Android Authority: Code points to default ChatGPT search engine in Android

By admin On Jan 5, 2024

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Source code in ChatGPT’s Android app indicates that the chatbot may be set as the default assistant in the future. In that case, smartphone users can replace Google Assistant. Maker OpenAI is also working on a tile for ChatGPT.

This is evident from code in a recent version of the Android app, which Android Authority discovered in a teardown. That code is in version 1.2023.352 of the app, which was released just before Christmas. Hidden in that app is a string called com.openai.voice.assistant.AssistantActivity. That feature is disabled by default, according to Android Authority, but the discoverers enabled it manually. An overlay will then appear over other apps with an animation, but Android Authority says the feature itself doesn’t work yet.

According to the site, the code and animation may indicate that ChatGPT could be used as an assistant in Android in the future. Now, by default, users can summon Google Assistant from the lock or home screen, but it is also possible to set up another voice assistant, such as Alexa or Home Assistant. OpenAI may add ChatGPT in the future. The only way to use the chatbot on Android now is to open the app; For example, ChatGPT doesn’t have widgets yet.

Android Authority also found XML references to the functionality, such as the voice-interaction-service and recognitionService tags. Those tags are needed to tell Android what the default assistant app should be, but according to Android Authority, other necessary tags are still missing for that.

According to Android Authority, the app also contains references to a separate tile for ChatGPT. Users can place those tiles in the Android drop-down menu and link their own commands to them. These tiles are shortcuts to, for example, turn WiFi on and off, but app makers can also create their own tiles. Home Assistant does something similar. The code of the ChatGPT app would indicate that there will be a tile with a shortcut to ChatGPT’s assistant, but that functionality also does not work yet.