Perplexity on Wednesday announced a new voice assistant for iOS. The functionality will be made available through an update for the Perplexity app on the App Store.
The assistant utilises ‘web browsing’ and ‘multi-app actions’ to help users accomplish tasks, such as booking reservations, sending emails and calendar invitations, playing music and videos, etc.
Introducing Perplexity iOS Voice Assistant
— Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) April 23, 2025
Voice Assistant uses web browsing and multi-app actions to book reservations, send emails and calendar invites, play media, and more—all from the Perplexity iOS app.
Update your app in the App Store and start asking today. pic.twitter.com/OKdlTaG9CO
CEO Aravind Srinivas called the development “the first time an AI app can answer questions and take basic actions on your iPhone”. He added that users can customise the Action Button on their iPhone (available on iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 16/16e/16 Pro variants) to use the assistant without having to open the application.
Perplexity announced this functionality for Android users earlier this year. This allowed them to access Perplexity’s assistant by configuring gestures on their Android device.
Recently, Bloomberg reported that Perplexity is in talks with Motorola and Samsung to integrate its assistant on their devices. The report added that Perplexity has already reached an agreement with Motorola’s parent company, Lenovo.
The deal could involve enabling Perplexity as the default assistant option on devices or pre-installing the app.
Perplexity’s new iPhone assistant could spell trouble for Apple, which has struggled to deliver compelling AI features through its Apple Intelligence platform. Users have been critical of the capabilities of Apple Intelligence, and the company came under fire for offering inaccurate summaries from news reports.
Features also noticeably lag behind the ones offered by smartphones from competitors like Samsung.
A few weeks ago, Apple announced that the release of a more personalised version of Siri had been delayed until 2026. Last month, it was reported that the company was struggling to mitigate various bugs and engineering problems within Siri.
Recently, Bloomberg reported that Mike Rockwell, creator of the Apple Vision Pro, will replace John Giannandrea as the AI head. As per the reports, CEO Tim Cook had “lost confidence” in Giannandrea’s ability to develop products.
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