Microsoft Cortana for Android now available as public beta
Tuesday, 25 August 2015|
Hardik Bhawsar
Earlier in May this year, Microsoft announced that it would bring its Siri-rival Cortana to Android. The latest news from the company now reveals that the app is made available as public beta.
Microsoft claims that the Cortana app will do most of the things it does on the PC or Windows Phone. “With the app, you can manage your hectic lifestyle by setting and getting reminders, searching the web on-the-go, tracking important information such as flight details as well as starting and completing tasks across all of your devices,” Microsoft writes in a Windows blogpost.
Since the launch of the closed beta, several improvements are added to the experience such as the ability to set Cortana as the destination for the home button press. Users can also access their personal digital assistant just by the press of a button.
However, it does talk about a few differences we may see between what Cortana can do in her ‘native’ environment and on Android. This means some functions will be limited to Android such as toggling settings, opening apps and invoking Cortana hands-free by saying “Hey Cortana” will be available only on Windows for now.
The app is still in beta, so it may come with some glitches and the user experience will be improved depending upon user feedback.
The Cortana app for Android can be downloaded here. Users will have to sign up for the public beta. It is currently available only in the US, but the company plans to roll it out to other markets too.
Microsoft claims that the Cortana app will do most of the things it does on the PC or Windows Phone. “With the app, you can manage your hectic lifestyle by setting and getting reminders, searching the web on-the-go, tracking important information such as flight details as well as starting and completing tasks across all of your devices,” Microsoft writes in a Windows blogpost.
Since the launch of the closed beta, several improvements are added to the experience such as the ability to set Cortana as the destination for the home button press. Users can also access their personal digital assistant just by the press of a button.
However, it does talk about a few differences we may see between what Cortana can do in her ‘native’ environment and on Android. This means some functions will be limited to Android such as toggling settings, opening apps and invoking Cortana hands-free by saying “Hey Cortana” will be available only on Windows for now.
The app is still in beta, so it may come with some glitches and the user experience will be improved depending upon user feedback.
The Cortana app for Android can be downloaded here. Users will have to sign up for the public beta. It is currently available only in the US, but the company plans to roll it out to other markets too.
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