You might soon be able to replace Google Assistant with ChatGPT on your Pixel phone

ChatGPT fans could soon get an important new feature on Pixel and other Android phones that would allow them to set the official app as their default assistant, with all the advantages that entails.

Google Assistant is the dominant service in the field of smart assistants on Android, being the one that comes by default. This service has received several improvements over the years, currently being capable of carrying out countless actions of all kinds, from answering a question to commanding all your smart home devices.

That said, Android settings include an option that allows you to change the default assistant app for another compatible one. If you replace Assistant with another similar app, you can easily invoke the latter using the same gestures you used before.

The official ChatGPT app cannot be set as the default digital assistant app yet, so users must always access it manually via the icon and then type or dictate their commands. This may feel dated to those used to the ease of access that Google Assistant provides.

However, as spotted by Android Authority, Open AI appears to be working on turning ChatGPT into an ‘assistant’ app that you can set it up as such on your device, replacing Google Assistant.

According to the report, the latest ChatGPT v1.2023.352 update includes an early implementation with the new ‘com.openai.voice.assistant.AssistantActivity’ activity. As usually happens in new features in development, it is disabled by default, but you can enable it manually to test it.

Once you enable it and set ChatGPT as the default digital assistant app, you can invoke it over any other screen or app. In any case, the new function is not yet fully developed so it is still unstable, but it already gives an idea of what the company has planned for the future.

Once ChatGPT’s ability to be set as the default digital assistant app is fully in place, you can replace Google Assistant with it and use the classic gestures to invoke it, such as holding down the power button or swiping from the bottom corner of the screen, among others.

It’s noteworthy that functionally, Google Assistant will still have some privileges due to access to certain exclusive APIs, such as creating custom phrases for invocation. Also, Pixel phones will soon receive ‘Assistant with Bard’ for a more advanced AI-powered experience that competes directly against ChatGPT and similar assistants, and even an alleged exclusive Pixie assistant.

However, the high level of ChatGPT’s responses and functionality could be key to convincing several users to set it up as the default assistant on their Android devices. It will be interesting to see the two services go head-to-head once ChatGPT can be set as the default assistant app.

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