ChatGPT for iOS gets a whole lot better with these cool new features

 Following.  Like how it is implemented so far. 

ChatGPT for iOS gets a whole lot better with these cool new features   By Muskaan Saxena published about 6 hours ago

OpenAI has announced a few new updates for the iOS app, which include Shortcut integration and accessibility improvements. This is a positive step forward when it comes to bringing ChatGPT closer to our everyday lives.

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot that generates text responses to answer your queries. It's gained massive popularity in recent months, providing the backbone for Microsoft's Bing AI search and can be used to draft letters, correct copy, make jokes and a whole lot more.

The new updates announced by OpenAI will now allow you to create a ChatGPT prompt in Shortcuts and save it as a link between the artificial intelligence tool and other apps on your phone.  If you're unfamiliar with iOS Shortcuts, the app allows you to automate simple tasks to save you time. For example, getting directions to the next event in your calendar. you'd create the Shortcut so that when you have an event in your calendar, you'll automatically have directions pop up with a simple Siri command.

You can ask ChatGPT to answer a problem or look something up and message whatever you find to a friend or save it as a note. Shortcuts on Apple devices have allowed users to really customise their iPhones and iPads, so it’ll be interesting to see how people weave ChatGPT into this creativity.

Another notable update is the increased integration Siri now has with ChatGPT. You can now ask Siri to bring up the ChatGPT app or create these shortcuts. This may not be the ChatGPT/Siri romance we’ve been waiting for, but it is a start, at least.

You can also now drag and drop messages out of the ChatGPT app's interface and drop it into other apps on your phones. So, if you get a response you want to share with your friends or drop it into your email or notes app you can hold the response, drag and drop it into the desired app and boom! No more tedious copy and paste.  ... ' 

Privacy Problem on the iPhone with ChatGPT

 Been working for a few days now with ChatGPT on the iPhone, nicely done, but then came this. warning for now,  lets fix it!

The ChatGPT iPhone App from OpenAI Has a Glaring Privacy Problem: The Company Can Read Your ConversationsThe app warns you not to send personal information in your prompts.

BY JASON ATEN, TECH COLUMNIST

On Thursday, OpenAI released an iOS app for ChatGPT and it quickly became the most popular free app in the App Store. That's not surprising considering some reports suggest ChatGPT had more than 100 million users in January--just two months after it launched. That would make it the fastest-growing technology product of all time. 

For comparison, it took Facebook four and a half years to reach that number. Even TikTok took nine months. 

Until now, almost all of the usage of ChatGPT has been done in a browser on a laptop or desktop computer. There was no mobile app available, and accessing the website on your iPhone wasn't ideal.

At the same time, there have been plenty of imposter apps attempting to capitalize on the fact that so many people are paying attention to generative A.I. and exploring what it can do. It makes sense that OpenAI would want to get its own app out in the world. 

The official app comes with a few cool features. First, there's the fact that it's free (there's a paid upgrade to ChatGPT Plus which gets you access to OpenAI's latest language model). Considering that many of the existing apps charge a weekly subscription fee--making them very expensive if not outright scams--having an official app that doesn't cost anything is a welcome development.

The other feature is that you can talk to ChatGPT. ChatGPT can't actually process audio prompts, so the feature will convert your speech to text and send it like any other question. For a conversational A.I. product, being able to simply say what you want to ask is a great feature.

The iOS app does, however, come with one important tradeoff that users should be aware of. It's a big enough deal that the app prompts you the first time you open it. In addition to a caution that ChatGPT may just make things up, there's another warning about sharing personal information because "Anonymized chats may be reviewed by our Al trainers to improve our systems."  .... ' 

Merlin AI Launches First ChatGPT iOS and Android Mobile App

MerlinAI and IOS For a ChatGPT  

Merlin AI Launches First ChatGPT iOS and Android Mobile App

ERIC HAL SCHWARTZ on December 23, 2022 

Mobile app developer Dogtown Media has introduced what it claims is the first iOS and Android app using OpenAI’s ChatGPT.  The free Merlin AI app offers a way to interact with the ChatGPT AI, without navigating to the website. However, OpenAI hasn’t yet offered an API for ChatGPT. Unless OpenAI gave Dogtown Media special access to an otherwise unavailable API, the app either acts as a messenger between the user and ChatGPT’s online home, or the app uses GPT-3 or GPT-3.5 API and the marketing is just capitalizing on ChatGPT’s popularity. We’ve reached out to Dogtown for clarification on the matter.

