Bug Report: Perplexity Pro for Windows — Duplicate UI and Non-Functional Voice Mode on Home Screen
Summary
As seen in the provided screenshot, the Perplexity Pro application for Windows exhibits a critical bug on its home screen upon launch. The “Ask anything…” input bar is visually duplicated, and in this broken state, the Voice Mode is non-functional. The voice feature only begins working correctly after the user creates a “New Thread,” which also appears to resolve the UI glitch.
Product and Version
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App: Perplexity Pro for Windows (Microsoft Store desktop app)
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Version/Build: [User to supply exact version/build number from Settings > About]
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Platform: Windows 11/10 desktop app
Severity
- High: This bug presents two significant issues simultaneously. A major visual defect (duplicated UI) is combined with a loss of core functionality (Voice Mode is unusable). This severely degrades the user experience and could prevent users from accessing key features.
Priority
- P1 (Highest): A bug that breaks core UI and functionality on the primary landing screen should be addressed immediately.
Environment
- Windows desktop app, reproducible on the “Home” view during a cold start.
Description
There are two distinct but related failures occurring on the application’s home screen at launch:
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Visual Glitch: The main input component is rendered twice, with two “Ask anything…” bars layered on top of each other, as shown in the screenshot.
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Functional Bug: When the UI is in this duplicated state, the Voice Mode is unresponsive. Clicking the voice icon does nothing. The feature only becomes active after the user clicks to start a “New Thread”.
Steps to Reproduce
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Ensure the Perplexity Pro Windows app is fully closed.
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Launch the Perplexity Pro app.
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Observe Issue #1 (UI): The “Ask anything…” input component is rendered twice.
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Observe Issue #2 (Functionality): Attempt to click the Voice Mode icon on either of the duplicated input bars.
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Actual Result: The Voice Mode does not activate. Nothing happens.
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Now, click the “+” button or “New Thread” to start a new conversation.
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Expected Result: The UI should now render a single input bar, and the Voice Mode icon, when clicked, should activate and function correctly.
Likely Root Cause (Hypothesis)
This is likely a severe state initialization failure during the app’s cold start.
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A race condition or faulty logic in the initial render cycle causes the main input component to be mounted twice.
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The same initialization failure prevents the Voice Mode service or audio pipeline from binding correctly to the UI.
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Creating a “New Thread” forces a state reset and a clean re-render of the components, which correctly initializes both the UI and the Voice Mode functionality.
Workarounds
- The only workaround is to immediately start a “New Thread” after launching the app. This appears to resolve both the visual glitch and the functional bug for the remainder of the session.
Action Required:
Please rectify this issue as soon as possible to ensure a seamless and functional user experience from the moment the Perplexity Pro app is launched.
