ChatGPT’s iPhone app is going to offer users access to the internet via Bing – but only if you’re willing to pay for a premium ChatGPT subscription.
OpenAI’s large language models (LLM) that power its ChatGPT bot have taken the tech world by storm this year, with GPT 3 and now GPT 4 integration being introduced to a bevy of products including Spotify, Bing, and even Mercedes cars.
Some integrations go both ways too, with Bing being added to ChatGPT’s web version back in May. Now Bing has come to ChatGPT’s iPhone app for people who pay $20 a month for ChatGPT Plus (roughly £16 / AU$30).
This looks set to be a major upgrade for the iPhone app. One significant drawback to ChatGPT and the GPT 4 LLM is that it only has data that’s accurate up to around September 2021 – so if you ask the LLM questions about events that happened in 2022 or 2023 it probably won’t know what you’re talking about, and it may hallucinate (read: make something up). Giving GPT 4 access to Bing would enable the chatbot to find answers to questions that fall outside of its stored data.
Don’t expect this Bing integration to be an instant enhancement to ChatGPT’s iPhone version mind. For one thing, the feature is only in beta, so it may have a few issues that OpenAI still needs to patch out. For another, while the internet is home to more recent data that could help boost the AI’s reliability, it’s also home to inaccurate info, so ChatGPT’s answers will likely still feature errors.
How to use ChatGPT with Bing on iPhone
To use ChatGPT’s new Bing powers on your iPhone you’ll need to sign up for ChatGPT Plus. You’ll then want to download the latest version of the iOS app (v1.2023.173).
Once your update has been completed, make sure you’re signed in to the app and then tap the menu button (the three dots) at the top-right corner of the screen. Then tap Settings, then New Features. In this sub-menu you should see an option to enable Browsing; select GPT-4 as your model, and make sure to select 'Browse with Bing'.
For now, there’s no Android app for ChatGPT, though one is apparently coming soon. Microsoft has also said that Bing integration will be available to non-paying ChatGPT users, but for now, it’s only for Plus subscribers. If you want to enjoy an AI-powered Bing experience for free (and on Android or iOS), you’ll need to download the Bing app and use its Bing Chat feature.
