ChatGPT is making its Codex app for Mac more powerful. It can now operate your Mac in the background, plug into more apps and services and even browse the web.
OpenAI initially launched Codex primarily for coding purposes. But the latest update greatly expands its capabilities.
Codex for Mac becomes more powerful
The newest Codex app for Mac makes it more functional and a direct competitor to Claude Code. It brings many of ChatGPT‘s capabilities to the Codex app, while also adding new features like background computer use.
OpenAI says in its announcement that Codex can now “use all of the apps on your computer by seeing, clicking, and typing with its own cursor.” Even better, you can have multiple agents running at the same time — all while you continue using your Mac.
Additionally, Codex now features an in-app browser. This will be helpful for developers in frontend and game development. For now, this feature only works with web apps on localhost. But OpenAI plans to expand this feature further to work with other websites.
It’s now also possible to use the Codex app to generate images. Until now, you could only do this with the ChatGPT app. This will help streamline your workflow, as you can directly generate images for product mockups, marketing materials and more.
Automation in Codex gets an upgrade
Automation capabilities in Codex are also getting an upgrade. It can now reuse existing conversations and even schedule work for itself in the future. The best part is that Codex will automatically wake up at the scheduled time to continue the task. Memory support also comes to Codex with this update, allowing it to remember important information from previous chats.
Lastly, Codex is gaining support for 90 new plugins, enabling it to talk to more apps and services. This includes CircleCI, GitLab Issues, Microsoft Suite and more.
The improvements to the Codex app are rolling out widely from today. For now, only macOS supports the computer use feature. It will also roll out to EU and UK users “soon.”
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
