When OpenAI announced this week that apps can now run directly inside ChatGPT — allowing users to book travel, create playlists, or edit designs without ever leaving the chatbot — the internet lit up with bold predictions.
Some declared it the dawn of a new era: a world where ChatGPT becomes *the* universal app platform, and Apple’s App Store — once the most powerful digital marketplace on Earth — begins its long, inevitable decline.
But that obituary may be premature. For Apple, the AI revolution isn’t over; it’s merely delayed. And if the company’s bet on a smarter, more conversational Siri succeeds, the iPhone maker could not only preserve its dominance in the app economy but also reinvent what “an app” even means in the AI age.
Siri’s Redemption Arc
Apple’s advantage has never been speed — it’s been timing. Where OpenAI moves fast and breaks things, Apple tends to move slowly and redefine the rules once it arrives. It already owns the hardware, the operating system, and — most crucially — an installed base of 1.5 billion iPhone users. ChatGPT, by comparison, boasts 800 million weekly actives. If Apple can seamlessly infuse AI into that existing ecosystem, Siri could evolve from a punchline into the interface of the future.
At its core, Apple’s vision is simple yet radical: kill the app icon without killing the app itself.
Imagine an iPhone where you no longer tap little squares on a screen, but simply *talk* to your phone — and Siri orchestrates everything behind the scenes. Less tapping. More talking.
Apps are dead — long live apps
For years, apps were the center of our digital lives — tiny, colorful portals to the online world. But the metaphor is growing stale. Today, we’re just as likely to ask an AI assistant to recommend a restaurant, summarize reviews, or play a song as we are to open Yelp, Rotten Tomatoes, or Spotify. Searching through crowded home screens and inconsistent app interfaces feels almost quaint. In that sense, OpenAI’s new app system — where apps live *inside* ChatGPT — feels like a natural next step. But it’s far from perfect.
Using an app inside ChatGPT means remembering to invoke it by name, navigating permission pop-ups, and typing precise prompts. Miss a word, and you could end up staring at a frozen loading screen. Bloomberg’s early tests confirm as much. This raises a deeper question: Is this really the future of computing — or just a stopgap until something better comes along?
Apple’s quiet advantage
Apple’s strength lies not in novelty, but in coherence. Its ecosystem is unified. Its users are loyal. And perhaps most importantly, its devices already host the apps people know and trust. With its upcoming overhaul of Siri, Apple plans to let users interact with apps using natural language. Imagine saying, “FaceTime Grandpa,” or “Apply a cinematic filter in Darkroom,” and watching it just happen. This future doesn’t require retraining the user. It leverages what Apple already has: habits, muscle memory, and trust.
And unlike OpenAI, Apple doesn’t need users to adopt a new interface or developers to rebuild from scratch. SiriKit and App Intents — frameworks that developers have been using since iOS 10 — are quietly laying the groundwork.
The AI inside
At WWDC 2024, Apple unveiled its most ambitious AI effort yet: Apple Intelligence. It isn’t just about smarter responses; it’s about contextual awareness. Apple’s AI will understand what’s on your screen, interpret intent, and take action — without you having to spell it out.
