What you need to know
- Perplexity launches its Comet for Android AI web browser, capable of handling tasks users give it, like shopping and creating tests from online textbooks.
- Comet is capable of summarizing content for users while browsing, as well as summarizing content across all active tabs.
- Perplexity originally launched Comet for desktop computers in October following an early access period in July.
Perplexity’s AI-assisted browser, Comet, is making its way onto handheld Android devices this week.
Perplexity announced that its AI browser, Comet, is making its way from larger devices onto Android in a blog post. The company is highlighting the Comet browser as the user’s “constant companion,” capable of helping with anything they need or come across while browsing the web. This browsing assistant is capable of answering user questions and “taking action” on tasks you assign it.
Moreover, Perplexity states Android users can utilize the assistant’s “expanded reasoning” to see what actions it’s taking to fulfill their query and step in if necessary.
Taking Comet’s assistance to another level is voice control. Users on Android can talk with Comet about anything they’ve got open on their browser. This includes the current page you’re on, as well as all other open tabs, even if you’re not there. Something Comet can do is “summarize your searches.” This feature works across every open tab, meaning if you’re conducting some research and have multiple pages open, Comet can quickly summarize everything to save you time.
The Comet browser is also quite conscious about only showing you what’s important. Perplexity states the browser dodges spam and ads with a built-in ad blocker. Additionally, Comet for Android features a whitelist for websites you trust, just like its desktop counterpart.
From early access to a launch on mobile
Other than summarizing tabs, Perplexity highlights Comet’s ability to shop for the user. If there’s something specific you’re looking for, say, a price range for an item, and the retailer, you can give instructions to Comet, and it’ll shop for you. What’s more, Comet can understand content from an online textbook and can even quiz the user on the information there, if told to.
Comet is already available on the Google Play Store for download, meaning Android users can grab it today and get started.
After a limited launch in July, Perplexity released its Comet browser for all users, for free, back in October. It was evident during its initial test that Perplexity dared to develop an AI assistant that was there for the user throughout their entire browsing session, not just for the little things, like a chatbot. The company stresses its ability to aid in e-commerce, research, meetings, and more.
