Cortana, Microsoft's digital assistant competing with Siri and Google Voice Search, is being made
available on other mobile platforms than Windows Mobile for the first time. Following after a period of
testing, Cortana is now downloadable on
iOS with
Android to follow later today and CyanogenOS support set to start from later this month, with the United States and China the initial launch countries that Microsoft is making the app available within.
Aside from typical voice-based searches, Cortana adds a few more tricks that
Windows 10 users will find useful, thanks to its cross platform synchronization. Reminders, both location and time-based, can be set both within Windows 10 and the app, appearing on each when the user is nearby a relevant place or at a specific point in time. A missed call alert can be displayed on the Windows PC, with the option to send a text back to the caller from the PC available in the Android version.
While the main functionality is available, including Cortana's Notebook of interests and contacts, Microsoft warns some items are not currently possible in the iOS and Android versions, but are in Windows Phone. This includes the ability to open apps, toggling settings, and prompting the assistant by saying "Hey Cortana."
Requiring iOS 8 or later, or Android 4.1.2, the app can be downloaded from app stores directly, or using the Phone Companion app within Windows 10.
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