Cortana for Android officially debuts today

Cortana for Android, Microsoft’s own digital assistant, has left its public beta and is now officially available on Android. Cortana for Android will do just about anything Google Now can do, and more if you have a Windows 10-based computer.

Microsoft’s digital personal assistant will allow users to set reminders, appointments, and even dish out suggested interests. The big thing that differentiates it from Google Now is that those with a Windows 10-powered PC can send a text message reply when you miss a phone call on your smartphone.

The goal isn’t to recreate another Google Now, but to truly construct a connected and seamless digital assistant that is available to users wherever they are, whether that be on the PC or various mobile platforms like Windows Phone, Android, and iOS.

Microsoft released the public beta of Cortana for Android back in August and has been hard at work polishing it ever since. Microsoft around the same time began the public beta for iOS as well, which also came out of public beta and became official today.

Cortana for Android and iOS is also debuting in China today, allowing even more users to have a true digital assistant connection between their PC and mobile phones.

“With a Windows 10 PC in the mix we think we can do some pretty powerful things,” Marcus Ash, Microsoft’s Cortana program manager, told The Verge.

Cortana for Android and iOS won’t be everything it can be on these platforms, simply because of the developer restrictions. For instance, users won’t be able to say “Hey Cortana” to activate the digital assistant. That said, Microsoft is partnering with Cyanogen to make that possible on Cyanogen-powered smartphones.

Microsoft and Cyanogen’s partnership will also let Cortana toggle network modes, enable quiet mode, and other system features that aren’t accessible due to those aforementioned developer restrictions.

Aside from the partnership with Cyanogen, Cortana works best on Windows Phone since Microsoft is able to build it into the system on its own mobile operating system. Using Cortana on Windows Phone also opens up a much more seamless experience with Windows 10-based computers.

Despite developer restrictions, Microsoft will continue to update and polish Cortana for Android and iOS to make it the best digital assistant that it can be.

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