Microsoft puts an end to its voice assistant application, Cortana on iOS and Android. Yesterday, March 31st was the last day of the app’s existence on app stores. Microsoft first announced its plan to discontinue its AI-based virtual assistant, Cortana, in July 2020. Microsoft revealed that it would drop support for all third-party Cortana skills in September and Cortana voice assistant support for Android, iOS, and a few other platforms in early 2021. Microsoft also ended support for Cortana integration in the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker in January 2021. After ending support for Cortana integration in the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker, Microsoft announced that a Bluetooth-enabled device transition plan had been created. Microsoft announced that users who receive a firmware update from Harman Kardon in early 2021 will still be able to continue listening to music, podcasts, and radio stations on their Invoke devices via Bluetooth, but the digital assistant will no longer be accessible on the device.
The mobile app has stopped functioning as at March 31, according to a Microsoft support page, and this means that users can no longer access their information on the mobile platform anymore; users will no longer be able to access their reminders, lists, etc., within the app. Users can, however, access the created content through Cortana on Windows.
Since it was launched in 2018, Cortana, as a mobile app, has faced aggressive competition from Google assistant and Apple Siri. The two voice assistant apps have proved to be very competent, on Android and iOS devices, respectively. Generally, Apple users prefer Siri, and Android users opt for the Google assistant. Cortana also competed with Amazon Alexa on the mobile platform. The app was met with low reception on the mobile platform, and it comes as no surprise that Microsoft has now ditched the app altogether. Cortana was not only unpopular on the mobile platform, but was also poorly received on the Windows 10 platform.
A Microsoft support note spotted by MacRumors reads, “we announced in July, we will soon be ending support for the Cortana app on Android and iOS, as Cortana continues its evolution as a productivity assistant”
