Annoying issue

[u/rchaotix]

Hey, cant really find this addressed anywhere, maybe I'm searching the wrong terms or places...

But this super annoying bug has been happening on the Droid app for ages now. Im not sure exactly what triggers it, seems totally random but also seems to happen more when GPT has to think with more complexity or deeper into a thread.

This box pops up and I'm unable to see the thought process or text scroll of a response. Sometimes the response will just manifest all at once after a delay. Most times though I have to close out the app, wait a sec and re-open it which updates the thread. If I try to close and re open too fast it seems to break things worse.

It seems like its trying to use the image generator unprompted and my (usually) successful workaround seems to confirm that. I just edit my message and include "please stop using image generator" and that usually stops it for a while. When the thread is lengthy though sometimes that doesnt even stop it from doing it over and over.

Im guessing this only happens on the Droid version. It never does when Im using GPT on PC. I just really like the convenience of the phone app. Nothing works right on my Galaxies anymore it seems. Lol might give up on em.

Just wondered if others experience this and possibly know the deeper issue that causes it. Perhaps serve as a node thread for others who have it. Im not sure exactly when it started but I wanna say it was early this year or at the earliest last Autumn. Most likely when the new style of image generator came in.

[u/ChoiceAssumption7015]

What are you sending to the chat

Don't just type "please stop using image generator"

try explicitly tell "You are in Chat mode. do not create images."

[u/Creative-Tart-9852 → u/ChoiceAssumption7015]

Oh that loading screen is exactly what I get on my Pixel when the app gets stuck. It's like it's buffering a thought but something in the pipeline jams up. I've had it happen mid-cooking question and the thing just sits there spinning dots for a minute before the full answer plops in all at once.

The chat mode instruction is a good shout, I usually have to restart the whole thread when it gets really stubborn. Never thought to frame it like a mode switch, might actually stop it from drifting into image generation when the conversation gets long. Curious if that holds up through a deep thread with multiple follow-ups.

[u/rchaotix → u/ChoiceAssumption7015]

A weird quirk of using the mobile app is that I reflexively start communicating in a more casual conversation style. So yeah... you're correct I should be more KweenBee-like. 😅

[u/commandrix]

This happens every once in a while on my desktop browser, too. It'll usually "figure it out" and spit out some text instead of an image after a few seconds, though.

[u/ChoiceAssumption7015 → u/commandrix]

most of the time, once it opens the Creating image window, it actually starts generating images. there is no chance it would put out as text.

[u/Harbor_Builder]

I had exactly the same issue on Android.

At first I also thought that weird animated box was part of “Thinking”, so one time I actually waited around 20–30 minutes for a good answer. It just kept animating.

Then I discovered something interesting: if I closed/reopened the chat, the completed text answer was already there. So at least in my case, GPT wasn’t actually still thinking and it wasn’t generating an image — the Android UI just seemed to be stuck displaying that animation instead of the response.

Which makes the “please stop using the image generator” workaround kind of funny. 😄 I can imagine GPT going: “But… I’m not generating an image. I already answered you!”

What helped me was reopening the chat/app, clearing the ChatGPT app cache, and at some point I also switched to using ChatGPT through the browser, where I didn’t have this problem. If it keeps happening, I’d try: update the app → clear cache (not app data) → force close/reopen → reinstall if necessary. Your chats are tied to your account, so reinstalling the app shouldn’t delete the synced conversation history.

I’d also try the same affected thread in a browser when the box appears. If the finished response is already sitting there in the browser, that would be a pretty good indication that this is a client/UI rendering or sync bug, rather than image generation.

So no, you’re definitely not the only one who has seen this.

[u/rchaotix → u/Harbor_Builder]

Thank you. I've tried all kinds of fixes like that. Due to its random nature I'm never sure if I cause it to stop happening for a while or if its just luck. GPT was acting brilliant a week ago but now seems to have swung around to being lazier by default again, unless its my imagination. If it isnt Im not surprised to see the box-of-annoyance pop up again. Lol.

[u/BopSupreme]

Happens too