ChatGPT Apple Messages now lives in the ChatGPT desktop app on Mac. OpenAI’s plugins guide says the plugin can read and search iMessage, SMS, and RCS chats, then prepare or send a reply through Apple’s Messages app. The August 20 changelog lists the same feature. Engadget only flagged the rollout.
Work and Codex only, Apple silicon only
OpenAI puts the plugin on every ChatGPT plan. However, it only runs inside Codex and ChatGPT Work, not regular ChatGPT chats. It also stays off the web app, mobile, Codex CLI, and the IDE extension. For this release, it ships only in the Apple silicon arm64 build. Therefore Intel Macs are out. People cannot text ChatGPT remotely through Messages. The Mac is the machine that reads the threads.
Approval by default, and a documented hole
Install happens under Plugins. Then a new Work or Codex chat can find, summarize, draft, or send. macOS still has to grant the requested permissions first. By default, ChatGPT sends only after a person approves the message and its recipients. Allow once covers that send. Always allow sending to this chat skips later prompts for that thread.
OpenAI’s own guide warns against that shortcut. It says, “Persistent approval removes your final chance to review a message before ChatGPT sends it as you.” Keep per-send approval for chats that may contain untrusted or misleading instructions. To restore prompts, Settings, Computer use, Manage next to Messages, then remove the thread from Always allowed to send.
Still, there is a known issue. If a task is set to Full access, or otherwise turns off approval prompts, Messages may fail to show the send confirmation. OpenAI’s workaround is Ask for approval or Approve for me. Meanwhile TMM already covered ChatGPT Work on the desktop app. Instead of a new Messages client, this is a plugin that rides the existing Mac app. Apple Music’s Made With AI Labels is a different disclosure story, not this plugin.
