6 ms·

Chatbox app is back on the US app store

70 points by themez 1y ago

yosito 1y ago
Based on the marketing page and App Store page, I can't really tell what sets this apart from ChatGPT. It looks like essentially the same thing, with a slightly different UI. What features does it have that add value over ChatGPT?
- rd07 1y ago
  Chatbox is basically a client for various LLM. It can even connect to locally hosted LLM on Ollama.
  - higginsniggins 1y ago
    how is this different then t3chat?
    - viraptor 1y ago
      t3chat doesn't have a mobile app.
    - risyachka 1y ago
      T3chat was launched much later so the real question is how t3 is different from it or any other chat.
esseph 1y ago
You know what I just realized? I couldn't tell you the last time I installed a new app on my phone. Everything there is mostly out to exploit me, or a direct security liability regardless of what app store.
- macintux 1y ago
  I experienced deja vu today when an upcoming festival’s website encouraged me to install a custom app for the event on my phone. Felt very 2010(ish).
- TheDong 1y ago
  > Everything there is mostly out to exploit me, or a direct security liability regardless of what app store. As a shining bright light of hope, I will list some apps I have installed which do not appear to me to fall into those buckets. 1. Anki - Flash cards app, I can memorize stuff. It's really good. 2. KDE Connect - Zero exploitation, open source, even sorta works 3. Peakfinder - So far this app has seemed okay. "I programmed PeakFinder during the day and danced Tango during the night" - Peakfinder's creator Also, about 70% of the apps on F-Droid https://f-droid.org/ https://f-droid.org/ are fine. This is what I miss most about android. I do think that by percentage more of the iOS apps are exploitative crap or full of ads, probably because you need to pay $100/year for the app to keep existing at all. One of tricks to get fewer exploitative apps is to avoid iPhone and never install anything that needs google play services. Also, delete any app that has an ad instantly unless it's really important.
  - Groxx 1y ago
    >This is what I miss most about android. oh don't worry, Google is trying to kill that too. you won't have to miss Android soon. https://developer.android.com/developer-verification https://developer.android.com/developer-verification discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45017028 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45017028
  - sebastiennight 1y ago
    > about 70% of the apps on F-Droid https://f-droid.org/ https://f-droid.org/ are fine Wait, what's wrong with the other 30%?
    - TheDong 1y ago
      There's stuff like NewPipe, which is just youtube videos so it's awful for the soul. There's also games and blockchain apps which are bad for the soul
      - sebastiennight 1y ago
        > There's stuff like NewPipe, which is just youtube videos so it's awful for the soul. You do get to pick the videos, and have none imposed to you (through ads), so unless you're saying the entire video medium is awful for the soul, I'm thinking one could pick content that they find "good" for their soul?
- PlunderBunny 1y ago
  I had the same realisation about game app specifically - in the early days of the App Store, I’d buy several games a year, and play dozens more free games. I can’t remember the last game I bought.
- MaxikCZ 1y ago
  Its really sad to search for some basic functionality like "use phone as wireless mic for PC" only to be hit with wall of in-app pirchases and ads. I understand that the main reason is keeping app on store requires paying ransom to google, which is the worst reason one could imagine.
- tcoff91 1y ago
  On average 90% of time spent on mobile devices is in native apps.
  - esseph 1y ago
    That's.. how is that relevant?
    - tcoff91 1y ago
      This is a site mostly centered around startups and building products. I notice a common anti-mobile-app sentiment here, and the criticisms are valid, but I think that it’s important to keep in mind that for many apps having a mobile app is important to the success of your business because the vast majority of people prefer mobile apps to mobile websites. Users want apps and it’s important not to assume that the majority of users will think like HN users. Even if your app is mostly just a webview wrapping your website, being in the App Store matters.
