It wasn’t that long ago when ChatGPT first appeared, and chatbots were a shiny new thing. Now, we have so many AI options it’s hard to pick the right one. ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are the top three right now.
These three AI models are pretty similar, but a lot of folks like to use them through mobile apps. So, the real question is: which app is the best? Let’s dive into the details of these three apps.
Device compatibility
All three apps are on iOS and Android. Gemini used to be stuck inside the Google app on iOS, but it’s now a standalone app.
But, there are differences in device compatibility, especially for older devices.
- iOS Compatibility:
- ChatGPT - Needs iOS 16.4 or later.
- Claude - Needs iOS 17.0 or later.
- Gemini - Needs iOS 16.0 or later.
Gemini works on more devices than the other two since it supports older iOS versions.
- Android Compatibility:
- ChatGPT - Needs Android 6.0 or later.
- Claude - Needs Android 8.0 or later.
- Gemini - Needs Android 10.0 or later.
On Android, all three apps work with older devices without issue, as Android 15 is the newest version available.
If you use an iPad, both ChatGPT and Claude have dedicated apps that are optimized for tablets. Gemini, unfortunately, doesn’t have an iPad app.
Logging in and getting started
All three apps require an account to use. But, it’s super simple to create one or log into an existing one.
When you log in or open the app, it directly opens a new chat window with the AI, which is nice for when you’re on the go.
User interface and experience
All these apps are pretty easy to use and have clean interfaces. But, there are a few things to consider.
Chat History
- Each app lets you see old chats in a menu, usually at the top left. ChatGPT is great here, letting you quickly access chats with a swipe gesture.
- ChatGPT and Claude also let you search your chat history, which is a big help.
- Google really needs to add a search option to Gemini. As your chat list gets longer, it’s hard to find old convos and you often just start a new chat. That’s not ideal, as you lose all the context from the older chat.
Starting New Chats
- Starting a new chat is easy on each app. But, Gemini isn’t as clear as the other two. When you hit the back button on a chat, it makes a new one, which is confusing at first.
Display of AI responses
- ChatGPT - Presents its answers in a very readable layout, using bullet points, big fonts, bold text, and spaced-out paragraphs. When responses get long, it even adds dividers, making it the easiest to read.
- Gemini - Uses bullet points, bold text, and even throws in images sometimes (the other two apps don’t do that). The smaller font, though, can make it a little hard to read on phones.
- Claude - Has a simple and clean style, using bullet points and a readable font on mobile. But, because it doesn’t use bold text, its replies can sometimes seem like a wall of text, which isn’t great on mobile. (Though I haven’t found this to be a problem on the desktop.)
Settings menus
- ChatGPT - Has a great settings menu where you can manage your account and app. You can change the look, language, and more. It also gives you access to personalization, data control, and voice mode settings, just like the desktop version.
- Gemini - Being a Google app, it doesn’t have many customization settings. Some options from the desktop, like app appearance, aren’t in the mobile version. But, you can still manage your activity and Gemini Live settings.
- Claude - It has the most basic settings of the three, but that’s because of its privacy focus. It doesn’t let you change the app’s appearance, like the desktop version does, and it doesn’t need options to opt out of training since Anthropic doesn’t use chats to train its models. This approach is nice for casual users who don’t mess with settings. You can also change the language and enable or disable artifacts.
Accessibility
- ChatGPT and Gemini - They both have a “listen to response” feature, which is great for people with visual impairments.
- Claude - Doesn’t have this feature, which makes it less accessible.
Features and core functionality
Multimedia handling
All three apps let you upload things like images and docs, but they do it differently.
- ChatGPT and Claude - Both allow all users to upload images and documents, no matter whether you are using a free or paid plan.
- Gemini - Only paid users can upload docs, free users are limited to just images.
Multimodal capabilities
- ChatGPT - Is really good with multimodal features including text chats, voice mode, and a vision-enabled advanced voice mode (for paid users).
- Gemini - Has both text and voice modes. Gemini Live is free for everyone.
- Claude - Limited to text and dictation mode; you can’t use voice input.
Image generation
You can make images directly from all three apps. Claude can also make SVG graphics.
Unique Features
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ChatGPT - Has many unique features, but not all of them are on the mobile app. Memory, custom instructions, and ChatGPT Search are on the app, but Canvas isn’t. Projects are partly available; you can see and chat in projects, but you can’t make new ones. And you can use, but not create, custom GPTs on the mobile app.
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Claude - It’s known for artifacts and projects, which you can use on mobile (projects are for Pro users only).
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Gemini - It brings its “gems” (personalized bots) to mobile. But, saved information is not supported. You can access extensions on mobile, using integrations with YouTube, Google Workspace, Maps, and more. Gemini on Android can also replace Google Assistant and handle a lot of tasks on your phone. But, some people find this too intrusive, as you have to make Gemini your default assistant on Android for Gemini Live to work.
So, which one is the best?
It depends on your needs. All three have great mobile apps. If you want lots of options, a clean design, and lots of features with the free plan, try ChatGPT. Claude is great for privacy and people who want artifacts on the go. If you want voice mode and integrations with Google apps, Gemini is a good pick.