I need to revise my first doom and gloom post on this.
Firstly, the onboarding is very inaccessible, assuming accessibility is a spectrum. I tried logging in with my apple account but using VOCR, but that prooved difficult. In the end I logged in with my email adress, changed my password and was in.
It seems that the browser is built on Chrome, so I'm guessing it's the same for accessibility as Chrome with a few extra AI touches. I've only just got it working so can't report on more but wanted to just retract my former and somewhat over dramatic analysis of the new Open AI app for Mac.
Comments
Looks like They need an ADR punch
Someone needs to go and sue the bell out of them. They are far from the new players in the market. They are the leaders in terms of this, every product that comes out has to be hundred percent accessible.
I smell some lawyer getting ritch in the middle of all this.
The AI arms race is to blame
I think they're all in just such a rush to keep in the headlines, keep throwing features at the wall to see what will stick, that us little folk aren't thought of in development.
Saying that. Chat GPT is still, by far, the most usable LLM out there with its use of headings and web shortcuts to get to the edit box. The app on IOS is pretty good too as it lets you sit in the edit box with BSI on and type, send, get a reply, all without dumping you out like Jemini does or Claud.
Small wins, and I'm sure they'll get there in the end. I wonder what they've based the browser on. I'm guessing not safari or chromium, so is it a home grown thing?
Also, if their AI is so darn good at coding, then code us in!
Re: Rush
I don't think we should let developers off the hook because they are too much in a rush to bother with quality. It doesn't take time to add a label to a button, it takes competence. You wouldn't allow a piece of software riddled with security holes to go out.
Sorry there is no excuse for a company this size to not know what they are doing with the basics.
And as a software developer myself there is nothing worse than coming across a large amount of code that was obviously written in a rush by someone who didn't care about anything except the end result.
Is the Mac ChatGPT app still unusable all this time later? I use the web app on the Mac and it is actually not too bad if I am being honest, although there are only a handful of buttons there and it still took them about a year to get labels.
Couple of Atlas questions
Personally I am super excited and very curious when Atlas is released for Windows because that’s the platform I use. However perhaps it’s current state on Mac OS potentially could be an indicator of how it may perform on windows, or maybe not. Either way a couple of questions to anyone who has firsthand tested atlas on Mac please.
First, at high level I understand there is a main browser window and the ChatGPT AI sits on some sort of a side window. Is there a keyboard keystroke combo to switchh back-and-forth quickly quickly between the main browser window and the ChatGPT AI window? Second, just focusing on the browser part of the window for a moment, when you search for anything say a general topic or a particular product I want to buy our window shop or whatever, in any such browser uses scenarios are there ads before you actually get to the Atlas browser search results? Almost every web browser for windows at least, including DuckDuckGo, dumps a bunch of ads before you actually land on the browser search results.
Another Question:
Haven't got a mac so haven't got in around to trying Atlas out yet. So for anyone who has, is the agent mode accessible? Asking because, for obvious reasons, the agent mode in the chat gpt app isn't. However, if the agent is baked into the browser the way it is into Perplexity Comet, it should be...
Accessibility review by Taylor Arndt
Below is the link to her review of Atlas which has been released at the moment for Mac. The respect to all, she is one of the very very few amongst the BVI technologies who host various technology related sessions in Q/A on various platforms where they focus on blindness related technology, because I find her always to be very articulate technically intelligent and providing lots of intelligent useful information without idle banter.
https://www.toptechtidbits.com/tidbits2025/10232025/index.html?utm_source=toptechtidbits&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10232025&utm_content=editorial
Idle banter!!!
I pride myself on circuitous bluster...
I followed the link. It's quite a busy page with a lot of upsell. Is the review in the double tap episode?
I can give my short view on it now too as have had a fiddle.
Chrome with crappy chat GPT app strapped on the side. the end.
Idle banter, my arse.