About a year since it was introduced in Windows Phone 8.1, today Microsoft is officially announcing the Cortana app for both Android and iOS. This has been speculated for quite some time now and the announcement today comes alongside another equally big announcement that Windows 10 will be supporting Android, iPhone and iPad.

The brand new Phone Companion app which will be preinstalled onto Windows 10 PCs and also an upcoming Windows Insider build will enable users to connect not only their Windows phone but also Android and iOS powered devices. Microsoft's vision for this app is to give users another reason to use Windows 10 because face it, not everyone uses a Windows Phone.

With the Phone Companion app, users will be able to enjoy intelligent syncing features which is enabled by OneDrive and this means that all your photos and files will magically available on the computer (proper setup is required for this to work). The data from your phone will then be harvested by other Windows 10 apps like the Music app can play music from your phone



Alongside that, this built in app basically promotes several Microsoft apps like OneNote and Cortana. When connected, you'll be able to manage the settings of these various apps. Speaking of Cortana, yes it'll be coming to your Android phone as well as your iPhone and iPad.

Today, we’re announcing a Cortana application for Android phones and for iPhones which works as a companion to Cortana on your Windows 10 PC

Microsoft does note that Cortana on both Android and iOS will not be as powerful as the original Cortana found on Windows Phone as certain features like toggling settings will require special system permissions. Despite that, the Cortana app on Android and iOS will be able to answer your many queries and from the look of things, it'll work a lot like how the Google Now app works on iOS.

Notifications will be beamed out through the Cortana app and the best thing is that your searches and reminders on Cortana will be synced throughout the Cortana on Windows 10 as well as on other platforms. Microsoft says that Cortana will be available in the Play Store next month (May 2015) and iOS users will need to wait a little longer before they can install the app.


SOURCE: WINDOWS BLOG