Dots

US ChatGPT Pro users can now text their Dot over iMessage on iPhone or RCS on Android, with support for text, photos and voice messages. The Dot can also text first when a task needs attention; approvals still happen through a link back into ChatGPT.

OpenAI updated the ChatGPT app for iOS and iPadOS late last week (October 16) with a home-screen widget for your Dot and a set of Shortcuts actions, reported by MacStories on October 19. The small widget shows your Dot's avatar and opens its message thread with a tap; an optional "Show shortcut button" toggle adds messaging and voice buttons under the avatar, so you can start a voice call with your Dot without opening the app first. It solves a real friction point for anyone who keeps ChatGPT set to open into another view, like Codex.

The bigger addition is a trio of Shortcuts actions - message, dictate, or call your Dot - each taking the Dot's name and a communication mode as parameters. The actions work inside shortcuts, from Spotlight Search, and can be bound to the iPhone's Action button for one-press access to the Dot's thread. Notably, the name parameter opens a list even though accounts are currently limited to a single Dot, which reads as another signal that multiple Dots are coming, something OpenAI telegraphed at DevDay.

ChatGPT's October 5-9 Dots update says users can now create a dot in the mobile app, give it a name, customize its appearance, and connect plugins from their phone. An October 9 announcement on the OpenAI community forum specifies iOS and Android. Dots can also start work in Codex and follow up on existing threads, using context from ChatGPT conversations, Codex threads, and automations. They can review and edit ChatGPT Work automations, too.

OpenAI announced Dots on September 29, 2026, at its DevDay conference. Dots are always-on personal agents built into ChatGPT and powered by GPT-6 Astra. Each Dot works from its own cloud computer that you can open to check its progress, keeps working in the background toward goals you give it, learns your preferences from your feedback, and connects to more than 4,000 apps through plugins. You can reach it from ChatGPT on desktop, web, and mobile, and from Slack and Teams. One Dot is included for Pro and Business Premium subscribers in eligible markets, rolling out in stages. Pro users in the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK are left out at launch, and Enterprise, Edu, and Healthcare workspaces get a beta once an admin turns it on. OpenAI says Dots can still make mistakes, and usage will not count against plan limits for the first month.