- OpenAI has brought major changes to ChatGPT’s desktop app
- ChatGPT and Codex have been merged into a single app
- Users are unhappy with many of the new updates
OpenAI has been running its Codex vibe coding platform as a separate tool from the regular ChatGPT app for a while now, but that’s all changed with the AI app’s latest update. The two products have been merged into one ‘super-app’ — but many users are deeply disappointed by the move.
If you download ChatGPT today — or update an existing installation — you’ll find an app that looks very different from the one you’re used to, which can be especially disorienting if you’ve been using the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot for some time now.
For example, you’ll now find a new toggle in the top left corner of the app that lets you switch between ‘ChatGPT Work’ and ‘ChatGPT Codex’. Instead of containing buttons for your library, projects and apps, the left sidebar now contains scheduled tasks and plugins. Projects and assignments are below in their own sections.
What used to be the ChatGPT app still exists, but has been renamed ChatGPT Classic. The standalone Codex app has meanwhile become the main ChatGPT app. Both ChatGPT Work and ChatGPT Codex share plugins, and while both are capable of similar tasks, Codex shows more of the technical details that Work hides in an effort to be more user-friendly.
An unpopular move
Unfortunately for OpenAI, this big change hasn’t gone down too well. Apple expert John Gruber, for example – long a fan of OpenAI’s decision to make ChatGPT a native Mac app that conformed to macOS conventions – described the change as “the day OpenAI got the ChatGPT Mac app up”. He also pointed out that while the old ChatGPT app weighed in at a lightweight 159MB, the new edition has increased to 1.5GB.
I’m definitely not a fan of the new ChatGPT either. I have little interest in Codex and use ChatGPT to solve problems, often revisiting old conversations to add new details. But in the new app, your recent conversations are hidden and require many more clicks to access. Only your five most recent threads are shown, and to access more, click Chat > View All to reveal them. Previously, they were right there waiting for you in the sidebar.
On top of that, my existing projects seem to have totally disappeared. I only had a couple, but they were related to a minor case I was involved in, so it’s a huge pain to see all my relevant threads scattered and disorganized in a long list of chats. For anyone juggling a multitude of projects, this change can be disastrous. And what’s more, Custom GPTs also seem to have disappeared into the ether.
I know I’m not alone in my disappointment. Over on Reddit, OpenAI’s decision has not been well received, with user powproduct summing up the sentiment by saying, “ChatGPT projects and custom GPTs are the heart of why I use that app. Without those features, there is no feature parity.”
Other users took issue with the new user interface, with Kaotic987 exclaiming “Christ almighty, it’s so bad!” Eriane, meanwhile, cynically suggested that OpenAI “vibe coded everything without testing it.”
Whether you even get ChatGPT Classic seems to be up for debate. It is available for Windows in the Microsoft Store and can be downloaded separately from the new ChatGPT app. However, on macOS I updated to the new version and ChatGPT Classic is nowhere to be seen. Luckily I backed up the old app before updating so I can still access it, which might be the way to go if you’re a Mac user and don’t want to lose all your projects and custom GPTs.
The move to combine ChatGPT and Codex into some sort of ‘super app’ has already alienated plenty of users, myself included. From the questionable UI to the absence of projects and custom GPTs, OpenAI has a lot to work on before it can get the app back to a good place.
