Not a big fan of texting? You can now let ChatGPT do that for you
Android users say they feel left behind.
Apple Messages app. Image by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
- OpenAI added Apple Messages support to ChatGPT’s macOS desktop app, letting it read, draft, send, and summarize messages.
- The feature requires user permission and runs locally, but users still raised concerns about access to private conversations.
- Some users criticized OpenAI for prioritizing Apple and macOS while Android and Windows users wait for similar tools.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
ChatGPT can now read and answer your iMessages, but some users ask at what cost.
OpenAI has introduced a new ChatGPT feature, which allows the AI agent to manage Apple Messages.
The feature, or the Apple Messages plugin, is available to all macOS users of ChatGPT who use the desktop app.
Once enabled, ChatGPT can read, write, and send text messages via Apple iMessages. The feature can also go through messages to create summaries or get information about conversations that take place from Apple Messages.
However, “it doesn’t let you interact with ChatGPT remotely through Messages, and it doesn’t work in regular ChatGPT chats,” noted OpenAI.
The company shared that the Messages plugin is available on ChatGPT Work, an AI productivity agent, and Code.
The feature works only after the user grants ChatGPT permission to read messages and recipients. OpenAI also added that Apple Messages runs on a user's Mac and it isn’t “directly available in ChatGPT on the web or mobile, Codex CLI, or the IDE extension.”
ChatGPT + Apple?
“Does OpenAI have some kind of deal with Apple? Or are all ChatGPT users/employees on iOS? [...] iOS gets so much love while Android is so behind,” wrote one X user, who noticed that the company doesn’t release features for Android users.
“No Windows yet? All that compute and progress, you would think we would get to a point of simultaneous releases? What can be done to get to this level of continuous improvement?” added another user.
Recently, OpenAI also introduced another feature for Mac users called Computer History, which tracks user activity on the device and provides insights into their habits, helping to find the task they were last working on or turn repetitive tasks into “skills” or “automations.”
While users were disappointed that the latest feature works only on iOS, others raised privacy concerns.
“One crazy privacy aspect no one is talking about here yet: labs will now be crawling through all your personal messages. Group chats from 10 years ago, private texts, things you thought were private when you sent them,” wrote one user.
While in this particular case the company shared that no information leaves the device and that users must grant permissions, Redditors note that ChatGPT is becoming more invasive.
“I get regular pop-ups in ChatGPT to link my bank account now,” wrote one Reddit user.
“Chat had the nerve to ask me to sync to my health app last week as well,” added another netizen.
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FAQ about the ChatGPT Apple Messages feature
What can the plugin actually do, and does it work on my device?
The plugin works with iMessage, SMS, and RCS, and can read, search, draft, send, and delete messages. It is currently available only in the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS on Apple Silicon Macs (not Intel) and is accessible across all ChatGPT plans, including ChatGPT Work and Codex.
Is it safe? What happens to my messages? Does OpenAI see them?
OpenAI states the plugin runs locally on the user's machine and does not create an index of all messages. However, the feature's potential to upload Apple customer data to OpenAI's network raises significant privacy questions.
Can ChatGPT send messages without permission?
By default, ChatGPT requires explicit user approval before sending any message. OpenAI strongly discourages enabling "persistent approval," warning that doing so "removes your final chance to review a message before ChatGPT sends it as you."
FAQ by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
