Samsung partnered with Perplexity to feature the AI as an assistant option on the Galaxy S26 series, alongside Bixby and Gemini all with wake word support. The wake word was “Hey Plex.” But things quickly went sideways.
What’s Going Wrong
Early S26 owners reported that “Hey Plex” wake word support was working fine at first during initial setup, but then disappeared after installing the February software update, the same update that brought the “inactivity restart” feature. Even before that update, some users reported that Perplexity wasn’t showing up in the voice assistant selection settings screen, and the app didn’t even come preinstalled on some handsets. While Perplexity itself still works and can be triggered via the side button, the wake word support appears broken.
The CEO’s Deleted Post
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas responded to user complaints on X, indicating that the company is transitioning from “Hey Plex” to a new wake word “Hey Perplexity.” Hours later, he deleted that post, fueling further speculation.
Samsung’s Deleted Announcement
Samsung has also quietly removed the original “Hey Plex” announcement from its online newsroom, with no official correction posted. Archived copies of the page are still accessible.
The name “Plex” is already associated with another well-known media app, so moving to “Hey Perplexity” makes logical sense the timing, however, couldn’t be worse for new S26 owners.
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