M: It's important. Go ahead, I'm on recording. You want me to talk to it? Yes. When I reinstalled ChatGPT, it asked if I wanted to keep my subscription, and I said yes. Now it says I'm on a free subscription, and I need to pay to upgrade.

G: Got it. Here’s what’s going on:

If you reinstalled the ChatGPT app and it now says you’re on a free plan, that usually means the app isn’t detecting your active subscription correctly. A few things you can do:

1. Check your subscription status.

2. Restore your purchase.

3. If it still shows free.

4. Last resort.

Do you want me to walk you through checking right now whether your App Store shows ChatGPT Plus as active? That’ll tell us if this is just an app sync problem or if the subscription really didn’t carry over.

M: Please re-answer that with this information. She does not have any of her old chats visible under the current settings. Also, there seems to have been something installed with an icon that looks like yours called ChatSmith or something, but with a green icon instead of the white one. Is this related, and if it's not, do you have any idea what the hell it is?

G: Thanks for clarifying — that makes the situation a bit clearer. Let me separate this into the two parts you raised:

1. Subscription showing as “free” and no old chats visible

What to check:

  1. In the ChatGPT app → Settings → Account → confirm the email/Apple ID/Google account listed.
  2. Compare it to the account she originally used when subscribing. If it doesn’t match, log out and back in with the correct one.
  3. In the App Store/Google Play → Subscriptions, confirm if “ChatGPT Plus” is still active. If yes, and the correct account is logged in, use Settings → Account → Restore Purchases in the ChatGPT app.

2. The “ChatSmith” app with a green icon

✅ Bottom line:

Would you like me to write out a step-by-step checklist (tap here, check this, log out here, etc.) that she can follow in order on her phone? That way you can just hand it to her and have her run through it.

M: Look up what chatsmith is please, make sure it’s not malicious

G: Here’s what I found out about ChatSmith / Chat Smith, and some thoughts on whether it seems safe or suspicious. If you want, I can also check whether people have reported device compromises or similar issues with that specific app.

What is Chat Smith

From what I can tell:

Safety / Privacy Concerns

Things to consider: what looks okay, and what is potentially risky.

Things that look reasonably legit:

Potential red flags / risks:

Verdict & Suggestions

Is it malicious? I did not find strong evidence that it is malware or overtly malicious (e.g., stealing passwords, doing things without permissions). But:

What You Should Do

To be safe:

  1. Uninstall if you think it might be interfering with your ChatGPT app, or if you're unsure.
  2. Check permissions: what permissions has it asked (microphone, storage, contacts)? If it asks for more than seems necessary, that’s suspicious.
  3. Use the official ChatGPT app for your subscription and history. That way you know you get what you paid for and your data is managed under OpenAI’s policies.
  4. If you want, check users’ reviews of this app specifically to see if people have had bad experiences (privacy leaks, unexpected charges, etc.).

If you like, I can try to see whether many people have reported “ChatSmith” causing problems (loosing data, strange charges, etc.). Do you want me to pull that up?

M: Check out those please

G: Here’s what I found digging into reports + reviews around “Chat Smith / AI Chat Smith / ChatSmith” — there are a lot of warning signs. I’ll lay out what people are saying, what looks sketchy, and what to watch out for. Not conclusive proof of malware or total fraud, but enough to be cautious.

What people are saying / specific complaints

  1. Misleading visuals / impersonation

    • Someone posted in Google Play forums that their spouse subscribed to “Chat Smith” thinking it was ChatGPT because the logo was similar. citeturn0search0
    • On Reddit, a user claimed that “chatSMITH is scamming people” and that the app gives very limited free uses per day (far less than genuine ChatGPT) and then pushes you into paying. citeturn0search4

  2. High subscription costs / surprise charges

    • On the Apple App Store listing for “AI Chatbot: AI Chat Smith 5.0”, a user review said:
      “It charged me $100 per month.” They said there was a “free trial” but then were billed a large amount. citeturn0search17
    • Another (from the same listing) that the app is “fake” in people’s words. citeturn0search17

  3. Privacy / tracking concerns

    • Its App Store description says the developer is “Vulcan Labs Company Limited,” and that its privacy practices include possibly using data that can track you (location, identifiers, usage data) across apps/websites. citeturn0search11
    • Some users say it’s hard to find clear info on how their data is being handled or whether data is retained / shared. (Less well documented, but part of general user concern.) — people generally distrust the transparency.

  4. “Looks like ChatGPT” bait-and-switch behavior

    • Multiple user complaints that the app’s logo, name, search results mimic ChatGPT or are designed to confuse so that people download them thinking they’re official. citeturn0search0turn0search10
    • When users realize it’s not official, they feel misled. Some say features are locked, or subscription is way more expensive than expected. citeturn0search0turn0search17turn0search4

What doesn’t necessarily look proven

Risk level / how bad this looks

Putting together the complaints:

So overall, while I can’t say definitively that it’s criminal, many of the user experiences are consistent with deceptive-app / borderline shady subscription practices.

