I’ve been using the new Pets, Quick Chats, and Appshots features in the Windows desktop app, and I really like the idea behind them. Hoots is currently living on my desktop and is ridiculously cute. 
After actually using the features for a few days, though, I’ve found that they don’t integrate with normal ChatGPT conversations as well as I expected. I’m actually less inclined to use Quick Chats and Appshots because of it. I also have some ideas that I think could turn Pets from a cute desktop decoration into a genuinely useful, and fun, part of ChatGPT.
Quick Chats should inherit the user’s ChatGPT personality/personalization.
When I start a normal conversation, ChatGPT has the personality and personalization I’ve already configured. When I start a Quick Chat through my Pet, that seems to disappear and I get a much more generic ChatGPT experience.
I understand why a Quick Chat might be temporary/local and not retain conversation history. But being temporary shouldn’t necessarily mean losing the assistant personality I’ve deliberately configured.
Ideally, these could be separate concepts:
- Personality/personalization carries over automatically.
- Memory access could be optional.
- The conversation itself can remain temporary/local.
Right now, the personality difference alone makes me less likely to use Quick Chat.
Pets need access to existing conversations.
Currently, my Pet is primarily useful for starting something new. I’d love to click Hoots and see options such as New Chat, Recent Chats, Pinned Chats, and Search Chats.
If I’m already discussing something in a normal ChatGPT conversation, I usually want to continue that conversation, not create another one just because I accessed ChatGPT through the Pet.
This would also solve a major problem with Appshots.
Appshots should be able to go into an existing normal chat.
This was probably my biggest disappointment.
I configured Appshots thinking I could be looking at another application or webpage, press the shortcut, and send what I’m looking at into the ChatGPT conversation I’m already having.
Instead, it creates/uses a Quick Chat.
That defeats much of the usefulness for me. The whole reason I want Appshots is to avoid manually taking screenshots, saving them, uploading them into my existing conversation, and later cleaning out my screenshot folder.
I would love an option like:
Send Appshot to: Current normal chat / Choose recent chat / New normal chat / Quick Chat
Then I could be looking at a webpage or another application, take an Appshot, and immediately ask a question about it within the conversation that already has all of the relevant context.
Pets need more personality!
Hoots is adorable. I especially love that when I pick him up and move him, he looks like he’s flying to his new location.
But most of the time he just sits there with an occasional small animation.
I’d love Pets to have autonomous behaviors that make them feel more like little desktop companions. They could follow the cursor with their eyes, fall asleep after inactivity, react when the user returns, get excited when clicked, become curious about nearby windows, or occasionally wander a little.
One behavior I particularly want is pouting when ignored. 
In our house we call this “pulling a Bast,” after a cat we had named Bast. If we didn’t give her enough attention, she would sit nearby with her back deliberately turned toward us. Two of our other cats who grew up with her later learned the same behavior.
Imagine ignoring Hoots for a while and eventually noticing that he has turned around and is sitting with his back toward you. Click him and he reluctantly turns around. That’s the kind of tiny behavior that gives a digital pet character.
Pets could also have different personalities—affectionate, independent, curious, chaotic, sleepy, etc.—rather than simply being different sprites.
Optional screen-aware reactions could be fantastic.
With appropriate privacy controls, it would be fun if a Pet could occasionally react to what is happening on screen.
If there’s a bird on screen, perhaps Hoots becomes interested. If an error dialog suddenly appears, he looks startled. If I’ve been typing for a long time, maybe he pulls out a tiny book. If I’ve spent three hours looking at houses online, perhaps he packs a tiny suitcase and gives up on me.
Screen awareness should absolutely be optional, and many basic behaviors could happen locally without analyzing screen contents at all.
More Pets and customization, please.
The current selection is cute, but I’d love cats, dogs, ravens, bats, foxes, dragons, axolotls, raccoons, and assorted strange little creatures. Accessories, colors, activity levels, and personality choices would make them feel much more personal.
There is already a Create Pet option in my Windows app, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to use it because it repeatedly reports that I’ve reached a usage limit, including after that limit was reset.
And please bring the full experience to mobile.
A mobile version of the Pet that provides quick access to ChatGPT, especially existing conversations, would be extremely useful. It doesn’t necessarily need to work exactly like a floating Windows desktop sprite, but having the same little companion provide access to Recent/Pinned chats from other apps would be fantastic.
Overall, I really like the direction of these features. The Pet in particular has a surprising amount of potential. Right now Hoots is mostly a very cute set of pixels sitting on my desktop, while I continue using normal ChatGPT because that’s where my personality, conversation history, syncing, and context live.
If Pets, Quick Chats, Appshots, and normal conversations were better connected, I could see Hoots becoming one of my primary ways of accessing ChatGPT from Windows rather than mostly being my adorable desktop owl.
Please keep the owl, though. The owl stays.