CHATGPT MOBILE

At first glance, the Merlin AI app is a very straight recreation of ChatGPT with a simple blank area to type requests. One notable difference is that the response comes all at once in a block rather than simulating a very fast typer the way ChatGPT performs on the website. The conversational element is there too as the AI responds in the context of the ongoing discussion and the entire conversation is visible in the app. Dogtown envisions Merlin AI’s mobile ChatGPT as a potential replacement for Google search, using conversation instead of links to other pages with answers.

“Until now, no native mobile app for OpenAI’s ChatGPT has existed. Merlin AI, powered by ChatGPT, has the capability to disrupt the global economic order in record time, changing how we interface with each other in business and our personal lives,” Dogtown Media CEO Marc Fischer said in a statement. “People across the globe can now download the most pivotal natural language ChatBot App ever made and jump into the AI conversation.” ... ' 

IOS Lockdown Mode for Security

Interesting approach by Apple to make IOS more secure, at a cost.  Useful for some users that are particularly susceptible to external threats.     Here an intro from Apple. 

An iPhone screen shows the new Lockdown Mode capability.

Lockdown Mode is the first major capability of its kind designed to offer an extreme, optional protection for the very small number of users who face grave, targeted threats to their digital security.

Apple today detailed two initiatives to help protect users who may be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats, such as those from private companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware. Lockdown Mode — the first major capability of its kind, coming this fall with iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura — is an extreme, optional protection for the very small number of users who face grave, targeted threats to their digital security. Apple also shared details about the $10 million cybersecurity grant it announced last November to support civil society organizations that conduct mercenary spyware threat research and advocacy.

“Apple makes the most secure mobile devices on the market. Lockdown Mode is a groundbreaking capability that reflects our unwavering commitment to protecting users from even the rarest, most sophisticated attacks,” said Ivan Krstić, Apple’s head of Security Engineering and Architecture. “While the vast majority of users will never be the victims of highly targeted cyberattacks, we will work tirelessly to protect the small number of users who are. That includes continuing to design defenses specifically for these users, as well as supporting researchers and organizations around the world doing critically important work in exposing mercenary companies that create these digital attacks.”

Lockdown Mode offers an extreme, optional level of security for the very few users who, because of who they are or what they do, may be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats, such as those from NSO Group and other private companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware. Turning on Lockdown Mode in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura further hardens device defenses and strictly limits certain functionalities, sharply reducing the attack surface that potentially could be exploited by highly targeted mercenary spyware.  ... ' 

IOS Shortcuts For Analytics Management?

Examining the possible use of IOS Shortcuts for the management of data, analytical and ML solutions to be tested on an Iphone.  My specialty. See:  https://support.apple.com/guide/shortcuts/welcome/ios   My first involvement in using shortcuts.  Have any ideas, want to participate?   Let me know.

Comparative Mobile Security IOS vs Android

Steve Gibson does a good job looking at security in smartphones in a recent Twit.TV.  Reviewing the work by Matthew Green at Johns Hopkins.

Comparative SmartPhone Security  from  talk notes  on Twit.TV podcast #603

A team of security researchers at Johns Hopkins, led by cryptographer, security technologist and associate professor of computer science, our friend Matthew Green, decided to take a serious look at the comparative security offered by the Apple iOS vs Google Android smartphone platforms.

To host the results of their analysis they grabbed the domain securephones.io. ...

Resources:  https://securephones.io/      https://securephones.io/main.html    https://securephones.io/main.pdf

Texting to Alexa

 Noted for using voice in specific context.   Say for the need of privacy in conversation. 

Amazon now lets you text Alexa on iOS to ask for things instead of only using your voice  By Chaim Gartenberg    in MSN.com  via Walter Riker

Amazon is testing a new feature for its iOS Alexa app: the ability to type out Alexa commands, instead of having to ask questions or requests by speaking out loud.

“Type with Alexa is a Public Preview feature available to iOS Alexa app customers allowing you to interact with Alexa without using voice, meaning everything you can currently say to Alexa can now also be typed using your Alexa mobile app. Type with Alexa is available to iOS customers in the U.S.,” said an Amazon spokesperson. ... " 

Microsoft Defender Expands

Been a user of Defender for some time now, as long as it has been available..  It seems to work,   at least in the fact that no malware has gotten through recently, that I know about.   Good to have multiple capabilities at work.

