Perplexity’s Chrome extension is scratching an itch forgotten by Gemini

A few months in the past, my Wi-Fi supplier in France (Bouygues Telecom) launched a superb supply for subscribers: one 12 months of Perplexity Professional totally free. I had been eying the service for some time, having heard nothing however good issues from everybody who’s used Perplexity, however since I already had a Gemini Superior perk with my Pixel 9 Professional, I couldn’t justify stacking extra paid AI subscriptions for no purpose. However free is free, so I jumped on the possibility and redeemed my code.

Since then, Perplexity has shocked me with its give attention to search and sourcing solutions. I nonetheless juggle between it and Gemini (and my free ChatGPT account once in a while), however the place Perplexity fully received me over is with its Chrome extension. It’s glorious, and the whole lot I’d’ve hoped to see from a Gemini Chrome integration many moons in the past.

Maybe the button I click on essentially the most in Perplexity’s extension is Summarize. It simply takes the present open web page and, you guessed it, summarizes it for me. As a journalist who’s chasing down information and tales, I don’t have the time to learn the whole lot each day; I’ve group members to handle, tech to check, and articles to write down myself. So I often skim an important articles I discover and skip the remainder.

With Perplexity’s summaries, I can catch up quicker and extra effectively on the day’s information. What my Android Authority colleagues wrote in a single day, what the US information cycle introduced whereas I used to be having dinner final night time, or what my Indian colleagues unearthed early within the morning earlier than I wakened. Perplexity sums up an important articles for me.

It boggles my thoughts that Gemini webpage summaries in Chrome on Android have been out there for almost two years now, however haven’t formally launched on the desktop model of the browser but. Why I’ve to make use of third-party extensions to get this straightforward characteristic is past me.

My second favourite Perplexity extension characteristic is the power to make use of it as a search field for any easy or advanced question, all whereas limiting the supply to the present web page I’m searching or the present area I’m on. This has been a timesaver numerous occasions over the past months as I researched design concepts, equipment, and needed gear for my new residence and backyard, in addition to whereas planning for some journeys and doing extra mundane each day duties like cooking or working.

For instance, I can open Songkick.com and ask Perplexity to search out me live shows in Switzerland throughout the month of July by Italian artists. Songkick’s most superior search filters don’t enable for any search as exact as this, particularly not one limiting artists by their nationality. However I like Italian music and I’m not on the lookout for one specific artist — I’d take any alternative to catch that wealthy, melodic language throughout my subsequent journey.

After I was wanting up worthy escape rooms for my subsequent journey to Budapest, I discovered a neat little record by EscapeRoomers.de, however I wished to confirm if these had been listed on the TERPECA (worldwide escape room awards) rating earlier than, so I requested Perplexity to cross-check the present record towards earlier award winners and inform me which rooms have been talked about on each. Perplexity didn’t wholly perceive the TERPECA rankings, nevertheless it did make a helpful desk and assist me slender down essentially the most preferred rooms by each units of reviewers.

There are dozens and dozens of different examples of how I’ve been utilizing Perplexity’s centered search. Discovering the very best sleep tracker in our Android Authority record of greatest health trackers, opening an inventory of the very best on-line banks in France and asking for those with Google Pockets compatibility, checking SoundGuys for essentially the most steady train earbuds, and so forth.

That’s to not point out all the house decor, supplies, and concepts questions I’ve fielded to Perplexity whereas searching for inspiration. I’ve requested dozens of questions on the very best desk wooden choices out there on Ilicut earlier than shopping for the finger-joined oak high I’m at present engaged on. About essentially the most liked and resistant Strolling Pad earlier than shopping for the A1 Professional. About the very best Bluetooth dongles that may enable me to combine SwitchBot’s air high quality sensors and Ikea’s Idasen sit-stand desk into my Residence Assistant Yellow setup. I may go on eternally.

Higher but, in each single case, I can at all times pop up the present reply and ask Perplexity to regenerate a unique one with one other AI mannequin, test its sources, see all of the associated questions, and observe up with extra questions of my very own. I like that Perplexity supplies a leaping level of types between its extension and its complete characteristic suite: It’s simple to set off the extension for fast searches and shut it once I get my reply, nevertheless it’s additionally a great way to start out a deeper dive as soon as the primary reply is available in.

Perplexity’s centered search is the type of life-simplifying AI characteristic I need each time I browse the online. As soon as once more, it’s a third-party service with third-party fashions offering it inside Google’s personal browser, and I nonetheless don’t perceive how there isn’t already a Gemini integration with the same featureset when Google is so busy jamming Gemini down our throats in each different app and repair.

As a substitute of opening the Gemini web site or summoning Google’s AI with @gemini within the URL bar to do an unbiased search, it ought to be built-in with the websites and pages I’m already searching. I don’t need one thing separate that polls data from random websites; I need the precision of asking questions and limiting queries across the websites and sources that I belief. I need to have the ability to dig into a particular web page, ask extra questions on it, cross-check with one other supply, and examine merchandise or costs. I need AI to enhance my searching and analysis expertise, to not be a standalone instrument within the nook that I’ve to name up independently.

We’ll positively hear extra about Google’s larger Gemini plans later this month throughout I/O, and hopefully, these will embrace higher Gemini integrations within the instruments we use each day. I’d take a Perplexity-like search helper in Chrome over Gmail writing aids any day of the week. And whereas we’re at it, let me shortly add pages or sources to my NotebookLM setup and name it up anytime I’m searching. That instrument is invaluable, nevertheless it’s so hidden that I neglect it 9 occasions out of 10 once I want it.