# OpenAI Makes ChatGPT ChatGPT Again > Source: > Published: 2026-07-17 10:18:29+00:00 # OpenAI Makes ChatGPT ChatGPT Again Let's give OpenAI some credit, once they realize they made a mistake, they act quickly to correct it. Today's case in point: with [an update](https://x.com/thsottiaux/status/2077928427936710901?ref=spyglass.org), ChatGPT now features ChatGPT once again. No, that's not a joke, and yes, it does speak to a very obvious self-own. [To quickly recap](https://spyglass.org/chatgpt-gets-to-work/): the strangest thing about the "Super App" update to ChatGPT a week ago was that they completely buried the actual chat functionality. It was shoved into the sidebar and made into a sub-feature of the service. A service which, mind you, was still called ChatGPT. But instead of that brand front-and-center, the new app launched into something confusingly called 'ChatGPT Work'. As it turned out, ChatGPT Work wasn't ChatGPT for Work, but OpenAI's Claude Cowork competitor. And even though this new app was clearly an extension and expansion of Codex, their Claude Code competitor, that too was now a secondary option. There were several other UI issues to boot – and many of those remain. But first and foremost, OpenAI just needed to make this new ChatGPT app far less confusing and jarring to actually use. And now they have: gone is 'ChatGPT Work' front and center at start, back is simply 'ChatGPT' with our old, trusted chatbox asking you to simply 'Message ChatGPT'. To be clear, 'Work' is still there, but it's now a secondary tab in that main ChatGPT area – just as it is on the web, which as I noted last week was the far better UI. Also back are your Projects and Recents (recent chats) in the sidebar. Again, OpenAI basically made ChatGPT ChatGPT again. Codex is here too, in that same main drop-down. You can also set it as the default if you're coming up from the old Codex app (which auto-updated into this app). It's still the same non-native, but also not exactly Electron app that those users are used to. That still sucks for users of the old ChatGPT Mac app, but you can also still use that for now as 'ChatGPT (Classic)'. And everything now apparently syncs between desktop, mobile, and web. Why it didn't in the first place, I don't know. This all felt a bit rushed out the door. In case you haven't heard, OpenAI has had [one hell of a week](https://spyglass.org/apple-v-openai-lawsuit-lines/). Anyway, all of that is good. But it also begs the question as to why on Earth OpenAI didn't realize all of this obvious stuff before launch? Perhaps beyond [being rushed](https://spyglass.org/copilot-ai-super-app/) to get the first "[Super App](https://spyglass.org/super-app/)" out the door, it seems like a situation where the team was far too focused on simply cloning Claude. Specifically, what Anthropic had done with the Claude desktop app. This new ChatGPT app was – and remains– largely that. And you could argue it's even more like that now because it actually opens into chat mode, just like Claude does. As I noted, this was perhaps the most confusing thing of all. OpenAI cloned Claude except for this one key bit of functionality. Now they have that too. Clearly, they were too Codex-pilled. We all get why. Claude Code (and Cowork) has been killing it, rocketing Anthropic into not just a viable OpenAI competitor, but into a more highly valued company bringing in more money. OpenAI's answer, Codex, was clearly showing progress in combating that turning of the tides, so they decided to go all-in, chat be damned. The problem is that pesky one billion or so ChatGPT users that OpenAI seemingly forgot they had. Obviously they didn't forget, they just view that user base as far less valuable than the ones focused on coding and other agentic angles. And yeah, I mean it is literally less valuable of a user base when it comes to bringing in money right now. I might argue that longer term, if OpenAI really believes they can crack the AI advertising nut, having the widest base of users would be far more valuable, but it's still unclear if that will happen. In that light, we can see the dilemma. But there were also probably about a dozen better ways to do this roll-out – as highlighted by how fast they're fixing these things – and they just missed the mark. While they undoubtedly knew there would be some backlash, they probably didn't realize there would be this much. Again. All that points to perhaps [a disturbing trend](https://spyglass.org/openai-chatgpt-gpt-5-backlash/) where OpenAI doesn't really understand their user base. Which you almost can understand given how they clearly stumbled into ChatGPT in the first place. Still, here they are with those billion users. A problem that all of their competitors would love to have. But still a problem. But those are bigger, existential issues. All I wanted was my ChatGPT app back. And I got it. It's not perfect. It's still bloated. But at least it's usable again now.