- What the app gives you on each phone
- Talking to Perplexity on an iPhone
- Shortcuts for the home screen, lock screen and Action Button
- Making Perplexity your Android assistant
- Draw to Search on Android
- Which apps the Assistant can use
- Images and video from your phone
- Who I'd send to the app, and who can stay on the website
- Frequently asked questions
The Perplexity app for iPhone and Android adds a voice assistant on top of search: on iOS you tap the voice icon in the input box to talk to it, and on Android you can make Perplexity your default assistant so it opens from the power or home button. As of Nov 2026 the Help Center also lists Draw to Search on Android and a set of apps the Assistant can use, with email and messages limited to writing only.
This page sticks to what the phone apps do. For the basics of searching with Perplexity, see my main guide to using Perplexity.
What the app gives you on each phone
| Platform | What you get | Setup |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone | Voice Assistant, plus home screen, lock screen and Action Button shortcuts | Update the app, tap the voice icon, allow Microphone access |
| Android | Perplexity Assistant as your default assistant, plus Draw to Search | Update the app, tap the onboarding banner, or use your device's assistant settings |
| Both | Image generation and, on paid plans, video generation | Type the request in the search input |
Talking to Perplexity on an iPhone
The Help Center describes the iOS Voice Assistant as a Perplexity layer on top of your device, integrating with many of your apps, for anything from simple questions to completing complex tasks end-to-end. Getting started takes a minute:
- Update the Perplexity app to the latest iOS version.
- Tap the voice icon in the input box, and the voice assistant appears.
- Make sure Microphone access is switched on in your iPhone Settings.
- Tap the cog at the top of the screen to change the voice and other settings.
- When you're done, the session is saved to your session history.
Shortcuts for the home screen, lock screen and Action Button
For the home screen, open the Shortcuts app, tap the three dots on the Perplexity Voice Mode shortcut, tap the arrow beside Start Voice Mode and choose Add to Home Screen.
For the lock screen on iOS 18, lock your phone and wake the display, hold the screen, tap Customize, then Lock Screen. Remove one of the existing shortcuts, usually camera or flashlight, with the minus button, then tap the plus button and choose Open App or Shortcuts. For earlier iOS versions the Help Center points you to Apple's own instructions.
If your iPhone has an Action Button, go to Settings, then Action Button, swipe to Shortcut, tap Choose a Shortcut and pick Perplexity. You'll get five options: Ask Perplexity, Start a new chat, Start voice conversation, Open Perplexity and Open Perplexity Search. The Help Center recommends Start voice conversation, so pressing and holding the button drops you straight into voice mode.
Making Perplexity your Android assistant
On Android, update the app and follow the onboarding steps from the banner on your home screen. You can manage it later through your device's assistant settings. Once Perplexity is your default assistant, you open it by swiping from the bottom-left corner to the centre of the screen, or by pressing and holding the power button or the home button, depending on your device. You can also set up gesture navigation for quicker access.
To remap the launch button, the Help Center's path is Settings, then Apps, then Default Apps, then Digital assist app, then Perplexity. Physical buttons are set in different places by brand: Side key settings on Samsung, Quick ball customization on Xiaomi, and the Smart assistant toggle on Huawei.
Draw to Search on Android
Draw to Search lets you highlight an area of your screen and ask about it. The Help Center's examples are asking about images, finding where to buy a product and translating foreign languages. If a competitor's ad or a product photo is on screen, you circle it and ask, without copying anything into a search box.
Which apps the Assistant can use
As of Nov 2026, the Help Center lists the apps the Perplexity Assistant supports:
- Email, write only
- Browser
- Safari, limited to opening specific websites such as OpenTable and Amazon
- Messages, write only
- Phone
- Spotify
- YouTube and YouTube Music
- Uber
- Clock
- Settings, with limited permissions
That write-only limit is the honest catch. The Assistant can draft an email or a message, but the list doesn't say it can send one on its own. Plan for a human to check and press send.
Images and video from your phone
The Help Center says image generation is available on all platforms, including the mobile apps. You add your prompt to the search input and Perplexity generates the image automatically. By default it picks a model for you from GPT Image 1, Nano Banana and Seedream 4.5, or you can set a preference under Settings, then Preferences, then Image generation model. Max and Enterprise Max users get Nano Banana Pro.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Two catches matter for business. Regenerating or editing an image counts as a new generation, and the remaining number isn't shown in your account settings. More important, images made on the Free plan and on individual Pro and Max plans are for personal, non-commercial use only. Only Enterprise Pro and Enterprise Max users can use them commercially.
Video generation is available for Max, Pro and Enterprise Pro and Max subscribers on the web app, iOS and Android, using Veo 3.1. Each video is up to 8 seconds long and may include audio. You can't edit a video once it's made, you can start from a single photo as the first frame, and credits replenish on a rolling 30-day basis with no option to buy more. Max subscribers get the most, which is one reason people look at Perplexity Max.
Who I'd send to the app, and who can stay on the website
I'd use the app for voice questions on the move and Draw to Search when something on screen needs explaining. Skip the Assistant for anything that has to send email or messages by itself, because it can only write them. And skip generated images for client marketing unless you're on an Enterprise plan. If you're still deciding which research assistant to put on your team's phones, my Perplexity vs Claude comparison sets them side by side. Perplexity updates its apps often, so check its Help Center for the latest.
If your team wants AI research help on their phones without the chaos, that's the kind of AI training I run. I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement and workflow automation, so the busywork runs itself and people get time back. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.
Frequently asked questions
How do I use voice in the Perplexity app on iPhone?
Update the app, tap the voice icon in the input box and allow Microphone access in Settings. The cog at the top changes the voice.
Can I make Perplexity my default assistant on Android?
Yes. Follow the onboarding banner in the app, or go to Settings, Apps, Default Apps, Digital assist app and select Perplexity.
Can the Perplexity Assistant send emails?
The Help Center lists email and messages as write only, so the Assistant can draft them but the list doesn't say it can send them.
Can I generate images in the Perplexity app?
Yes. Image generation is available on all platforms, including the mobile apps, but images on Free, Pro and Max plans are for personal, non-commercial use only.
Can I make videos in the Perplexity app?
Yes, on Max, Pro and Enterprise Pro and Max plans, on iOS and Android as well as the web. Each video is up to 8 seconds long.
