You can now set ChatGPT Search as your default Safari search engine
The ChatGPT app for iOS has picked up an extension that lets you set ChatGPT Search as the default search engine in Safari on your iPhone or iPad.
MacRumors reports that the feature can be set up in the latest version of the ChatGPT app for iOS, but I couldn’t get it to work. I don’t live in the United States, so the newest version may not have been rolled out yet in my local App Store. OpenAI hasn’t announced the new extension, but Aaron Perris posted about it on X.
Of course, you can also search in the regular ChatGPT app on your Mac. But if you often search with ChatGPT while browsing the web, you might as well use the ChatGPT Search extension in Safari to save yourself from having to switch apps.
Using ChatGPT Search as the default Safari search engine
You must update to the latest version of ChatGPT on your iPhone or iPad, then enable the Safari extension before you can start making use of this feature. To update the app, open the ChatGPT page on the App Store and click the Update button. If you don’t see it, your installed version of the app is up to date.
Next, venture into Settings > Apps > Safari and turn on the extension for the Safari profiles such as “Personal” and “Work” listed underneath “Allow Extension In.”
The first time you try searching with the ChatGPT Search extension in Safari, you’ll need to grant it permission to access your default search engine, like Google or DuckDuckGo. The extension sends any search queries typed into Safari’s URL bar to ChatGPT Search, which returns results as a webpage.
You can now use ChatGPT search as your default search engine in Safari on iOS by updating to the latest version of ChatGPT and enabling the Safari extension! pic.twitter.com/yvyINPN9yv
— Aaron (@aaronp613) February 25, 2025
Privacy implications
This could be a recipe for a privacy nightmare waiting to happen. For what it’s worth, OpenAI ensures that the same policies that govern your use of ChatGPT apply to the ChatGPT Search extension in Safari.
If you’re dissatisfied with on-device Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT integration in Siri or your iPhone doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for Apple Intelligence, this extension could be a nice alternative for searching with the regular ChatGPT.
ChatGPT Search is available for free, even without an account. You can use ChatGPT Search on the web or download the Chrome extension if you prefer Google’s browser. Unfortunately, ChatGPT Search is still unavailable as a traditional search engine in the Safari settings. You can also try the xSearch Safari extension to set almost any advanced AI search engine as your default in Safari.
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/02/25/opeanai-chatgpt-search-safari-default/
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