This week, OpenAI announced that apps can now run directly inside ChatGPT, letting users book travel, create playlists, and edit designs without switching between different apps. Some immediately declared the app platform of the future — predicting a ChatGPT-powered world where Apple’s App Store becomes obsolete.

An open question was answered today – "what will the AI-native distribution channel be?"

It looks like ChatGPT will be that channel with 800M active users + the Apps SDK.

This is likely as important as Steve Jobs announcing the app store in March of 2008 … pic.twitter.com/6RCbIi0foq — Anish Acharya (@illscience) October 7, 2025

But while OpenAI’s app platform presents an emerging threat, Apple’s vision for an improved Siri — though still seriously delayed — could still play out in its favor.

After all, Apple already controls the hardware, the operating system, and has roughly 1.5 billion iPhone users globally, compared to ChatGPT’s 800 million weekly active users. If Apple’s bet pays off, it could position the iPhone maker in a way that would not only maintain its app industry dominance but also modernize how we use apps in the AI era.

Apple’s plan is to kill the app icon without killing the app itself. Its vision for AI-powered computing — introduced at its developer conference last year — would see iPhone users interact with an overhauled version of Siri and a revamped system that changes the way you use apps on your phone. (Imagine less tapping and more talking.)

Apps are passé, long live apps?

It’s an idea whose time has come.

Organizing little tappable icons on your iPhone’s Home Screen to make online information more accessible is a dated metaphor for computing.