Feature request

Please add a reading / focus mode in the ChatGPT mobile app that lets users temporarily hide persistent on-screen UI while reading long responses.

Problem

When reading a long ChatGPT response on mobile, the persistent app UI takes up a significant amount of vertical screen space. On my device, the header, input area, and related controls occupy more than 20% of the visible screen.

That is workable while composing a message, but it becomes a problem once the user’s intent shifts from writing to reading. For long-form answers, research summaries, code explanations, writing drafts, planning output, or step-by-step instructions, the current mobile UI makes the response feel cramped and forces substantially more scrolling than necessary.

The issue is not that these UI elements persist in most cases – the issue is that there is currently no way to temporarily dismiss them when the user is reading, or otherwise has a reason to.

Expected behavior

ChatGPT could support a mobile reading pattern where non-essential UI can be hidden while the user is consuming long-form content. There are many apps that already employ straight-forward approaches to this that users would already expect and be familiar with, requiring no acclimation or adjustment.

Any of these interaction models would fit common user mental models:

  • Auto-hide on scroll: Hide the header and/or input area when the user scrolls down through a response, then restore them when the user scrolls up.
  • Menu option: Add a Reading mode, Focus mode, or Hide UI option in the conversation or message menu.
  • Gesture-based control: Allow a long-press, single/double tap, or similar unique gesture to temporarily hide non-essential UI.
  • Persistent preference: Add a mobile setting for users who prefer a more compact reading experience by default.

Why this matters

ChatGPT is often used for long-form reading, not only short conversational exchanges. Mobile users read:

  • research output
  • multi row/column charts
  • text snippets with few line-breaks, requiring both lateral and vertical scroll
  • multi-part explanations
  • code walkthroughs
  • writing drafts
  • structured plans
  • troubleshooting steps
  • long assistant responses used as reference material

While research reports in some instances are presented in a modal popup with virtually no UI except the X in the corner and maybe horizontal line at the top for a swipe-to-dismiss function, many research outputs now present in-line to the chat. Especially when doing web-search-enabled response that does not explicitly have research mode enabled.

On mobile, vertical space is the main constraint. Giving more of that space back to the response would improve readability, reduce scroll fatigue, and make long answers easier to use. In instances when the report almost requires landscape viewing, the amount of screen space the UI takes up increases proportionally, as the vertical height is unchanged, while the horizontal width increases to match total screen width.

This would also help accessibility-adjacent use cases. Users with larger text settings, smaller phones, reduced dexterity, visual fatigue, or other reading constraints are disproportionately affected when persistent UI consumes a large share of the viewport.

Suggested implementation

A conservative implementation could be:

  1. Hide the header and bottom input/action area when the user scrolls down through a response.
  2. Restore controls immediately when the user scrolls up, taps near the top or bottom edge, or reaches the end of the response.
  3. Keep all controls available with a tap so no functionality is removed.
  4. Optionally add a Reading mode or Focus mode item under the conversation menu for users who prefer explicit control.

Summary / TLDR;

Please add a mobile reading/focus mode that temporarily hides persistent UI while reading long ChatGPT responses.

This would preserve the existing interface while giving users a focused reading state when they are consuming longer answers.