ChatGPT can now read, organize, and respond to short messages on the Mac. A new plugin scans iMessages, SMS, and RCS messages in Apple’s Messages app and suggests ready-made responses that users only need to confirm. Requirements include a Mac with an Apple chip and the free ChatGPT desktop app.
ChatGPT now reads along in Apple’s Messages app
The new Apple Messages plugin is part of the ChatGPT desktop app for Mac and can be activated in the “ChatGPT Work” and “Codex” work modes. Once enabled, the AI can search complete chat histories from iMessage, SMS, and RCS, summarize individual conversations, and filter out open questions. Anyone looking for a specific commitment or a phone number no longer needs to scroll through the Messages app manually – a quick request to ChatGPT is enough.
The feature works, as 9to5Mac reports, locally on the computer: no searchable overall index of all messages is created, so content essentially stays on the device. Beyond drafting replies, ChatGPT can, according to early hands-on reports, also flag birthdays found in chat histories or point out messages with suspicious spam characteristics. A Mac with an Apple chip is required; the plugin cannot be installed on older Intel machines. For access, macOS additionally asks for full disk access as well as permissions for contacts and automation – without these, the Messages app stays invisible to ChatGPT.
The feature saves time on short messages at work
In everyday office work, this helps most when customer inquiries or appointment confirmations arrive by SMS or iMessage instead of email – for example at medical practices, repair shops, or small service businesses. One example: an assistant who received several appointment requests by SMS between two phone calls can have ChatGPT summarize all open messages in one overview and draft a reply for each. Instead of opening every conversation individually, she checks the drafts at a glance and approves them with one click.
Reminders work the same way: ChatGPT can flag a message left unanswered for two days, or pull together the still-open commitments scattered across several chats. Staying in control matters here: by default, ChatGPT only sends a message once the text and recipient have been confirmed. Users can turn this check off permanently, but OpenAI advises against it, according to TechCrunch, because doing so removes the last check before a message goes out.
Free to use – how to set up the feature
The Apple Messages plugin costs nothing extra and is available on every ChatGPT plan, including free access – provided the desktop app runs in “ChatGPT Work” or “Codex” mode. According to MacRumors, setup takes only a few minutes:
- Open the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS and switch to “ChatGPT Work” or “Codex” mode.
- In the “Plugins” section, find the Apple Messages plugin under public extensions and turn it on.
- In the Mac’s system settings, grant full disk access as well as access to contacts and automation.
- Before the first real send, draft a test message and check the confirmation step carefully.
The plugin is not yet available on Windows machines or in the mobile ChatGPT app, nor on older Intel Macs. Whether and when OpenAI extends the feature to other devices or to standard chat mode remains open.
What matters most is whether users actually keep the confirmation step in place or switch it off for convenience – in OpenAI’s own assessment, that is where the biggest risk of an accidental send lies. Anyone using the feature for work should first check whether customer or company data from chat histories may be shared with an AI service at all, even though the provider says processing stays local on the device. OpenAI is not the only company pushing AI deeper into the Mac: just in July, Google added a system-wide dictation feature to its Gemini app, for now only in English.
