HuggingFace recently introduced HuggingChat, a native macOS application built on their open-source platform. This app is shaping up to be one of the first real contenders to the macOS ChatGPT app. Its interface is simple and intuitive, with a context prompt window at the top and a conversation thread that flows down in a drop-down style as you type. Currently available on GitHub in beta, HuggingChat offers a minimalistic feature set. You can create new chats or access settings, though the app doesn’t yet support image uploads, despite having a plus button on the left side. HuggingFace has confirmed that image upload functionality is planned for future updates.
In the settings, users can choose from a variety of open-source models, including:
- Llama 3.1
- Mistral Nemo
- Hermes 3
- Qwen 2.5
- Among others
For power users, there are keyboard shortcuts available, and you can tweak the appearance settings, though most themes are locked, leaving only the default option accessible. It would be exciting to see future support for vision capabilities and possibly even a voice interface, both of which could enhance the app’s functionality.
HuggingChat is particularly appealing to those who prefer working with open-source software, and importantly, it remains completely free to use.
