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Perplexity has turned its AI \u201canswer engine\u201d into a mobile assistant on Android. The new assistant<\/a> can answer general questions and perform tasks on your behalf, such as writing an email, setting a reminder, booking dinners, and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s also multimodal, meaning you can ask it questions about what\u2019s on your screen as well as have it open your camera and \u201csee\u201d what\u2019s in front of you. In an example shared by Perplexity<\/a>, a user asks the assistant to \u201cget me a ride.\u201d Once it learns where the user wants to go, the assistant automatically opens Uber with available rides to that destination.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I tried it out for myself, and it is kind of neat. When I asked it to \u201copen up a good podcast,\u201d my phone started playing the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience<\/em> on YouTube. It worked rather quickly, even though its taste may be questionable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Using my phone\u2019s camera, Perplexity\u2019s assistant successfully identified the promotional Pok\u00e9mon<\/em> pack I got in a McDonald\u2019s Happy Meal (don\u2019t judge), which I found impressive since the promotion only started a couple of days ago<\/a>. It also helped me write and send a text to a family member using the information in my contacts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n