End of the line! It has been a good ride, but Cortana is officially being killed off for iPhone and Android today. The application will no longer be supported, starting tomorrow.
This is, of course, not a new development.
Redmond had officially announced this retirement back in the summer of 2020, confirming that its digital assistant would no longer be supported on mobile platforms. This change was due to the company embracing a completely different approach for its voice assistant service.
This is how the company explained this change in a tech support document:
“As 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.
As of March 31, 2021, the Cortana content you created–such as reminders and lists–will no longer function in the Cortana mobile app, but can still be accessed through Cortana in Windows. Also, Cortana reminders, lists, and tasks are automatically synced to the Microsoft To Do app, which you can download to your phone for free. After March 31, 2021, the Cortana mobile app on your phone will no longer be supported.”
Microsoft had basically switched focus on enterprise capabilities for Cortana, and continues to make her available on Windows and other Microsoft products.
Meaning her iOS and Android adventure has come to an end.
To be honest, Cortana has become a second-class citizen even in Windows 10. In other words, she is now solely an enterprise focused digital assistant. And this is something that makes perfect sense, because Cortana had never impressed in terms of adoption figures on mobile platforms.
A retirement was in order long ago.
Today is the day.
