Microsoft revamps Cortana app for iOS with new look, streamlined UI
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.
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
Hey I'm retired so plenty of time to play
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."