Jan 10, 2024 3 min read

Ready to try AI chatbots? Start with these apps.

Start your AI chatbot journey with Copilot, Perplexity, Pi and ChatGPT.

If you’re new to AI chatbots and want to experiment on your phone, try three apps: Copilot, Perplexity and Pi. Each of these offers distinctly different capabilities and responses. After you’ve tried those, install ChatGPT, which offers solid performance when used for free and best-in-class capabilities for ChatGPT Plus subscribers.

These apps are available for Android and iPhone, although not necessarily available in every country. The links and details you need to get started are below.

Start with the Copilot app

Screenshot of Microsoft Copilot app in Google Play (left) and App Store (right). — Microsoft Copilot offers free access to GPT-4 and can create images.

Sign in to Copilot with a Microsoft account and select the option to use GPT-4 for free. Type in your prompt, upload a photo or voice chat. Copilot may not only write and summarize text, but also identify, caption and create images with Image Creator from Designer, powered by DALL-E 3.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.copilot

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/sg/app/microsoft-copilot/id6472538445

Search with Perplexity

Screenshot of Perplexity app in Google Play (left) and App Store (right). — Try Perplexity as an alternative to a traditional search.

Perplexity delivers smart search results for free. Try Perplexity whenever you would traditionally use a search engine. You’ll usually get a detailed response that cites relevant sources. Five times every four hours, you may opt to route your query to GPT-4. Students, professors and researchers may appreciate the footnote-style numbers that display at the end of sentences — just tap a number to access a source.

Subscribers to Perplexity Pro can upload images, use GPT-4 more often or access other large language models, such as Anthropic’s Claude.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.perplexity.app.android

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/perplexity-ask-anything/id1668000334

Try Pi, a friendly AI

Screenshot of Pi app in Google Play (left) and App Store (right). — Pi provides a friendly and supportive AI.

The free Pi app, from Inflection, responds in a supportive and friendly tone — the kind of useful, casual response you might get from a positive, smart and emotionally thoughtful acquaintance. You may type your prompt and read responses as usual. Or tap the phone icon, then talk. Pi can speak responses with whichever of 6 voices you choose. You can continue the conversation after @HeyPi_ai finishes speaking. A chat or conversation with Pi often feels informal, yet informative.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.inflection.pi

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pi-personal-ai-assistant/id6445815935

The ChatGPT app works best for ChatGPT Plus subscribers

Screenshot of ChatGPT app in Google Play (left) and App Store (right). — For free, ChatGPT gives access to GPT-3.5. Subscribers to ChatGPT Plus may use GPT-4 and create images.

Sign up and use the OpenAI ChatGPT app to access GPT-3.5 for free. It also supports voice chat if you prefer to talk. But a subscription provides you access to the leading large language model on your phone: ChatGPT Plus subscribers can choose GPT-4, which may browse the web, create images or analyze data as needed. It also lets you upload an image or file as part of a prompt.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.openai.chatgpt

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chatgpt/id6448311069

What do you think?

What apps do you recommend to people who are just starting to experiment with AI chatbots? Let me know either on X (@awolber) or Mastodon (@awolber).