The ChatGPT app for Mac just got this helpful new feature

By Andrew Tarantola August 8, 2024

The OpenAI desktop app showing the text input window — OpenAI

OpenAI’s recently released Mac desktop app is getting a bit easier to use. The company has announced that the program will now offer side-by-side access to the ChatGPT text prompt when you press Option + Space.

The desktop version offers nearly identical functionality to the web-based iteration. Users can chat directly with the AI, query the system using natural language prompts in either text or voice, search through previous conversations, and upload documents and images for analysis. You can even take screenshots of either the entire screen or just a single window, for upload.

In one example provided by the company, a user snaps a screenshot of some computer code they’re working on and has ChatGPT analyze it, then provide suggestions on how to improve it.

The desktop app for macOS now gives you side-by-side access to ChatGPT. Use Option + Space to open a companion window, which stays in front so you can use it more easily when working with other apps. https://t.co/8jQ8cnBpda

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) August 6, 2024

Now, while the app runs locally, the machine learning still happens in OpenAI’s cloud, so you will need an internet connection to use it. You’ll also need to be running macOS 14 and Apple Silicon M1 or better (a Windows iteration is expected later this year.)

As you can see in the announcement video above, the desktop version even holds a few advantages over the online one. Users don’t actually have to upload entire documents for analysis, for example. You can simply highlight a selection of the document, then ask ChatGPT about it directly through the local text window.

And while it doesn’t (yet) offer Advanced Voice Mode, the desktop version does allow users to use the existing Standard Voice Mode, which still brings us tantalizingly close to a future where we can regularly start conversations by shouting “Computer!“

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Andrew Tarantola

Computing Writer

Andrew has spent more than a decade reporting on emerging technologies ranging from robotics and machine learning to space…

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