Technology
Technology
5 MIN
5 MIN
Oct 7, 2025
Oct 7, 2025
Reach 800 million users without apps
Written by
Written by
Max Pinas
Max Pinas
July 2008. Apple opened the App Store with 500 apps and about 10 million iPhone users. Developers could suddenly reach millions without building their own distribution. What happened next changed everything. Instagram launched two years later and reached 100 million users. Uber transformed transportation. Angry Birds became a cultural phenomenon. Small teams built businesses that reached millions because the platform created the opportunity.
The developers who moved fast in 2008-2010 captured those early iPhone users. They learned the platform. They built distribution that later competitors struggled to match. First-mover advantage was real.
October 2025. OpenAI opened ChatGPT to third-party apps. But this time, it's not 10 million users. It's 800 million. And the same pattern is playing out again, just faster and at much bigger scale.
What just became possible
You're planning a weekend trip. You open ChatGPT and type "I need a hotel in Amsterdam, near museums, under 150 euros."
Booking.com appears right in your conversation. The AI understands "near museums" and shows you options. You ask "which one has the best breakfast?" The conversation flows naturally. When you're ready, you book. All without leaving the chat.
This is different from clicking a link or opening another app. The brand appears exactly when you need it, understands what you want from the conversation, and helps you through natural dialogue.
The old customer journey meant customers had to remember your brand, search for your app, navigate your interface, and hopefully complete the action without giving up.
The new customer journey means your app appears in their conversation right when they need you. You skip the hardest parts. Remembering the brand. Finding the app. Learning the interface.
How the technology works
The technology underneath is called Model Context Protocol (MCP). It's an open standard that lets apps plug into conversational AI platforms.
Apps appear when needed. You're discussing a party, Spotify shows up for the playlist. You're talking about buying a home, Zillow appears with properties on an interactive map. You're not browsing an app store. The conversation brings in what you need.
Apps understand context. They know what you've been discussing. Zillow doesn't show random houses. It shows properties matching your budget, location preferences, and lifestyle needs from the conversation you've been having.
Apps work through natural language. "Canva, turn this outline into slides." "Figma, help me with this design." "Spotify, make a playlist for my Friday party." You don't learn buttons and menus. You just talk.
Real examples from the launch
Spotify creates playlists through conversation. "Make a playlist for my Friday party with upbeat songs from the 90s" becomes a natural interaction where you refine choices through back-and-forth dialogue.
Zillow shows properties while understanding budget constraints and lifestyle needs from your conversation. "Show me homes under $400k near good schools" works naturally, not as filtered search forms.
Canva transforms outlines into slide decks through conversation. "Turn this project outline into a professional presentation" and it happens.
Figma lets developers turn designs into working code by chatting. "Convert this mobile screen to React components" becomes simple dialogue instead of manual coding.
The first wave launched in October 2025 with Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify, and Zillow. DoorDash, Instacart, Uber, and AllTrails are coming later in 2025, along with other partners.
The security advantage
OpenAI acts as a gatekeeper, just like Apple does for the iPhone App Store. Every app must pass review before reaching users.
Apps must follow usage policies, include clear privacy policies, collect only minimum necessary data, and be transparent about permissions. Apps that violate policies, crash frequently, or misrepresent capabilities get removed.
This solves the trust problem. Users aren't connecting to random services. They're using apps that passed review by a company protecting 800 million users. For brands, this means the platform maintains quality. Your app sits alongside other trusted brands, not sketchy downloads.
What happens next
OpenAI will begin accepting app submissions later in 2025, with details about monetization and revenue sharing coming soon. The business model looks similar to mobile app stores. Brands can offer free apps, paid apps, or apps connecting to existing subscriptions.
The platform is open. Any brand can build. The developers who built for iPhone in 2008 had first-mover advantage. The brands building for ChatGPT in 2025-2026 have the same opportunity.
Learn the platform now. Understand how your service works in conversation. Design for context-aware interactions. Be ready when app submission opens.
Want to understand the technology that makes this possible? Read our companion article:
"The AI app store that builds your business"
exploring how MCP technology lets any business build and launch platforms in weeks instead of months.
