ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot by OpenAI will reportedly offer a home-screen widget for Android. The report comes at a time when generative AI tools are getting big releases. Google recently introduced the Gemini 1.5 version, while Copilot is reported to get default assistant capability on Android. Bhavish Aggarwal’s startup Krutrim also rolled out its platform in a public beta. With the widget, OpenAI will increase the accessibility of its app.
Tipster Mishaal Rahman shared details about this development on X (formerly known as Twitter). He said, “ChatGPT for Android now has a home screen widget. The widget has shortcuts to send a text/image/voice query or start conversation mode.” Notably, this feature is currently in a beta version and not yet available to the public.
Rahman also shared a screenshot of the widget that sheds light on more details. The home-screen widget appears to come in a 4×2 grid style. For reference, this is as wide as the Google Search widget but double its height. There is a text field to write queries and prompts and four icons underneath it. These icons allow users to upload an image, click an image, turn on speech input mode, and an option to receive verbal responses.
These are the most frequently used features on the app and unless a user wants to explore GPTs or use premium features, the widget should be sufficient. The primary benefit of the widget is that users can boot up the app for a quick query without needing to occupy the full screen. This means the user is free to multitask while the response is generated.
Earlier this month, OpenAI added a new feature for ChatGPT that adds long-term memory to the AI app. With this feature, users can ask the AI assistant to remember their preferred length of essays, writing styles, where they work, if they own a business and more. OpenAI highlighted that users will hold full control of the feature and can toggle memory on or off as per their preference. While memory is off, ChatGPT will not create or use memory. Alternatively, users can use the temporary chat feature to have a conversation without memory or history.
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