Android: Camera / Photos / Files picker does not open from ChatGPT surface reached through Plugins

GPT builders Plugins / Actions builders
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Summary

On ChatGPT Android Beta, entering Plugins and remaining on that surface can result in a desktop/web-style ChatGPT shell appearing inside the app.

In that state, the composer renders:

  • Camera
  • Photos
  • Files
  • Create image
  • Web search

However:

  • tapping Camera produces no visible Android camera/picker action
  • tapping Photos produces no visible Android photo picker
  • tapping Files produces no visible Android document picker

Create image and Web search remain available.

After leaving this surface and returning to the normal ChatGPT Android chat UI, image attachment works immediately again on the same device, account, and app installation.

Environment

  • ChatGPT Plus
  • Android app via Google Play Beta
  • ChatGPT version: 1.2026.258
  • Build: 2625803

This was observed while enrolled in the Beta channel. I am not claiming that the issue is Beta-only or caused by Beta.

Reproduction observed

  1. Open the normal ChatGPT Android app.
  2. Open Plugins.
  3. Remain on the Plugins surface while it finishes loading / changes state.
  4. A substantially different ChatGPT UI becomes visible, resembling the desktop/web shell:
    • full sidebar with New chat / Library / Scheduled / Plugins / Sites / Projects / Chats
    • segmented Chat | Work control
    • desktop/web-style navigation
  5. Open the composer + menu.
  6. Tap Camera, Photos, or Files.

Actual behavior

The three device-native attachment actions are visible and appear selectable, but tapping them produces no visible Android picker or other response.

Expected behavior

If Camera / Photos / Files are rendered as available actions, tapping them should invoke the corresponding Android picker/action.

Control test

I exited the affected surface and returned to the ordinary ChatGPT Android chat UI.

Without changing:

  • account
  • device
  • subscription
  • ChatGPT installation
  • Android permissions

I was immediately able to attach and send screenshots normally.

So the observed A/B result was:

Affected Plugins-derived surface:

  • Camera → no-op
  • Photos → no-op
  • Files → no-op

Normal Android Chat:

  • image attachment → works

This makes a general Android permission issue, account upload restriction, or broad ChatGPT upload outage less likely.

Additional UI evidence

The affected surface looked substantially different from the normal Android-native ChatGPT interface.

Observed details included:

  • full desktop/web-style sidebar
  • segmented Chat | Work control
  • a browser-like page title
  • the Android share action exposing https://chatgpt.com/

I remained visually inside ChatGPT and did not observe Chrome, an external browser, an address bar, or a normal browser-tab transition.

I therefore do not know whether this surface is implemented using WebView, Custom Tabs, or another hybrid/browser-backed mechanism, and I am not asserting a specific implementation.

Related reports

There are nearby mobile issues, but I have not found one at the same failure stage.

For example, openai/openai-apps-sdk-examples#185 concerns mobile uploads where file selection succeeds but the downstream MCP fileParams reference is incomplete. In this reproduction, the Android picker apparently never opens, so there is no selected file yet.

There are also existing Android/mobile reports where attachments or plugin/composer behavior differ between normal Chat and special surfaces, but none I found matches this exact Plugins-derived UI + picker no-op combination.

Working scope

The useful current observation is:

Plugins-derived Android surface → attachment controls render → Camera / Photos / Files do not invoke a visible Android picker → normal Android Chat attachment still works immediately afterward

I can provide screenshots and, if the state reproduces again, a screen recording or targeted diagnostic information.