On Thursday, Perplexity announced the launch of a new native app for the Mac operating system that will place its “Answer Engine” directly on the desktop, without the need for a web browser.
The desktop app, currently available through the Apple App Store, offers a variety of features “exclusively for the Mac operating system.” These features include Pro Search, which is an “AI-driven deep search exploration,” the ability to claim text and voice-based answers, and “citations” for each answer.
The desktop app also allows for threaded conversations, enabling users to ask follow-up questions and use AI to retrieve details from previous chats. It also provides a library feature that tracks previous searches for later reference. Quick access to the app is also available through different keyboard shortcuts.
⌘ + ⇧ + P — Coming soon.
Pre-order now: pic.twitter.com/S7sSTWO2KS
— Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) September 30, 2024
However, while the desktop app itself is free to download, you will need to subscribe to the Pro plan, which costs $20 monthly (or $200 annually) from Perplexity in order to use it effectively. The $20 fee provides additional benefits and capabilities including up to 600 “professional search operations” per day, your choice of AI model to use, and the ability to analyze uploaded files and images. The web app Perplexity remains free to use, offering unlimited quick searches and up to five professional searches per day, which provide more in-depth responses than quick searches.
This announcement comes a week after the company introduced two additional new features: internal knowledge search and Spaces. The internal knowledge search allows AI to search the web and user-submitted files to form more cohesive and accurate answers. Spaces is a collaboration area in ChatGPT or Claude Artifact style that previews responses to user queries outside of the chat itself.
The Perplexity Mac app is the company’s fourth AI release, following the launch of the web app and Android and iOS apps last year.
On the other hand, Perplexity has been repeatedly accused of unethical behavior, unauthorized data extraction, and explicit copyright violations. The company is currently facing a lawsuit from News Corp for allegedly deleting data from the Wall Street Journal and New York websites in violation of copyright law.
