Request for a Google-Free Option for the ChatGPT App

ChatGPT Feature requests
1

Hello OpenAI team and community,

I appreciate the innovation and accessibility OpenAI has brought to the world through its AI tools, including the ChatGPT app. However, I’d like to raise a concern regarding the dependency on Google Play for the Android app and its implications for user privacy.

For those of us who are privacy-conscious or seeking independence from large ecosystems like Google, it’s disheartening to see that enabling Google Play is a requirement to use the ChatGPT app. This seems counterintuitive to the values of openness and independence that many users associate with OpenAI as an alternative to companies like Google.

Key Concerns:

  1. Privacy: Google Play Services often involves tracking and analytics, which undermines privacy for users who wish to avoid being monitored by major tech companies.
  2. Independence: OpenAI is seen as an independent entity in the tech landscape. Requiring Google Play to access the app seems to align it with the very ecosystems some users seek alternatives to.
  3. Accessibility for Non-Google Users: Many users operate on de-Googled devices or alternative platforms like GrapheneOS or CalyxOS. Currently, the app’s reliance on Google Play makes it inaccessible to these users.

Suggestions:

  1. Release a Standalone APK: Providing a downloadable APK file on the OpenAI website would allow users to install the app directly, bypassing Google entirely.
  2. Alternative Distribution: Consider listing the app on privacy-respecting app stores like F-Droid or Aurora Store.
  3. Browser Optimization: Enhance the browser-based version of ChatGPT with features found in the app, such as push notifications and offline compatibility.

I believe these steps would resonate with many users who value privacy and independence, aligning with OpenAI’s mission to make AI accessible while respecting diverse user needs.

Thank you for considering this feedback. I’d love to hear thoughts from the community and the OpenAI team on how we can make ChatGPT more inclusive for privacy-conscious users.

Best regards, Anders

2

Without really having any notion of whether it’ll be helpful, I’d like to pile on since you solicit feedback from the community.

I’m certainly also in a position where my use of ChatGPT is curtailed by the lack of a usable Android app. I have several Android devices that have never run GApps, and a few (4 still excellent Nvidia K1 tablets) that used to but where I’ve had to deactivate it because they run poorly with the latest versions of Google Play Services for which turning off automatic updates isn’t possible)

And not that this will impress anyone, but I’ve had two ChatGPT Pro subscription running steadily since I started them, one from May, 2023 and the other from December, 2023, with an occasional dabble into a Team Workspace. I presume it’s useful to be able to purchase a ChatGPT Pro subscription or other OpenAI products through Google Play if that’s how you roll, but it’s pretty aggravating to be unable to access features you’ve bought through the use of a free app, only because it has been developed with a lazy bias toward an obnoxious third party.

Google is already doing its utmost to stuff a tentacle into every available hole, there’s absolutely no need or merit in helping them along.