You Can Now Use ChatGPT As Your Default Android Assistant
The pace of AI development doesn’t seem to be slowing down, and every week we see a flurry of updates for major applications and models. One of the latest updates makes it easier to integrate ChatGPT into Android: you can now set it as the default digital assistant on your phone or tablet.
As Android Authority noted, for now you’ll need to install the ChatGPT beta for Android for this to work, although the feature will no doubt roll out to everyone over time. If you prefer ChatGPT to answer your questions about life, the universe and everything else, this will make it easier to access.
To access the ChatGPT beta, you must already have ChatGPT for Android installed. Next, open the Play Store on Android, tap your profile picture (top right) and select Manage apps & device > Manage . Select ChatGPT to see its full listing page, after which you will see a Join Beta box where you can click Join .
The usual beta rules apply: you get access to the latest features first, but you may also discover more bugs as you go. In a few minutes, once you register as a ChatGPT beta tester, you’ll see an update to the app and can get started.
To change the default assistant to ChatGPT or any other app on Android, open Settings and Apps . You can then tap “Default apps” (on Pixels) or “Select default apps” (on Galaxy phones) to find the Digital Assistant app option. On the next screen, tap Digital Assistant App again to make your selection.
Using ChatGPT as your default assistant
Changing this setting does not give ChatGPT any additional functionality – it simply means that the AI bot can be launched in the same ways you would normally launch Gemini. This could be a long press on the power button or a swipe up from the bottom right corner of the screen, depending on how your device is configured, although you can’t use the “Hey ChatGPT” voice shortcut.
This will work for all ChatGPT users, whether you’ve signed up for a paid plan or not, although the features and underlying AI models you’ll get once you launch ChatGPT will depend on your subscription level. The bot appears on the screen as a floating blue circle and enters Gemini Live voice mode, which is now available to everyone, so you can have a two-way conversation with it.
Keep in mind the limitations of ChatGPT as a digital assistant at the moment: it doesn’t have the same feature set as Google Gemini when it comes to connecting to Android and your other apps. You can’t use ChatGPT to set timers or add events to Google Calendar, for example, and you can’t queue songs in Spotify .
On the other hand, you can talk about almost any topic imaginable (beware of hallucinations) and get information available on the Internet, such as the latest sports scores or the local weather forecast for your part of the world. You can use ChatGPT to create text, images, and anything else a chatbot can do.
There are no doubt many more improvements to come before OpenAI implements this option into the stable ChatGPT application. It’s an interesting contrast to the iPhone: It’s unlikely that Apple will ever allow an alternative app to take Siri’s place as the default assistant, even if you can now access ChatGPT through Siri.