      - esseph 1y ago
        So what you're telling me is I shouldn't talk about my abandonment of native phone apps with other people because it might prevent someone at YC for giving someone else a job for a startup? Do I have that right?
        tcoff91 1y ago
        There’s nothing wrong with discussing moving away from native apps and their very real downsides. I was merely offering data showing that the vast majority of people do not share this sentiment, and one would be wise when launching a product to do market research and find out if the evidence shows that the business will be best served by offering users a native app.
- WhereIsTheTruth 1y ago
  Compile it yourself https://github.com/chatboxai/chatbox https://github.com/chatboxai/chatbox
  - viraptor 1y ago
    Unfortunately GH has an older version. The latest official releases don't have the code published, contrary to the licence.
viraptor 1y ago
Cool that they did that, but they could also start behaving properly. The app labels itself at GPL licensed, but the most recent releases are not available on GitHub. It's been the situation for quite a while now and it's been raised with the author a few times in the issues. They don't seem to care.
- Kudos 1y ago
  Unless they have GPL dependencies I'm not sure they have to release source for a binary release. If I write some code and grant you a license to use it under the GPL, I would have thought I still am the copyright holder and don't need any kind of license to do whatever I want with it.
  - Sophira 1y ago
    My understanding is that the GPL specifies that any further redistribution of binary code (by the licensee) has to come with an offer to be able to receive the source code, which they can then modify and redistribute under the original license. If the original licensor doesn't actually allow access to the source code, there's no way for that to happen and I'd argue that the licensor is being unreasonable by asking licensees to comply with something they have no chance of being able to comply with. (Short of decompilation, which wouldn't yield the original source code.) I have no idea of the legal implications of all this (I'm not a lawyer), but there has to be some kind of legal thing that prevents the original licensor from being unreasonable in this way, I'd hope?
    - Xylakant 1y ago
      The license does not bind the original copyright owner, who can do anything with the code - fee example relicense and distribute under another license. The license only binds the licensee that received the code under the respective license. Things get more complicated if there are external contributors that may have contributed under specific legal arrangements, but in the simple case there’s no legal way to force the original copyright owner to publish sources.
teekert 1y ago
Well, you’re talking to a company that trademarked “Apple”.
llamasushi 1y ago
Small anecdote, but back in early 2024 (like, March), I did a ton of searching for an AI helper app that would allow me to use the gemini API key from AI studio. Chatbox was one of only two that I found (can't remember the other), but even back then I was astounded by its functionality and ease of use. It supported a ton of stuff, like custom system prompts, etc. Basically recreated a lot of the lmstudio experience but on a phone. You'd be surprised, but it was extremely difficult to find an android app that supported API key usage. Ahead of its time.
- cedws 1y ago
  I use Pal for iOS, it has a lot of nice features and it’s a native app.
theusus 1y ago
Do I need to use the API key, or it uses my subscription?
- KetoManx64 1y ago
  API key
lazyeye 1y ago
I stopped using Chatbox as it didnt allow an Openrouter API key (which in turn allows all models Openai, Claude, Grok, Gemini etc) and started using Msty instead. I might revisit Chatbox and see if its improved.

