Microsoft Confirms Cortana Is Heading To Android In June, iPhones 'Later This Year'

In yet another example of Satya Nadella’s prudent strategy to bring Windows services to other platforms, Microsoft  has confirmed it's getting ready to make its digital assistant Cortana available on iOS and Android in the coming months, though it comes with a caveat.

The company will be releasing a companion app in late June for Android that gives access to content from a required Windows 10 PC, Microsoft said in a blog post Tuesday.

The app gives those non-Windows Phone users access to content from the PC like their OneDrive pictures, and as a bonus it also includes mobile access to Microsoft’s desktop app for its virtual digital assistant, Cortana.

While the requirement to have a Windows 10 PC seems like a big catch, Microsoft is still proving to be a more open distributor of its services than Apple and Google , whose digital assistants Siri and Google Now only work on Android phones and iPhones.

In other examples of Nadella's more open strategy, Microsoft last year brought its Office Suite to the iPad, while its first wearable device, the Microsoft Band, works with Windows, Android and iOS devices.

There are some Cortana functions that Microsoft won’t be able to port to non-Windows Phone devices. You won’t for instance be able to toggle settings, open apps or open the Cortana app itself by saying “Hey, Cortana,” since that requires a deep integration with the handset’s microphone.

“You can have Cortana remind you to pick up milk the next time you’re at the grocery store, and then your phone will wake up and buzz with the reminder,” Microsoft’s operating systems lead Joe Belfiore said in a blog post. “You’ll be able to track a flight using Cortana on both your phone and your PC, and get the updates on the device that you’re on so you don’t miss anything.”

Microsoft said the Cortana companion would be available for Android phones "at the end of June" and for iPhones "later this year."

Microsoft first brought Cortana to Windows Phones last year, and the digital assistant is expected to be integrated into Windows 10 task bars this autumn. The service is named after an artificial intelligence character in the company's Halo computer game series and is the result of a machine-learning project under Microsoft Research that was codenamed "Einstein."