Samsung could be Cooking a Big change for future Galaxy phones, PerplEXity the Alternative to Google Gemini The prospects of Samsung planning some major transition in practice strategy with AI seem to be coming up even more fleshed out, whether they want everyone to have the new next-gen Note as well as Xiaomi’s foldable. The Galaxy S26 series could support a special “Hey Plex” hotword if a recent rumor is to be believed That would let users call the Perplexity AI assistant without touching their device, much like the way “Hey Gemini” functions on current Galaxy devices.
‘Hey Plex’ Hotword Unearthed in Perplexity Android App
Revealed by Android Authority in conjunction with tipster AssembleDebug, an APK teardown of the Perplexity app for Android 2.69.3 shows several mentions of a forthcoming hotword functionality. The strings also suggest that it will support a “Hey Plex” wake command, so users should be able to call the assistant even when the phone’s screen is off.
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Its capability resembles that of a system-wide AI assistant, so it looks like there could be some more integration with Samsung’s Galaxy ecosystem beyond just being something you can open as an app.
Collection of Voice Prints / Permissions Needed
To activate the “Hey Plex” hotword, users would supposedly have to consent to having their voice print collected and processed and even to Perplexity’s terms and conditions. The feature also reportedly will need microphone access to listen for audio input consistently or close to constantly, like other always-on voice assistants.
Users might even be able to delete their stored voiceprint and record it again as needed, which provides some agency over the use of your voice data.
Likely Limited to Built-In Microphones
Curiously, the hotword detection system is rumoured to function only with the Galaxy device’s own microphones. If connected to Bluetooth earphones or external microphones, the app may display a “Please disconnect” message. This indicates the feature uses low-level hardware access and Samsung phone-optimised tweaks.
Deeper Samsung Integration Hinted
The teardown also uncovered new services, including samsung.hotword.service and samsung.hotword.service.permission. ACCESS_HOTWORD_SERVICE, and its associated foreground service is WakeWordDetectionService. This seems to be working alongside Samsung’s in-house hotword SDK, com.samsung.android.hotword.sdk. IHotwordSdk.
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This level of integration suggests that Perplexity is being tried as a system-wide assistant on Galaxy hardware, not just an appendage app. If the rumours turn out to be accurate, Samsung would allow users an option to pick either Gemini or Perplexity as their default AI assistant on forthcoming devices, first starting from the Galaxy S26 series onwards.
As is always the case with leaks, Samsung and Perplexity have not confirmed any of this. We should hear more clear details as Galaxy S26’s launch nears in early 2026.