70 points by themez 1y ago

Based on the marketing page and App Store page, I can't really tell what sets this apart from ChatGPT. It looks like essentially the same thing, with a slightly different UI. What features does it have that add value over ChatGPT?

rd07 1y ago
Chatbox is basically a client for various LLM. It can even connect to locally hosted LLM on Ollama.
- higginsniggins 1y ago
  how is this different then t3chat?
  - viraptor 1y ago
    t3chat doesn't have a mobile app.
  - risyachka 1y ago
    T3chat was launched much later so the real question is how t3 is different from it or any other chat.

esseph 1y ago

You know what I just realized? I couldn't tell you the last time I installed a new app on my phone. Everything there is mostly out to exploit me, or a direct security liability regardless of what app store.

macintux 1y ago
I experienced deja vu today when an upcoming festival’s website encouraged me to install a custom app for the event on my phone. Felt very 2010(ish).
TheDong 1y ago
> Everything there is mostly out to exploit me, or a direct security liability regardless of what app store. As a shining bright light of hope, I will list some apps I have installed which do not appear to me to fall into those buckets. 1. Anki - Flash cards app, I can memorize stuff. It's really good. 2. KDE Connect - Zero exploitation, open source, even sorta works 3. Peakfinder - So far this app has seemed okay. "I programmed PeakFinder during the day and danced Tango during the night" - Peakfinder's creator Also, about 70% of the apps on F-Droid https://f-droid.org/ https://f-droid.org/ are fine. This is what I miss most about android. I do think that by percentage more of the iOS apps are exploitative crap or full of ads, probably because you need to pay $100/year for the app to keep existing at all. One of tricks to get fewer exploitative apps is to avoid iPhone and never install anything that needs google play services. Also, delete any app that has an ad instantly unless it's really important.
- Groxx 1y ago
  >This is what I miss most about android. oh don't worry, Google is trying to kill that too. you won't have to miss Android soon. https://developer.android.com/developer-verification https://developer.android.com/developer-verification discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45017028 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45017028
- sebastiennight 1y ago
  > about 70% of the apps on F-Droid https://f-droid.org/ https://f-droid.org/ are fine Wait, what's wrong with the other 30%?
  - TheDong 1y ago
    There's stuff like NewPipe, which is just youtube videos so it's awful for the soul. There's also games and blockchain apps which are bad for the soul
    - sebastiennight 1y ago
      > There's stuff like NewPipe, which is just youtube videos so it's awful for the soul. You do get to pick the videos, and have none imposed to you (through ads), so unless you're saying the entire video medium is awful for the soul, I'm thinking one could pick content that they find "good" for their soul?
PlunderBunny 1y ago
I had the same realisation about game app specifically - in the early days of the App Store, I’d buy several games a year, and play dozens more free games. I can’t remember the last game I bought.
MaxikCZ 1y ago
Its really sad to search for some basic functionality like "use phone as wireless mic for PC" only to be hit with wall of in-app pirchases and ads. I understand that the main reason is keeping app on store requires paying ransom to google, which is the worst reason one could imagine.
tcoff91 1y ago
On average 90% of time spent on mobile devices is in native apps.
- esseph 1y ago
  That's.. how is that relevant?
  - tcoff91 1y ago
    This is a site mostly centered around startups and building products. I notice a common anti-mobile-app sentiment here, and the criticisms are valid, but I think that it’s important to keep in mind that for many apps having a mobile app is important to the success of your business because the vast majority of people prefer mobile apps to mobile websites. Users want apps and it’s important not to assume that the majority of users will think like HN users. Even if your app is mostly just a webview wrapping your website, being in the App Store matters.
    - esseph 1y ago
      So what you're telling me is I shouldn't talk about my abandonment of native phone apps with other people because it might prevent someone at YC for giving someone else a job for a startup? Do I have that right?
      - tcoff91 1y ago
        There’s nothing wrong with discussing moving away from native apps and their very real downsides. I was merely offering data showing that the vast majority of people do not share this sentiment, and one would be wise when launching a product to do market research and find out if the evidence shows that the business will be best served by offering users a native app.
WhereIsTheTruth 1y ago
Compile it yourself https://github.com/chatboxai/chatbox https://github.com/chatboxai/chatbox
- viraptor 1y ago
  Unfortunately GH has an older version. The latest official releases don't have the code published, contrary to the licence.

viraptor 1y ago

Cool that they did that, but they could also start behaving properly. The app labels itself at GPL licensed, but the most recent releases are not available on GitHub. It's been the situation for quite a while now and it's been raised with the author a few times in the issues. They don't seem to care.

Kudos 1y ago
Unless they have GPL dependencies I'm not sure they have to release source for a binary release. If I write some code and grant you a license to use it under the GPL, I would have thought I still am the copyright holder and don't need any kind of license to do whatever I want with it.
- Sophira 1y ago
  My understanding is that the GPL specifies that any further redistribution of binary code (by the licensee) has to come with an offer to be able to receive the source code, which they can then modify and redistribute under the original license. If the original licensor doesn't actually allow access to the source code, there's no way for that to happen and I'd argue that the licensor is being unreasonable by asking licensees to comply with something they have no chance of being able to comply with. (Short of decompilation, which wouldn't yield the original source code.) I have no idea of the legal implications of all this (I'm not a lawyer), but there has to be some kind of legal thing that prevents the original licensor from being unreasonable in this way, I'd hope?
  - Xylakant 1y ago
    The license does not bind the original copyright owner, who can do anything with the code - fee example relicense and distribute under another license. The license only binds the licensee that received the code under the respective license. Things get more complicated if there are external contributors that may have contributed under specific legal arrangements, but in the simple case there’s no legal way to force the original copyright owner to publish sources.

teekert 1y ago

Well, you’re talking to a company that trademarked “Apple”.

llamasushi 1y ago

Small anecdote, but back in early 2024 (like, March), I did a ton of searching for an AI helper app that would allow me to use the gemini API key from AI studio. Chatbox was one of only two that I found (can't remember the other), but even back then I was astounded by its functionality and ease of use. It supported a ton of stuff, like custom system prompts, etc. Basically recreated a lot of the lmstudio experience but on a phone. You'd be surprised, but it was extremely difficult to find an android app that supported API key usage. Ahead of its time.

cedws 1y ago
I use Pal for iOS, it has a lot of nice features and it’s a native app.

theusus 1y ago

Do I need to use the API key, or it uses my subscription?

KetoManx64 1y ago
API key

lazyeye 1y ago

I stopped using Chatbox as it didnt allow an Openrouter API key (which in turn allows all models Openai, Claude, Grok, Gemini etc) and started using Msty instead. I might revisit Chatbox and see if its improved.