xAI has started the year strong, as they released another update to their standalone iOS App. Grok Version 1.3.28 is now available in the App Store as of January 3, 2026.
After a busy holiday season with quick releases, this latest build is focused on taking advantage of the platform’s most compelling features, Voice Mode and Imagine.
Relentless Optimization
The change log indicates a team working at breakneck speed. Version 1.3.28 comes hot on the heels of Version 1.3.27, released on Christmas Day, and Version 1.3.26, released December 23.
While xAI’s release notes are typically vague, such as Improvements to Voice and Imagine, the scope of recent updates suggests large backend tweaks for both latency and generation quality on these high bandwidth features.
Also Read: Grok 4.2 Release Date: Musk’s Bridge to AGI Arrives in January
Enhancing the “Senses”
The Voice and Imagine applications provide the backbone of the Grok experience as a standalone device, which could be separate from the text based interface on top of X.
- Voice Mode with Camera: Grok has evolved into a multimodal assistant. Users can simply talk to the chatbot just like a human, and they would get natural and fluid responses. Importantly, the Live Camera integration grants the AI vision over what is around a user at any moment in time and provides auditory descriptions of an object or scene as it appears from second to second.
- Grok 2.0: The media engine for Grok is shaping up to be a creativity machine. Now the app can automatically produce 6 second videos with synchronised sound from basic text prompts or turn still photos into brief animations. You can bet that one of the primary fixes inside 1.3.28 is stability for these resource hungry generations, as they should play noticeably smoother and be more in sync.
Version Comparison: The Holiday Sprint
The following table highlights the rapid iteration cycle xAI has maintained over the last few weeks:
| Feature / Metric | v1.3.28 (Jan 3) | v1.3.27 (Dec 25) | v1.3.20 (Dec 13) |
| Primary Focus | Voice & Imagine Stability | Chat Improvements | Voice & Imagine |
| Video Gen | 6-second w/ Sound (Optimized) | 6-second w/ Sound | Initial Rollout / Beta |
| Voice Latency | Ultra-Low (Real-time) | Low | Standard |
| Live Camera | Refined Object Detection | Standard Support | Beta Support |
| Release Timing | Post-New Year | Christmas Day | Mid-December |
Grok vs. ChatGPT: The iOS Showdown
As Grok matures into a standalone ecosystem, its rivalry with OpenAI’s iOS app has intensified. Here is how the two heavyweights compare early 2026:
| Feature | Grok (Standalone App) | ChatGPT (iOS App) |
| Voice Mode | “Unfiltered” & Edgy: Known for distinct personalities and less restrictive conversation. | Polished & Safe: Highly optimized but often criticized for being overly “sanitized” or robotic. |
| Real-Time Data | Native X Integration: Pulls live news, trends, and posts instantly from the X platform. | Web Search: Relies on Bing/Search integration, which can be slower for breaking social trends. |
| Video Generation | Native Audio-Sync: Generates 6s videos with sound directly in-app. | Sora Integration: High quality but often lacks native audio-sync or requires waitlists/credits. |
| Personality | Dynamic Modes: Includes distinct personas like “Rudi” (cheeky) and “Valentine” (poetic). | Adaptive Tone: Generally maintains a helpful, neutral, and professional demeanor. |
The “Companion” Ecosystem
Today’s update doubles down on Grok being more than just a chatbot and now proclaims itself as an AI Companion experience instead.
The app includes unique AI personalities, including Rudi and Valentine.
These companions use the new Voice Mode to provide unique ways of speaking, taking a step closer toward making the AI feel more like a character than a Google search.
