Claude joins the AI chatbot desktop app, but leaves some features behind
AI chatbot Claude is now available as a desktop app for both Windows and Mac computers. The public beta of the apps is available to both free users and subscribers of the premium version of the AI chatbot. Claude maker Anthropic describes the desktop versions of Claude as “fast, focused and designed for deep work”, implying that those who want to use Claude at home without opening a browser will find it as useful as going online or to the mobile phone from Claude. app.
One way the desktop app is more efficient is by having a keyboard shortcut to open Claude. Once you install the app, you can press Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar to access the AI. This is useful if you have many other tasks and do not want to navigate to the website.
The other big advantage of the desktop app is that you don’t have to rely solely on mobile devices or web browsers to access your conversations with Claude. You can start the chat on your smartphone and then open the desktop app when you get home, or vice versa, visiting the website if you are in a public library or similar place. This continuity can help accelerate all kinds of Claude-based projects.
Anthropic also debuted a minor upgrade to the Claude on mobile apps: native dictation. You can record up to 10 minutes of audio that Claude will transcribe and then respond to the app in text form. It’s not a full voice interactive feature, but it does mean you can at least send directions to the AI chatbot without typing.
AI at home
The desktop version of Claude uses Anthropic’s latest AI model, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, but can’t do everything the web version does. Notably missing is the new Computing feature that allows Claude to control your cursor and type on your behalf. That’s not much of a surprise, since Computing and the desktop apps are still in beta. Presumably the feature will appear when both are more mature.
Anthropic’s timing in releasing the Claude desktop apps is interesting because it’s part of a sudden wave of rival AI chatbots. Both ChatGPT and OpenAI’s Perplexity AI have introduced desktop apps in recent weeks. They all have a variation on the web version of their respective chatbots, with many, but not all, of the same features. The appeal of a more convenient and accessible AI chatbot is obvious.
That’s why Microsoft has embedded its Copilot AI directly into the Windows 11 operating system. All AI chatbot developers want to encourage current and potential users to stick with their products, no matter where they are or what they are doing. It will be a new central frontier for the industry, just like mobile apps were a decade ago.