
Perplexity has launched its AI Assistant for Android, offering users a powerful alternative to established players like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. The app can execute tasks across multiple apps, leverage multimodal capabilities, and provide nuanced responses. It is available for free on the Play Store, with a subscription option for advanced features.
Key Takeaways:
- The assistant can book rides, draft emails, and set reminders, among other tasks.
- It can analyze your screen content or camera feed for context-aware assistance.
- Currently supports Spotify, Uber, and YouTube, with more apps in development.
- Only available on Android for now.
Introducing Perplexity Assistant.
— Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) January 23, 2025
Assistant uses reasoning, search, and apps to help with daily tasks ranging from simple questions to multi-app actions. You can book dinner, find a forgotten song, call a ride, draft emails, set reminders, and more.
Available on Play Store. pic.twitter.com/UHdUIiDOzD
Perplexity’s Assistant extends beyond simple queries by integrating with various Android apps to complete real-world tasks. Users can enable it as their default assistant, replacing options like Google’s Gemini, and summon it through their device’s power button or a swipe gesture. Unlike some competitors, it delivers nuanced responses, such as identifying items through the camera or booking reservations via OpenTable.
Perplexity's latest offering marks a notable advancement in AI assistants' practical utility. Unlike traditional AI chatbots that primarily answer questions, this new assistant actively engages with your phone's applications to complete tasks. The system can write and send texts, manage your schedule, and even help you find entertainment - though its podcast recommendations might raise an eyebrow or two.
The assistant's multimodal capabilities set it apart from conventional offerings. During testing, it demonstrated impressive visual recognition skills, successfully identifying recent promotional items and providing detailed analysis of objects through the phone's camera. This feature mirrors the functionality of Google's Gemini but with its own distinct approach to visual understanding.
To access the assistant, Android users can replace their default AI helper through the Perplexity app. The service is activated by either swiping up from the left corner or holding down the home button. While the basic functionality is available for free, Perplexity offers a Pro subscription at $19.99 per month for enhanced features.
It is unclear if/when these capabilities will make it to iOS as Apple currently does not offer such deep system integration with third party assistants through their SDK.
For users seeking a more hands-on AI assistant that can actually get things done, Perplexity's new offering presents an intriguing option. While it's not without its quirks and limitations, the assistant's ability to interact with real-world applications suggests a promising direction for AI tools that aim to be truly useful in our daily lives.