Author
Max Pinas
Creative at heart, lover of nice that make sense
Founder Studio Hyra
July 2008. Apple opened the App Store with 500 apps and about 10 million iPhone users. Developers could suddenly reach millions without building their own distribution. What happened next changed everything. Instagram launched two years later and reached 100 million users. Uber transformed transportation. Angry Birds became a cultural phenomenon. Small teams built businesses that reached millions because the platform created the opportunity.
The developers who moved fast in 2008-2010 captured those early iPhone users. They learned the platform. They built distribution that later competitors struggled to match. First-mover advantage was real.
October 2025. OpenAI opened ChatGPT to third-party apps. But this time, it's not 10 million users. It's 800 million. And the same pattern is playing out again, just faster and at much bigger scale.
What just became possible
You're planning a weekend trip. You open ChatGPT and type "I need a hotel in Amsterdam, near museums, under 150 euros."
Booking.com appears right in your conversation. The AI understands "near museums" and shows you options. You ask "which one has the best breakfast?" The conversation flows naturally. When you're ready, you book. All without leaving the chat.
This is different from clicking a link or opening another app. The brand appears exactly when you need it, understands what you want from the conversation, and helps you through natural dialogue.
The old customer journey meant customers had to remember your brand, search for your app, navigate your interface, and hopefully complete the action without giving up.
The new customer journey means your app appears in their conversation right when they need you. You skip the hardest parts. Remembering the brand. Finding the app. Learning the interface.
How the technology works
The technology underneath is called Model Context Protocol (MCP). It's an open standard that lets apps plug into conversational AI platforms.
Apps appear when needed. You're discussing a party, Spotify shows up for the playlist. You're talking about buying a home, Zillow appears with properties on an interactive map. You're not browsing an app store. The conversation brings in what you need.
Apps understand context. They know what you've been discussing. Zillow doesn't show random houses. It shows properties matching your budget, location preferences, and lifestyle needs from the conversation you've been having.
Apps work through natural language. "Canva, turn this outline into slides." "Figma, help me with this design." "Spotify, make a playlist for my Friday party." You don't learn buttons and menus. You just talk.
Real examples from the launch
Spotify creates playlists through conversation. "Make a playlist for my Friday party with upbeat songs from the 90s" becomes a natural interaction where you refine choices through back-and-forth dialogue.
Zillow shows properties while understanding budget constraints and lifestyle needs from your conversation. "Show me homes under $400k near good schools" works naturally, not as filtered search forms.
Canva transforms outlines into slide decks through conversation. "Turn this project outline into a professional presentation" and it happens.
Figma lets developers turn designs into working code by chatting. "Convert this mobile screen to React components" becomes simple dialogue instead of manual coding.
The first wave launched in October 2025 with Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify, and Zillow. DoorDash, Instacart, Uber, and AllTrails are coming later in 2025, along with other partners.
The security advantage
OpenAI acts as a gatekeeper, just like Apple does for the iPhone App Store. Every app must pass review before reaching users.
Apps must follow usage policies, include clear privacy policies, collect only minimum necessary data, and be transparent about permissions. Apps that violate policies, crash frequently, or misrepresent capabilities get removed.
This solves the trust problem. Users aren't connecting to random services. They're using apps that passed review by a company protecting 800 million users. For brands, this means the platform maintains quality. Your app sits alongside other trusted brands, not sketchy downloads.
What happens next
OpenAI will begin accepting app submissions later in 2025, with details about monetization and revenue sharing coming soon. The business model looks similar to mobile app stores. Brands can offer free apps, paid apps, or apps connecting to existing subscriptions.
The platform is open. Any brand can build. The developers who built for iPhone in 2008 had first-mover advantage. The brands building for ChatGPT in 2025-2026 have the same opportunity.
Learn the platform now. Understand how your service works in conversation. Design for context-aware interactions. Be ready when app submission opens.
Want to understand the technology that makes this possible? Read our companion article:
"The AI app store that builds your business"
exploring how MCP technology lets any business build and launch platforms in weeks instead of months.
Author
Max Pinas
Creative at heart, lover of nice that make sense
Founder Studio Hyra
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Studio Hyra 2025
Studio Hyra 2025
Studio Hyra 2025