Between Perplexity’s new macOS app and the launch of ChatGPT, searching conversations just got a lot more fun
The AI-powered search game is becoming increasingly popular, with OpenAI adding search capabilities to ChatGPT yesterday and Perplexity launching a macOS desktop app a week ago. Perplexity could be considered a leader in AI-powered search right now, and now Mac users can quickly use Perplexity’s advanced search engine right from their desktop, without having to access it through a web browser to have.
If you’re not familiar with Perplexity, it’s a conversational search engine that launched the same year as ChatGPT. It allows you to ask questions and ask questions in natural language (like how we communicate with each other in real life). As with ChatGPT, there are two tiers for users: a free ‘Standard’ tier that allows you to perform unlimited ‘Quick’ searches, ideal for those looking for quick, basic answers produced by the Standard Perplexity AI Model (plus five free Pro -tier searches per day), and the ‘Pro’ tier which includes both quick searches and 600 Pro searches per day.
It is these Pro Searches that are recommended for more complex and lengthy searches, allowing you to choose from several AI models and tools, including OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Athropic’s Claude-3. It also offers the ability to analyze files such as PDFs, spreadsheets and images using AI tools. You can subscribe to Perplexity Pro for $20 per month or $200 per year.
What makes Perplexity on macOS so good?
Now the macOS app brings key Perplexity features like this straight to your desktop, letting you perform Pro searches by typing or using your voice. Then Perplexity will return real-time answers, powered by advanced AI models, which come with cited sources – so you can check the veracity of Perplexity’s answers for yourself.
The app also offers a new conversation feature, allowing you to ask follow-up questions to your first question without Perplexity losing the context of the original question, allowing for a more naturalistic back-and-forth conversation. It also has a library feature that saves previous searches and discoveries, along with the ability to create custom shortcuts to quickly access your favorite features.
Before you consider subscribing, I recommend trying Perplexity for free first – in your browser or by downloading the app for macOS, available now from the Mac App Store.
It’s interesting to see the number of AI-powered conversational search products grow, and I’ve seen discussions about ChatGPT’s new search features on sites like Reddit, claiming that it could (or should) catch companies like Google on fire. to remain competitive. . If you are a ChatGPT Plus user, team user, or have signed up for the SearchGPT waitlist, you should see ChatGPT give you the option to search the web for answers. Enterprise and Education users will get access to this in the coming weeks, and it will be available to all free users in the coming months.
You can already get the ChatGPT desktop app for both macOS and Windows 11, and I assume the search capabilities will extend to the app (or at least they will soon).
I think it’s hard to say whether Perplexity or ChatGPT will lead the way when it comes to conversational search. ChatGPT is more well known, but Perplexity has been in this particular game a little longer. Either way, I’m intrigued and will be keeping a close eye on it, and I’m eager to dive into both.