Microsoft has taken the Cortana Android closed beta and made it public for all, US users only for now. Cortana is Microsoft’s digital assistant (an answer to Siri and Google Now) that has been in use in Windows Phone for awhile now and actually works very well. Having used all three assistants myself I can say that Cortana is neck and neck with Google Now and leaves Siri in the dust, honestly a Speak and Spell could beat Siri. Cortana is also a key feature of Windows 10 for PC and Microsoft’s attempt at unifying your PC and smartphone experience.
Since we launched the closed beta, we’ve also made several improvements to the experience including the ability to set Cortana as the destination for the home button press. Now access to your personal digital assistant is just a button-press away.
You will also see a few differences between what Cortana can do today in her “native” environment (Windows) and in the app on Android. For example toggling settings, opening apps or invoking Cortana hands-free by saying “Hey Cortana” are only available on Windows for now. As with all betas, we are continually improving the experience and will incorporate feedback along the way.
Adding the functionality of home button access is a great feature for those who use digital assistants a lot and perhaps they’ll add the “Hey Cortana” feature to the app soon. You can grab the public beta at the link below to try it for yourself.
What do you think of Cortana on Android? Good alternative to Google Now? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
[button link=”https://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/08/24/cortana-now-available-on-android-in-public-beta/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Windows Blog[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
