Microsoft ends support for Cortana digital assistant on iOS and Android

While Microsoft initially had lofty goals for its digital assistant ‘Cortana', the company has been slowly backing away over the last few years. During that time, we've seen support for Cortana dropped for a variety of products, including smart speakers. Now, the dedicated iOS and Android Cortana apps are also closing down. 

In a support note issued this week, Microsoft confirmed that it is “ending support for the Cortana app on Android and iOS”. Rather than being an all-encompassing digital assistant, Microsoft is gearing Cortana towards being a “productivity assistant”, kind of like a modern version of Clippy.

The support note update goes on to say: “As of March 31, 2021, the Cortana content you created–such as reminders and lists–will no longer function in the Cortana mobile app, but can still be accessed through Cortana in Windows.”

Cortana's reminders, lists and task features have since been replaced by Microsoft To-Do. Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Microsoft was pretty late to the party with Cortana, as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple's Siri had already been established. With that in mind, it's not surprising to see Microsoft is aiming smaller, focusing Cortana as a Windows assistant for productivity purposes rather than its own major piece of software. 

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