Microsoft revamps Cortana app for iOS with new look, streamlined UI

Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2017
Microsoft on Thursday updated its Cortana virtual assistant app for iOS, delivering a redesigned user interface that streamlines access to key features like reminders and daily calendars.




Cortana version 2.6.0 slaps a fresh coat of paint on Microsoft's Siri competitor, with frameless graphics and bold colors reminiscent of modern Windows UIs.

According to Microsoft, the new look was designed to facilitate faster interaction with Cortana. For example, a new reminder interface lets users create notes with a few quick taps. The system works by tapping into Cortana's AI backend, which suggests reminder topics and a range of completion times for user selection.

A redesigned profile and setting page is also offered for easy management over app preferences. Other functions carried over from past versions include calendaring features like traffic monitoring for commuters, as well as standard weather and news integration via Bing.

Microsoft claims under-the-hood improvements make the new Cortana faster than previous versions. Specifically, the latest app iteration sports faster page transitions, while general app responsiveness has been goosed.

The latest version also contains an assortment of bug fixes and unnamed performance improvements.

Microsoft introduced Cortana to iOS via a Windows 10 Phone companion app in 2015. The virtual assistant was ported to its own app later that year, offering users cross-platform data syncing with Windows PCs.

Prior to today's update, Cortana for iOS saw its most recent refresh in March, introducing quick action buttons and an information card UI.

Cortana for iOS is a free download from the App Store.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    LOL... I don’t think so, Microsoft.
    macxpress
  • Reply 2 of 10
    Who uses this? Why?
    ajl
  • Reply 3 of 10
    coolfactorcoolfactor Posts: 2,239member
    Article writer forgot to check geographic availability of this app. Not everyone lives in the US.
    ajl
  • Reply 4 of 10
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    do people really use Cortana? if anyone has please speak up 
  • Reply 5 of 10
    Yeah. I really don’t understand why someone with an iOS device would download this? 
    ajl
  • Reply 6 of 10
    LOL... I don’t think so, Microsoft.
    Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.  You just might be surprised, in a positive way. This recent Microsoft Arrow Launcher for Android  is impressive. Cortana is the icing and cherry on top!
  • Reply 7 of 10
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Have to say the new Fall Creator version of Windows 10 running now on my Mac Pro is so like macOS these days I have no issues using it, this after using everything from MS since the company's inception back in the late 1970's and that was never really the case in the past.  They have come a long way.  So out of curiosity I've downloading all these new gizmos just to see how they perform.  I was asked almost right away if I'd like to integrate my iPhone into the MS ecosystem and I'm testing it now.  Cortana is next ...

     Hey I'm retired so plenty of time to play :)
  • Reply 8 of 10
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    TAM28301 said:
    LOL... I don’t think so, Microsoft.
    Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.  You just might be surprised, in a positive way. This recent Microsoft Arrow Launcher for Android  is impressive. Cortana is the icing and cherry on top!
    This post was paid for by parties representing Microsoft's BS agenda.....
  • Reply 9 of 10
    Tuubor said:
    Yeah. I really don’t understand why someone with an iOS device would download this? 
    I use Cortana frequently on my Windows PCs, and I have it on my iPhone simply because it will sync my interests, suggestions, news feed, and other things I've done on my PC to my other devices. It is nowhere near as integrated into the OS as Siri, but it does its job for what I want. I don't see why someone who is exclusively in the Apple ecosystem would use Cortana but someone who uses multiple devices may like the cross-platform abilities from Cortana and Alexa that Siri simply can't do.
    pscooter63jony0
  • Reply 10 of 10
    As the user of (literally) everything Apple makes and a good number of those things Microsoft offers, I gotta say that the comments in this article are a crystal clear example of what is wrong with America right now.

    It is so DAMN FATIGUING to watch EVERY discussion become an "opportunity" to piss all over that thing you don't like or that opinion you don't want to hear.  I don't remember a time being subjected to as much whining, bickering and sniveling from folks desperate to interject a contrary opinion EVEN WHEN that opinion is apparently uninformed and obviously self-serving.

    As for Cortana?  If you have actually TRIED it, you may notice that it is actually quite good and, in most cases, delivers more useful information than Siri, in less time and without the crap apprehension: "Hey, Siri...search the web for global conglomerate."  "Okay...here's some information about how to apply glue to a kumquat." 

    I use Cortana daily and it certainly isn't as handy on iOS (due to Apple's control of low-lying access to the OS) but runs circles around Siri in usefulness when I'm using Windows 10.  My success with Cortana has nothing to do with Microsoft's "BS agenda" or trying to pretend one Assistant is better than other. 

    I GUARANTEE, though, that I'm about to hear how I'm wrong, how any success with Cortana isn't possible because "'Ya know...Microsoft..." and how I'm a "M$ shill".  For you, I offer a hearty "Step the **** off."
    edited October 2017
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