OpenAI announces more ChatGPT integrations with macOS.
OpenAI has added enhanced integration of ChatGPT with macOS for search, writing, coding, and more. This is what you need to know.
In March, OpenAI announced better integration with macOS apps called “Work with Apps on macOS.” The new features work with all tiers of ChatGPT, including the free tier.
With the new version (1.2025.057), pressing Option + Space or clicking the ChatGPT icon in the menu bar enables ChatGPT to work with running apps. You may also notice a new “Work with Apps” button in the ChatGPT interface in active apps.
Work with Apps on macOS integrates with Xcode and third-party IDEs such as Visual Studio Code, JetBrains, Android Studio and more. It also works with macOS Notes, TextEdit, the macOS Terminal, iTerm, Warp, and Panic’s Prompt.
After each use, ChatGPT summarizes what it suggested in each app in the main chat interface.
Enabling ChatGPT for Visual Studio Code requires installing a VS Code extension to query content.
You can view a list of which apps on your Mac are compatible by opening Settings->Work with Apps->Manage Apps.
Search results remain in your OpenAI account chat history until you delete them. Once you delete them from your chat history, they remain in OpenAI’s system for thirty days, at which point they are deleted forever.
OpenAI has a Data Controls page which describes how chat data is stored and deleted.
Editing in place
You can ask ChatGPT to make any code changes in your IDE. If you don’t like what it did, it’s easy to undo with the usual Mac command key combo of Command-Z to revert any changes.
There’s also the option of asking ChatGPT to suggest changes to code, then you can manually insert the changes.
ChatGPT first makes a “diff” in your code for each change, detailing its proposals so you can review and approve changes before it goes ahead and makes them. These new improvements are far easier than cutting and pasting suggested code from ChatGPT into the IDE.
You can also tell ChatGPT you only want it to make suggestions for a range of code by selecting it first in your IDE. ChatGPT will then focus only on that selected code block.
You can turn off the Works with Apps feature entirely by toggling the “Enable Work with Apps” switch in ChatGPT settings on macOS. This removes the button from the main ChatGPT interface.
Voice control
ChatGPT also has some improvements to Advanced Voice Control – most notably in opening and selecting apps. However, it still doesn’t yet support code editing via voice control – the feature most developers are waiting for.
To use Advanced Voice Control, click the Wave icon in the chat bar to start a voice session.
The Advanced Voice Control interface when working with apps.
Using your data for model training
OpenAI does state that by default, data saved in your chat history may be used to train OpenAI’s models.
You can opt out of this behavior by turning off the “Improve the model for everyone” setting in ChatGPT settings. Doing so prevents OpenAI from using your data for model training.
For more information on this, see OpenAI’s Data usage for consumer services FAQ.
There’s also a Temporary Chat feature which forces ChatGPT to ignore any previous chat history. This effectively gives you a clean slate to work with.
Overall, the new ChatGPT integration features make using it for editing smoother and more seamless. Automatically making changes to code is a big improvement, even if the much-awaited voice editing feature is still in the works.
#started #ChatGPTs #Work #Apps #macOS
