ChatGPT now has an Apps beta, and a public app directory, that lets you bring popular services into the chat window. Rather than switching back and forth between tabs, you can use an @ mention to invoke third-party tools, have ChatGPT deliver relevant context, then follow through on a complete end-to-end set of steps — from drafting a plan to purchasing whatever you need in order to execute it.
OpenAI defines Apps as chat-native experiences that bring in context and action. In its early form, it looks more like a curated directory than an actual app store, but the roadmap touts developer monetization and broader discovery coming down the line.
What the ChatGPT Apps Beta Does and How It Works
Apps will be able to read the parts of your conversation that pertain to them (presuming you give permission) and respond on your behalf. That could be converting an outline into slides, reserving a hotel, or pushing a grocery cart to checkout. You call them inline with @, and ChatGPT orchestrates the handoff — nary a copy-paste nor API juggle in sight.
Developers can create these chat-first flows using OpenAI’s Apps SDK, which is in beta today. The company adds that as the ecosystem matures, it will broaden distribution and monetization opportunities — a hint that it might end up looking more like a true marketplace.
Eight Apps You Can Use in ChatGPT Right Now
- Adobe Photoshop: Creative flows make their way to chat. Ask ChatGPT to improve the prompt and send that improved prompt to Photoshop tools for image generation or work within the thread without leaving it. Early testers have reported that some features actually work without a preexisting Photoshop account, so you can get the sense of how seamless the handoff can be.
- Spotify: I can schedule a long run, dinner party, or deep-focus session in chat, and have the perfect playlist queued up. Spotify’s reach, which the company said had surpassed 600 million monthly users in its earnings release, makes music a fitting high-frequency test for ChatGPT’s app orchestration.
- DoorDash: Make the recipe brainstorm you had on Sunday an actual cart. ChatGPT can even order complex meals from DoorDash by transforming ingredient lists and cooking requirements into orders, then scheduling delivery windows. Market data from Bloomberg Second Measure indicates that DoorDash has a majority share of U.S. meal delivery, which may make for substantial usage here.
- Instacart: Like DoorDash but for massive grocery hauls. If you’re meal-planning in chat, Instacart can create store-specific carts and make substitutions. The appeal would be collapsing discovery, list-making, and booking into one conversational flow.
- Tripadvisor: Explore hotels, activities, and neighborhoods with ChatGPT’s assistance, then pass the knowledge to Tripadvisor for comparing options and booking reservations. The Journyo service focuses on trip planning with access to the company’s hundreds of millions of monthly visitors, inside chat.
- Booking.com: For those who would rather browse Booking Holdings’ inventory and loyalty benefits, the app serves as a way to search for and reserve rooms within ChatGPT. Booking Holdings has reported booking over a billion room nights in a recent year, suggesting the scale of the demand funnel this integration could access.
- Target: Product recommendations do not have to be limited to just suggestions. And if ChatGPT helps you compare strollers, air purifiers, or dorm accessories, the Target app can add those items to cart and check out — a siren song for impulse purchases and back-to-school lists alike.
- Zillow: The process of looking for apartments is a maze of tabs and texts. Zillow in ChatGPT lets you narrow the criteria, surface listings, schedule tours, and share with roommates. Zillow frequently talks about big monthly audience reach in investor materials, and this tie-in makes that inventory more actionable.
Why This Could Change How Users Discover Apps
The majority of people use a few applications and then search or go to social for everything else. Apps within ChatGPT reverse that emphasis: conversation is the homepage, and services appear contextually when they are helpful. That reduces friction, which can increase conversion and retention.
It sets a higher standard for relevance, too. If the artificial intelligence of ChatGPT suggests the right app at just the right time — music when you’re trying to set a mood, groceries if you’re contemplating a menu — then the assistant is no longer working like a chatbot but more as an operating system for living your life.
Privacy Controls and the Way Forward for Developers
Permissions matter. Apps only need access to the slices of conversation necessary for them to do something, and users can review what is being shared before anything gets sent. In this area, I expect OpenAI to stress transparency: consumer trust will dictate how far transactional use cases can extend.
That is the promise for builders: developers may enjoy chat-native UX and serverless actions, with OpenAI promising that it has new methods to reach users and monetize in the works. If that happens, Apps could be a mobile equivalent to discovery channels competing with stores in specific categories.
How to Try the ChatGPT Apps Beta and Get Started
Open the ChatGPT app directory, connect services you use, and invoke them with @ during conversation. Dive in at the deep end with concrete tasks — planning a trip, stocking a pantry, creating a slide deck, or editing an image — to see how well the assistant stitches steps together.
There are plenty of opportunities to ramp up this battery: this is still a beta, and more apps will roll in. But the initial eight integrations demonstrate what a future will look like when chat isn’t only where you think — it’s where you act.
