I tried Claude AI, and it’s now my go-to chatbot app

AI chatbots have quietly become our digital sidekicks, more so, when we’re in a pinch. From crafting polite emails requesting your manager for leaves to exhaustive vacation planning, artificial intelligence-driven bots have stepped in to have our backs.

And why shouldn’t they? They’re smart, sassy and are here to make our lives a lot easier (or so they say). Anthropic’s Claude is one such app several claim is a lot more conversational, and ‘sentient‘, compared to ChatGPT or other popular chatbots known today. Intrigued by the bold reviews, I decided to put the Claude AI smartphone app to the test.

Spoiler alert: It wasn’t just the welcoming, sleek interface that caught my eye — it was also its potential to have genuinely smarter, more intuitive responses. But can Claude AI replace every other chatbot app to be my ultimate AI bestie?

What can Claude AI do?

Claude AI is designed to assist users with a wide range of tasks; these include everything from answering questions to generating content, providing recommendations, and even engaging in natural, human-like conversations.

While this may sound like one of the many chatbots available today, what makes Claude sought-after is its ability to ask follow-up questions or opinions. Some of its broad capabilities include writing and editing content, coding, ideation, task planning, research and personal assistance.

I used the free plan which gave me access to the Claude 3.5 Sonnet model. The plan also gave me a limited number of prompts, around 30 per day, which reset daily at midnight.

The premium version, on the other hand, gives you a higher volume of messages along with a faster processing speed. It also gives you priority usage during peak hours and early access to new features. Apart from these, the premium tier also allows users to pick between different Claude models with varying capabilities based on their needs.

What did I think of Claude AI?

Claude AI instantly greeted me with a clean, minimalistic interface and there’s nothing quite like simplicity when you’re using a new app. After all, they say the more you have on your screen, the more it adds to the cognitive load on your mind.

Claude AI sports a non-fussy, beige-and-white user interface right from the moment you log in. The interface and the colour scheme feel nice and easy on the eyes. Unlike ChatGPT, the first thing Claude AI does is ask you your name, or what would you like to be referred to as. From the second slide onwards, it already begins to feel more personal as the chatbot will refer to you by your chosen name for all its setup queries.

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There are no other elements on your screen and all you get is a text box at the bottom where you can simply type in your query. Once you do, all you have to do is hit enter and wait for the bot to respond — which is usually within a second. While I was slightly disappointed to learn that Claude couldn’t generate images, it was enjoyable to see how well it could describe an image for me.

It also can’t access links but will respond to PDFs or other file formats if you plan to use it for quick summaries. Speaking of, all your search queries also get a summarised title of their own on the homepage for ease of access. They certainly seem a lot more concise and to the point compared to ChatGPT’s or Gemini’s.

I asked it to create an itinerary for an upcoming trip, and was pleasantly surprised to see it ask me follow-up questions, such as “What’s your typical daily pace? Do you want a packed schedule or relaxed?” or “What’s your budget and other constraints like accessibility needs?”

It also goes on to ask if you require any restaurant recommendations or activity suggestions in the area, and I thought that lent a fantastic personal touch to the overall experience. Claude AI certainly is a ‘chatty’ chatbot and the tone as well as treatment comes incredibly close to Meta AI on WhatsApp.

ALSO READ: I used Meta AI on WhatsApp, and here’s everything it can do

However, it is crucial to keep in mind that Claude is not as up to date as a Gemini would be, to say, and it certainly can’t replace online search. That said, it is a great tool if what you’re looking for is a hand in research or business with its easy-to-comprehend language and its human-like approach.

How to get Claude AI

Anthropic recently announced a dedicated Claude AI app for Android as well. You can download the app from the Google Play Store or the App Store if you’re an iOS user. All you have to do is search for ‘Claude’ in the search bar.

The app will sign you into a free version by default. However, you can always choose to upgrade to Claude Pro by paying Rs 1,999 per month, which is ideal for large businesses or corporate offices.