gives a serious boost against Copilot, Microsoft's integrated artificial intelligence. If ChatGPT is acclaimed for its simplicity and user-friendliness, Microsoft is banking more on omnipresent AI in its ecosystem, from the taskbar to Office via Paint.
On the other side of the technology fence, OpenAI has launched a feature for macOS that will please developers. On Mac, the ChatGPT application can now read the content of certain programming tools such as VS Code, Xcode, TextEdit or even Terminal. No more endless copying and pasting to send lines of code to the bot: it can now directly analyze the context of your project.
Be careful though, ChatGPT cannot yet write code directly in your applications. He just helps in the background. This feature, called “Work with Apps”, uses the macOS Accessibility API, a reliable system but limited to texts. Images or visual elements remain out of reach for the moment.
For some tools, like VS Code, a special extension is required to enable this feature. On the practical side, the bot can process up to 200 lines of code or the entire content of an active window. If you need precision, you can also select a specific section.
Available only to Plus and Teams subscribers, this new feature is one step closer to integrating ChatGPT into other applications. And although there is still a long way to go before we see an AI capable of managing an entire computer screen, this step paves the way for more comprehensive systems in the future.
If Windows and macOS each welcome their improvements, OpenAI does not stop there. Rumors suggest the launch of a “general agent” called “Operator” in 2025, designed to compete with similar projects at Google or Anthropic.
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