Perplexity Rebuilds Its iPad App Around Research and Multitasking

Perplexity unveiled a redesigned iPad app on December 16, 2025, rebuilding the interface for larger screens and positioning cited answers, Research mode, and iPad multitasking as the core experience for students and business users.

What launched, when it launched, and who it’s for?

Perplexity, the San Francisco–based “answer engine” company behind the Perplexity AI search app, has rolled out a redesigned iPad experience aimed at people who use iPad for serious work—especially students and professionals who do research, write, and organize information on the go.

The update, released on December 16, 2025, is framed as a “major update” for iPad users in the Apple App Store. Perplexity describes the iPad experience as bringing cited answers, Deep Research/Research tools, and multitasking together in one workflow built for focused work.

Although Perplexity has long offered iOS and iPadOS apps, the redesign matters because it acknowledges a common user reality: iPad is often used in “two-app life.” People read on one side of the screen and write on the other. They jump between notes, documents, PDFs, and browsers. In that environment, a chat-style interface designed around quick back-and-forth isn’t enough—navigation, history, and modes must be visible and fast.

This is also closely tied to Perplexity’s business push. The company has been expanding premium features that are strongest for research-heavy use cases. In other words, the iPad update isn’t only about aesthetics; it’s about making Perplexity feel like a daily tool that users keep open for hours, not minutes.

At a glance: the iPad redesign in context

What changed in the redesigned iPad app?

Perplexity’s redesign focuses on how people actually use iPads: longer sessions, bigger screens, and multitasking. The headline improvements revolve around layout and workflow.

1) A more iPad-native interface with a larger side panel

The most visible change is a redesigned interface that uses a larger side panel. For many iPad productivity apps, the sidebar is where the “work memory” lives—recent threads, saved items, and navigation. A more persistent, readable sidebar reduces friction, especially for users who regularly revisit older searches, compare answers, or run research across multiple topics.

This also addresses a common complaint about iPad apps that began as iPhone apps: they can feel like scaled-up phone screens rather than apps designed for two-handed, landscape-first use. A bigger side panel and stronger navigation cues are a basic—but important—signal that Perplexity wants iPad to be a primary platform, not an afterthought.

2) Multitasking support that matches how research is done

Perplexity is explicitly highlighting multitasking as part of the redesigned iPad experience. That matters because research rarely happens inside one app. A typical workflow might look like:

• Ask Perplexity to build an overview and list key points.
  
• Keep that response visible while opening a document or notes app.
  
• Copy key facts and structure into a draft.
  
• Return to Perplexity for follow-up questions or clarifications.
  
• Repeat until the work product is finished.
  

On iPad, multitasking is the difference between “interesting demo” and “practical daily tool.” When an AI app works smoothly alongside writing and reading apps, it becomes part of the user’s workstation.

3) “Cited answers” and research modes are positioned as the main value

Perplexity is emphasizing citations and advanced research modes more than casual chat. That’s strategic. In research settings—especially education and business—users often need to know where a claim came from, not just what the AI says.

Perplexity’s iPad messaging centers on:

• Cited answers (source-backed responses).
  
• Research/Deep Research tools (multi-step research workflows).
  
• A layout that supports longer work sessions.
  

4) The update aligns with a paid-tier research model

Perplexity’s research features are closely tied to subscription tiers. The redesigned iPad app is positioned not only as a usability upgrade, but as a better “home” for the features that are often limited on free plans.

In practical terms, that means the iPad app is being designed to make the premium experience feel obviously more valuable: more advanced research runs, deeper citations in certain plans, and stronger workflows for serious users.

Feature summary table

Why research tools matter, and what Perplexity means by “Research”?

Perplexity’s iPad redesign arrives at a moment when AI products are trying to move beyond “chat” and into “work completion.” For Perplexity, that shift is largely delivered through its research modes and project tools.

Perplexity’s mode stack, simplified

Perplexity typically offers multiple ways to search and generate answers. The names can change over time, but the idea stays consistent: you pick the depth of work you want.

Here’s what users generally get from each layer:

Research mode: the “minutes-long” research workflow

Perplexity describes Research mode as an advanced feature that performs in-depth research and analysis on the user’s behalf—designed to save time by doing multi-step work automatically. Instead of a quick response, Research mode is meant to create a more complete, structured result.

This fits iPad use especially well an iPad user can start a research run, then immediately shift to outlining, writing, or editing on the other side of the screen.

Deep Research: how Perplexity framed the leap

Perplexity’s earlier product messaging around Deep Research emphasized speed and scale: completing in a few minutes what might otherwise take a human far longer. That’s a bold positioning statement—and it helps explain why the iPad redesign is being marketed around research tools. If Perplexity wants users to run deeper workflows, it needs an interface that can support longer sessions, easy navigation, and frequent revisits to earlier threads.

Labs: moving from “answers” to “deliverables”

Perplexity Labs is positioned as a tool that goes beyond research outputs and into actual project creation—reports, presentations, and other structured deliverables. This is part of a broader trend in AI: users increasingly want something they can ship, not just something they can read.

In the context of iPad, Labs is also a natural fit because iPad users often treat the device as a mobile workstation for documents, decks, and client-ready outputs—especially when paired with keyboards.

The bigger strategy: non-desktop growth, subscriptions, and the competition for “work search”

The iPad redesign should be read as part of a broader platform strategy: Perplexity is pushing hard to become a daily research layer across devices, not just a website you visit occasionally.

1) Growing beyond desktop search

Perplexity has been expanding across platforms and workflows, including products and features designed to keep users inside the Perplexity ecosystem for longer: advanced search modes, project tools, and initiatives tied to browsing experiences on mobile and desktop.

From a product strategy standpoint, iPad sits in the middle of two worlds:

• It’s mobile enough to travel anywhere.
  
• It’s large enough to support real work (drafting, editing, referencing).
  

A redesigned iPad app is a logical step if Perplexity wants to own the “research while writing” workflow.

2) Subscriptions are easier to sell when the workflow feels premium

Perplexity has clearly positioned advanced research features as part of its paid tiers. The stronger and more “native” the iPad experience feels, the more likely users are to treat it like a real workstation tool worth paying for—especially in education and professional settings.

Perplexity’s own subscription descriptions emphasize that higher tiers unlock broader access to advanced modes (including Research and Labs) and additional capabilities for power users and organizations.

3) A fight over trust: citations and transparency as product features

AI search products compete on more than accuracy—they compete on trust. Citations are central to that. When users can see the basis for a claim, they’re more likely to use the tool for school work, internal business research, and other higher-stakes tasks.

This is also where Perplexity tries to differentiate from general-purpose chat: rather than “just generate,” it aims to “generate with sources,” and it keeps pushing that message in its product positioning.

4) User expectations are rising fast

As AI tools become mainstream, users expect:

• Stable performance (fewer hallucinations).
  
• Clear sourcing and traceability.
  
• Workflows that save time end-to-end, not just in the first answer.
  
• A UI that works like a productivity app, not a novelty chatbot.
  

The iPad redesign is an attempt to meet those expectations on a platform where UI quality is especially noticeable.

Perplexity’s redesigned iPad app is best understood as a workflow bet: if research tools are the product’s long-term value, iPad needs to feel like a first-class “research desk.” What comes next will likely be measured by how well Perplexity turns research runs into usable outputs—notes, drafts, briefs, and shareable deliverables—without adding friction in navigation, multitasking, or plan limits.