On Android devices, Cortana will function not as a built-in OS feature but as a “phone companion” app. An iOS version for iPhone users is also planned, although not yet available. You can speak up to Cortana and ask her to set alarms and reminders, search the web, start and complete tasks, track flight details and much more.
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Microsoft may be providing users with a free Windows 10 upgrade, but the offer seems to come with a darker side.
Microsoft gave Android users a taste of Cortana’s magic earlier in the year, though the closed beta meant not everybody could take part. With the launch of Windows 10, Cortana was welcomed to desktops, laptops, and tablets.
Cortana is a digital assistant app that can respond to voice or text-based commands.
There aren’t many changes between the Windows Phone version of the app and its newer Android counterpart. If there’s availability, you’ll be able to join the official Cortana test group and gain access to the download. It has released a beta version of Cortana for Android.
Microsoft has made a concerted effort to bring its apps and services to other mobile platforms in the face of low Windows Phone hardware sales.
Google’s Google Now and Apple’s Siri are Cortana’s biggest rivals, Microsoft joining the battle of digital voice assistants the last. Microsoft did, however, say that this is “for now” so the company is clearly still working to figure out how best to add these options to Cortana for Android as well. Let us know in the comments.
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“As with all betas, we are continually improving the experience and will incorporate feedback along the way”, Microsoft said in a blog post. Though Microsoft hasn’t ruled out this feature for Android, but has only claimed that it is missing because this is a beta build.
