Perplexity Introduces AI Voice Assistant on iOS

Perplexity has updated its iOS app by introducing its AI assistant, Perplexity Assistant, allowing users to perform everyday tasks directly through their iPhone.

The AI assistant enables users to play media, draft emails, book rides, set reminders, and more. It’s also capable of playing podcasts, hard-to-find videos, and favorite songs.

For example, users can say, “Play me the video of Katy Perry kissing the ground after landing from the rocket,” or “Baby Shark Donald Trump version,” or “Podcast where Andreessen discusses browsers with Lex.” The AI will retrieve and play the requested media.

“This one is still a bit janky and requires you to use Apple Mail and Apple Calendar, but it works well once you set it up,” said Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas in a post on X.

“You can research a place you want to go and directly call a ride there or navigate to it,” he added.

Currently, the system defaults to Apple Music for audio playback and Apple Mail for emails. The CEO mentioned that support for Gmail and Google Calendar is on the way. He also noted that it takes 3 to 4 seconds to connect when users activate voice mode, due to a real-time communication (RTC) issue, but assured they are working to reduce this delay.

iOS users can customize their iPhone’s Action Button to trigger Perplexity Voice Mode and use it without opening the app.