OpenAI launches a ChatGPT plugin that reads and sends iMessages on Mac
OpenAI launched a plugin on August 20 that connects ChatGPT to Apple Messages on the Mac. The chatbot can now find, summarize, draft and send texts across iMessage, SMS and RCS chats, according to OpenAI’s plugin documentation. It works inside ChatGPT Work and Codex in the macOS desktop app, and only on Apple silicon Macs, 9to5Mac reports.
The setup is deliberately heavy. As Engadget reported, citing Bloomberg, you’ll have to grant ChatGPT access to your Mac’s on-device Messages history. You’ll also switch on Full Disk Access in System Settings and hand over contact names plus automation permissions. That barrier matters because the plugin drives macOS itself, relying on AppleScript and the system’s Accessibility features.
| Permission requested | What it grants |
|---|---|
| Messages history | Access to the texts stored on your Mac |
| Full Disk Access | The ability to read and write files on the device |
| Contacts | The names of the people you text |
| Automation | Access to macOS automation tools |
OpenAI’s answer to the obvious worry is a set of defaults. A spokesperson told Engadget the plugin doesn’t build an index of your texts. ChatGPT reads a thread only when you explicitly point it at your message history, and nothing gets sent until you approve the draft.
We care deeply about user privacy, and the plugin is designed to be transparent and keep users in control of their Messages data.
OpenAI spokesperson, via Engadget
Those defaults can be loosened, though. A per-chat setting skips the confirmation on future sends. TechCrunch notes OpenAI discourages that, because persistent approval “removes your final chance to review a message before ChatGPT sends it as you.” The company’s own documentation adds that per-send approval is worth keeping “for chats that may contain untrusted or misleading instructions.”
Storage is local by default. TechCrunch reports message content stays on your computer rather than on OpenAI’s servers. Chats you choose to save to the cloud follow the same retention policy as other saved content, an area where OpenAI has been previewing zero data retention tooling.
In practice, search is the draw. ZDNet’s hands-on had the plugin summarize every text mentioning the writer’s cat, vet results included. It then analyzed a testy message about cancelled dinner plans, flagged that the wording could invite defensiveness, and suggested a more productive phrasing.
The catch is that nobody has said Apple approved any of this. It’s not clear whether OpenAI worked with Apple on the plugin, Engadget notes, and Apple has history here. It repeatedly disabled the Beeper Mini app’s access to iMessage in 2024 until Beeper gave up. The two companies are also in open conflict, because Apple sued OpenAI in July over alleged trade secret theft through targeted hiring.
It’s also the second time this month that ChatGPT’s Mac app has reached deeper into on-device data, after Computer History began logging Mac clicks and keystrokes. That pattern is part of why Bloomberg, in Engadget’s report, says the plugin could raise privacy and security concerns.
What to watch now is Apple’s response, since the platform is theirs and the lawsuit is live. The admin side is worth watching too: OpenAI’s docs already let managed workspace administrators disable the plugin through Computer Use controls.
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