Microsoft’s Defender security software is coming to iOS and Android
It’s available for Linux today.    By  Christine Fisher, @cfisherwrites in Engadget

Despite Apple and Google's best efforts, malware and malicious apps are still a big concern on iOS and Android. So today, Microsoft announced that it's bringing its Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) to the mobile operating systems. In other words, Microsoft is stepping in to fix a problem that Apple and Google can't seem to resolve.   .... " 

Siri and Shortcuts

Just been asked to look at Siri shortcuts as a means of implementing knowledge for both the smarthome and business.   Apple  is starting to push their ‘shortcuts’ extension to Siri. It is run via a Shortcuts app you download.  Based on their head start Siri should be better than it is. I have previously found Siri to be different than intelligence implementations like Amazon or Google's but not significantly better.   The 'Shortcut' idea is a means to more conveniently implement steps in some process,  but will it provide valuable enhancement for reasoning?  It appears to wholly exist within the Apple IOS ecosystem.  Anyone look at this?  Results to follow here.

See intro to shortcuts for developers here.   Plus links to other overviews.

Google Lens Can Detect a Billion Objects

I noted that the IOS version of Google Lens has been updated to a more stable condition..  Impressive capabilities.  Been experimenting with it to construct reference images for machine learning experiments.   Images will be captured from sources like broadcasts and other advertising resources. 

The claim is that Google Lens 'can now detect over 1 Billion objects': Quote and more from Techspot.

Apple and GE Join for Industrial Mobile IOS

Apple isn't known for industrial, so this is an interesting spin.   Note also the predictive spin using I assume machine learning.  Much more about the work at the link.   I was an early tester of GE Predix, and its aimed at this kind of application.   See much more at tags on it here.

Apple and GE join forces to build industrial apps for mobile devices   By Maria Deutscher

 Apple Inc. and General Electric Co., two companies that have vastly different business priorities most of the time, are joining forces in the mobile market.

With a new partnership announced this morning, the two companies will collaborate on targeting professionals in the industrial sector who use iOS devices for their work. The alliance revolves around Predix, the cloud platform that GE has developed to help organizations analyze sensor data from physical assets such as manufacturing equipment. According to the company, this information can be employed for everything from usage tracking to predicting technical problems in advance.  .... " 
And more in TechRepublic.

Improving Siris Voice

Looking forward to this change.  Voice can imply intelligence and empathy, and is a very meaningful feature.

How Apple Finally Made Siri Sound mode Human   By David Pierce in Wired

" ... This fall, when iOS 11 hits millions of iPhones and iPads around the world, the new software will give Siri a new voice. It doesn't include many new features or tell better jokes, but you'll notice the difference. Siri now takes more pauses in sentences, elongates syllables right before a pause, and the speech lilts up and down as it speaks. The words sound more fluid and Siri speaks more languages, too. It's nicer to listen to, and to talk to.

Apple spent years re-architecting the technology behind Siri, transforming it from a virtual assistant into the catch-all term for all the artificial intelligence powering your phone. It has relentlessly expanded into new countries and languages (for all its faults, Siri's by far the most worldly assistant on the market). And slowly at first but more quickly now, Apple has worked to make Siri available anywhere and everywhere. Siri now falls under the control of Craig Federighi, Apple's head of software, indicating that Siri's now as important to Apple as iOS.    .... " 

My posts on virtual assistants. 

Apple and Augmented Reality

We have seen AR demonstrated on the phone for a long time, but it has not broken through to real value or common use.   Is that about to change?

Apple Bets the Future of Augmented Reality will be on your Phone
THE AR REVOLUTION will come not with a bang, but a tape measure. At least, that seems to be the lesson so far from ARKit, Apple’s new augmented-reality platform.

ARKit lets developers build AR apps—which integrate digital experiences into the physical world via iPhone or iPad, a la Pokemon Go. Those apps will be available to consumers when iOS 11 arrives in September. But developers have started tinkering—creating tools that let you see how furniture fits in a room, or quickly calculate the area of your kitchen. Compared to the likes of Magic Leap or Google Glass, these apps are simple, almost trivial. But that smallness might be precisely what makes them so potentially huge.

Matthew Miesnieks, a VC who led AR research and development efforts at Samsung, calls ARKit “the biggest thing that’s happened to the AR industry since it began,” and he’s not alone in his enthusiasm. By getting AR in the hands of millions of iPhone users, Apple is poised to become the world’s most powerful and popular purveyor of augmented-reality apps. And by opening up its developers’ kit, it’s powering hundreds of experiments into what, precisely, this medium is good for. ....  "