After making waves on desktop and Android, Perplexity is finally bringing its AI-powered browser, Comet, to the iPhone.
While most mobile browsers are just windows to the web, Comet wants to be the assistant that actually reads the pages for you. Originally slated for a March 11 release, the app officially hit the App Store on Thursday after a brief one-week delay.
What makes Comet different isn’t the page-loading. Apple’s platform rules require every iOS browser to run on WebKit, the same engine powering Safari. So Comet can’t really compete on raw performance or rendering speed. Instead, the product bets everything on what happens after a page loads.
The browser is built around Perplexity’s answer engine, which sits alongside web pages and lets users ask questions about what they’re reading, pull out key details, or request summaries, all without leaving the site. Think of it less as a window into the web and more as a reading companion that actually processes the content for you.
On a small phone screen where tab-juggling gets messy fast, that pitch makes more sense than it might on a desktop.
What it can actually do
Comet for iOS ships with a set of features designed specifically for mobile life:
Voice mode is built directly into the browser. Users can speak their questions aloud and get researched answers without typing a single word. The assistant is context-aware across open tabs, meaning it knows what page you’re currently on and can answer questions about it in real time.
Hybrid search is another mobile-first touch. Simple, fast queries, such as checking a sports score or finding a local business, return traditional search results. More complex questions get routed to the Comet Assistant, which draws on Perplexity’s answer engine for deeper responses.
Deep Research puts Perplexity’s research engine on your phone. It can scan multiple web sources, extract the useful bits, and serve up cited summaries.
Agentic features push the browser closer to a personal assistant than a search tool. The Comet Assistant can open a calendar event, look up the meeting invitees on LinkedIn and the web, and put together a quick brief with suggested questions.
Cross-device and catching up
One practical addition is cross-device continuity. Research threads and browsing history sync between iPhone and the desktop version of Comet, so users can start a task on their laptop and pick it up on their phone without losing context.
On the agentic side, Comet currently holds an edge in mobile AI browsing. Chrome for iOS recently added Gemini integration, but it stops short of completing multi-step tasks on a user’s behalf. Microsoft Edge’s Copilot Mode, meanwhile, remains desktop-only for now.
It’s worth noting that Perplexity does collect browsing and search history from Comet to build ad-targeting profiles, something users should factor into their decision.
Comet is available to download now, with free access and optional paid tiers, as Perplexity continues to push its vision of an AI-native browsing experience. The iPad version is still missing, leaving a gap for tablet users.
Related reading: Perplexity’s new AI agent for Mac wants to turn your computer into a true personal assistant, handling tasks so you don’t have to.