Before you know it, ChatGPT has added another button, officially named "Work with APPs." Let's just call it the "App Assistant" for now. OpenAI is constantly rolling out new features for ChatGPT. Indeed, as a super-app ranked eighth in daily active users, its positioning as a new entry point is becoming increasingly solid.
In my ChatGPT for Mac, a new button has appeared next to the search button in the chat box: "Work with APPs." Clicking the button allows you to connect with certain applications. Since I have VS Code and iTerm open, I can "connect" by clicking the plus sign on the right.
Of course, it can also connect to some applications I haven't opened, such as the built-in macOS Terminal, TextEdit, and Apple's official IDE, Xcode. So, my first impression is that instead of calling it an "App Assistant," wouldn't "Code Assistant" be more appropriate?
The connection method with VS Code is more traditional than I expected; it requires downloading a VS Code plugin from a link provided by OpenAI and then installing it within VS Code.
Though traditional, it is relatively smooth. Before trying it, I had some expectations: 1. Could it directly fill in shell commands in iTerm? 2. Could it directly modify code in VS Code? Unfortunately, it does neither. The results are still confined to the chat dialog box, with no cross-app operation capability. Perhaps the rumored "Operator" feature, expected early next year, will realize these ideas.
There was also a small surprise: "o1-preview" is available in the subsequent model selection. While this likely still isn't multimodal (I assume it's data transfer between apps rather than reading the screen), it signifies that OpenAI is gradually lifting restrictions on o1.
From the results, its code understanding and rewriting capabilities are sufficiently competent, though manual copy-pasting is still required. However, this is expected behavior for ChatGPT and doesn't warrant special praise.
In my series from last week, AI programmers and AI search were identified as the two most important AI applications. OpenAI seems to agree, as evidenced by the sequence of their functional expansions.
AI Challenge 2025 Part 1: AI Programmers, Inspired by bolt.new
AI Challenge 2025 Part 2: AI Search, Android Might Supplant Google Search
However, at this point in time, OpenAI's release of such a "half-finished" feature is clearly a bit late:
Regarding model capability, Claude 3.5's coding ability significantly surpasses GPT, a gap that is palpably felt in daily use of the Cursor IDE.
Regarding applications, AI programming tools are becoming ubiquitous—VS Code's Copilot, Cursor (used daily by many programmers), the newly released Windsurf Cascade (Codeium), plus Vercel, Bolt.new, and countless others. For OpenAI to release a feature that cannot integrate with the IDE now is too late.
Of course, considering ChatGPT's unique traffic advantage, OpenAI still has a very long window for "experimentation": to some extent, any innovation by potential competitors serves as a pathfinder for OpenAI.
And, naturally, they are also paving the way for Apple and Google.
I once believed that if an AI super-terminal existed, an AI super-app might not be necessary. But given constraints like computing power and data, AI super-apps will continue to exist.
I look forward to ChatGPT continuing to iterate new features rapidly, as there is only one factor truly constraining OpenAI: Microsoft.