What to watch out for / how to protect

Based on what I found, here are red flags to check, and steps to avoid getting burned:

If you like, I can try to see whether any security or consumer protection organization has issued warnings about this exact app (Chat Smith / AI Chat Smith). That way we know if there are documented legal or regulatory actions. Do you want me to pull that up?

M: Does the interface look like gpt? And as a side note is it possible to see when an app was installed

G: Two parts again — let me break it down clearly:

1. Does ChatSmith look like GPT?

Yes — and that’s part of why people feel tricked.

So yes, it’s visually close enough to be confusing, especially for someone just looking for “ChatGPT” in the store. That’s why reviewers are calling it a “fake” or “impersonator.”

2. Can you see when an app was installed?

Yes, but it depends on device type:

✅ Summary:

Would you like me to dig up a visual side-by-side of the ChatSmith interface vs. the official ChatGPT app, so you can see exactly how close they look?

M: I would like to use this tablet. I've got Lenovo TBS, sorry, TB310FU. I would like to use it to try signing in with her credentials to see if her account is the problem or the phone is. I was going to use her laptop, but that seems to be a black hole of nothing, and that's not the problem we're dealing with right now. Would I be able to change accounts here temporarily without having to mess with my entire system?

G: Yes — you can absolutely do that on the Lenovo TB310FU (that’s an Android-based Lenovo Tab M10 variant). You won’t have to mess up your whole setup if you go carefully. Here are your options, from lightest-touch to heaviest:

Option 1. Just log in/out inside the ChatGPT app

👉 This only affects the ChatGPT app, not your system Google account.

Option 2. Use a browser instead of the app

Option 3. Add her as a “secondary account” on the tablet

✅ Recommendation for testing:
Start with Option 2 (browser) or Option 1 (log in/out in the app). They’re fast, reversible, and don’t touch your tablet’s main Google account. Only use Option 3 if you want her to keep using the tablet long-term.

Do you want me to write out a short, step-by-step “test checklist” you can hand to her so she can walk through logging in on your Lenovo, checking Plus, and logging back out cleanly?

M: She got her account straightened out, but now she's having a problem where the transcription microphone is not visible. Where would that be?

G: Good — glad the account itself is sorted. The missing transcription microphone (the little mic button you tap to dictate or transcribe) is usually tied to the ChatGPT voice/voice-to-text features. Where it shows up depends on device and settings.

Where the mic normally appears

Why it might be missing

  1. Account level / region

    • The “conversation” mic (for back-and-forth talking to GPT) is only in the official ChatGPT app and may be Plus-only or limited regionally. If she just regained access, it may take a day or two to re-sync.

  2. Keyboard settings

    • If the phone/tablet keyboard has voice typing disabled, no mic will appear.
    • On Android: Settings → System → Languages & input → On-screen keyboard → Gboard → Voice typing → make sure it’s ON.

  3. Permissions

    • ChatGPT needs microphone permission.
    • Android: Settings → Apps → ChatGPT → Permissions → Microphone → Allow.
    • If blocked, the mic won’t show.

  4. App version

    • If the app is outdated, the mic may not be included. Updating via Play Store often fixes this.

Quick fix steps

  1. Update the ChatGPT app.
  2. Check app permissions: mic must be allowed.
  3. If still no mic, enable voice typing in Gboard (or whichever keyboard she uses).
  4. If she’s expecting the “conversation mode” mic (not just dictation), confirm she’s on the official ChatGPT app and that Plus is active — that’s the one with the special mic in the input bar.

Would you like me to make you a two-part guide: one for enabling the keyboard mic (guaranteed dictation), and one for checking whether the ChatGPT conversation mic should be visible on her account? That way she can try both routes.

M: She is on an Apple 10. Apple SE. Sorry, Apple SE.

G: Got it — thanks, that helps a lot. If she’s on an iPhone SE (10th gen style, smaller model), here’s how the microphone works in ChatGPT and what to check:

1. Two different microphones

2. Why she might not see it

3. How to fix quickly

  1. On the iPhone SE, go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Enable Dictation → ON.
  2. Then go to Settings → ChatGPT → Microphone → Allow.
  3. Update the ChatGPT app from the App Store.
  4. Open the ChatGPT app → look in the text entry bar. The conversation mic should be there. If not, she can always use the keyboard mic as a fallback.

✅ Summary:

Do you want me to write you a step-by-step walkthrough for iPhone SE so she can just tap through in order and not have to troubleshoot piece by piece?