Cortana for Android gets lock screen support

Microsoft's Cortana has been available for Android since December 2015, although an APK file containing it leaked online earlier. At the end of last week, Microsoft Cortana 2.5 arrived on Google Play store on the same day as Google Assistant began its roll out to all Marshmallow and Nougat phones via Google Play Services.

The new update to Microsoft's virtual assistant offers its users the ability to use Cortana on their handsets' lock screen. However, this option is not enabled by default. To activate this feature, the user simply needs to access Cortana's settings and enable it. After that, the floating Cortana logo should appear on the lock screen below the "Swipe to open" text.

For now, the ability to use voice commands and ask questions are not available while Cortana is being used on the lock screen. After swiping, Cortana can provide access to the personalized news feed or the schedule.

In this moment, Cortana for Android holds a 4.2 out of 5 stars rating in Google Play after 17,522 user votes. The app is compatible with Android 4.4 KitKat or later and has been installed by more than a million users.