Cortana coming to the UK on Android and iOS

Cortana for Android and iOS comes to the UK, gets a fresh new look

Laura Jones

December 8, 2016 6:00 am

We believe that everyone deserves a personal assistant, and a great personal assistant should be available to help on-the-go, on whatever device you carry. We’re excited to bring Cortana*, your truly personal digital assistant, to Android and iOS in the UK, and a fresh new look for the apps.

Coming to the UK:

The Cortana Android and iOS apps are coming to the UK, extending the functionality of your Cortana on Windows 10 to whatever smartphone you carry, always in perfect sync, always helping you stay on top of things.

• Reminders that Travel with You: Cortana has your back, seamlessly keeping track of the things you need to remember across all the platforms you use her. Set a reminder on your PC and get it on your mobile phone.
• Never Miss a Phone Call: In a meeting and can’t answer your phone? With the Cortana app, get a missed call alert on your Windows 10 PC and let Cortana send a text back letting them know you’ll call them later – all without leaving your PC.
• Optimized for Mobile: Designed specifically for your mobile life with quick action buttons and voice to get what you need quickly, a streamlined design and widgets for Android and iOS.

Of course, you can also use the app to quickly look up information. With the Android app, you can invoke Cortana hands-free inside the app with “Hey Cortana.”** And because it’s the same Cortana across devices, your Notebook with all your interests and connected accounts travels with you.

The Cortana Android app will be available over the course of this week, with the Cortana iOS app coming to the App Store in a few weeks.

A Fresh Look:

Since releasing Cortana on Android and iOS a year ago in the US, you have been telling us what you liked and how you’d like it to be improved.  We listened.  We’ve created a more simplified look and feel for the apps, designed with your mobile life in mind. Now you can get to what you need faster and easier than ever before with quick actions, putting the most frequent things you do front and center, so setting a reminder or viewing your reminders is just a tap away when you don’t want to use voice.

We’ve also made it more natural and consumable for you to get information from Cortana with clean, full-page answers.

It’s not just the look we’ve updated. The Cortana app is now faster so you can get what you need more quickly on the go.

The Cortana Android app will be available over the course of this week with the new look in the Google Play store, and the Cortana iOS app will be updated in the coming weeks. You’ll find several more improvements in the app, so give it a try and let us know what you think.

*Available in select markets

**Not available on iOS

***This post was edited to reflect updated timing.

Updated December 8, 2016 10:22 am