Instructions
Should you replace your phone's ChatGPT app with Microsoft's new Copilot app? Let us investigate.
Microsoft was fast to jump into the AI chatbot race, debuting Bing Chat in February in the hopes of boosting growth for its underdog search engine. Unfortunately, this method did not appear to work, with Bing's growth remaining mainly flat throughout the year. It appears that the Redmond behemoth is branching out.
Bing Chat was renamed Copilot and is now integrated into a variety of Microsoft products, including Edge and Windows 11. However, mobile was treated as an afterthought, with no direct access to Copilot - you had to download Edge or the Bing app. As a frequent Copilot user (it's virtually free GPT-4! ), I've always thought it'd be cool to have a specialized app so I don't have to run Edge every time. Well, ask and you shall receive - the Copilot app is now available for Android.
If you've used Copilot before, the mobile app will feel immediately familiar. The same messaging-style interface is provided, along with sample prompts to get you started. But where it really shines is that everything appears to run more smoothly and responsively when compared to other Copilot online integrations, such as the one in Edge or Bing search. Clearing the chat history to start anew is lightning fast, and the whole experience is incredibly professional. Aside from the beautiful UI, the app provides all of the key functionality you'd expect, such as email, document, and even AI-generated photos via Dall-E 3 integration.
Where the ChatGPT app continues to triumph
The ChatGPT app, with over 10 million downloads, is undoubtedly Copilot's main competitor, despite the fact that their creators are more partners than competitors. The biggest advantage of ChatGPT today is speed - replies are usually fast, regardless of length or complexity. Meanwhile, Copilot may appear sluggish, as several seconds.
Copilot also has a 4,000-character limit, making it difficult to absorb lengthy documents quickly unless they are divided into smaller portions. The cap on ChatGPT is much greater. ChatGPT recently received a handy audio chat option that has been developed to make you feel as if you're speaking to a real human on call - no exaggeration.
Meanwhile, Copilot features a simpler voice input option in which you tap the mic to convert speech to text and then have a robotic voice read out the AI's response.
So, why should you utilize Copilot?
Why bother switching to Copilot if ChatGPT is so great? The most significant benefit is the free online access and GPT-4. GPT-4 is a significant improvement over GPT-3.5, producing significantly more nuanced and accurate responses. It is also less prone to have hallucinations. Overall, I found it much simpler to trust Copilot's responses.
Then there's the fact that Copilot has access to the entire internet, which means you can ask about current events. For example, if you ask the free ChatGPT, "What's the most powerful iPhone?" it will most likely respond with the iPhone 13 Pro Max from 2021. However, Copilot is correct - "iPhone 15 Pro Max," it will state. Similarly, unlike the free ChatGPT app, suggestions like "What's today's news?" and "Show me the cheapest flights from Delhi to Mumbai" are genuinely useful. You may get ChatGPT Plus, but at over Rs 2,000 per month, it's not exactly inexpensive.
Copilot also allows you to make photos directly from the chat, which the free ChatGPT does not allow. Finally, for more granular control, Copilot allows you to change the tone of the responses between Creative, Balanced, and Precise.
In conclusion
In a nutshell, consider Copilot to be the poor man's ChatGPT Plus. ChatGPT Plus is still the best option for power users, but if you don't want to pay and are satisfied with Copilot's slower speeds, replacing ChatGPT for Copilot on your home screen would suffice.
