Microsoft Cortana mobile apps will be discontinued in January

At this time, it is unclear if the company will kill is in the U.S. as well.

Cortana-app-FI

Back in 2015, Microsoft introduced the Cortana voice assistant app to compete against Google Now and Siri. While it was released as a public beta, it wasn’t as widely used as you may think. Even updates to the app weren’t successful in helping it gain momentum.

Now four years later, Microsoft has announced they will be discontinuing the application for Android and iOS. The app will be discontinued starting January 31st, 2020 in three different countries: the U.K., Australia, and Canada. At this time, it is unclear if the company will kill is in the U.S. as well.

The main drawback is that users in those countries who have the Surface headphones and use the Cortana app to configure settings and update the firmware for the headphones may not be able to access those specific features anymore with the app being killed off. Of course, Microsoft may have other plans set in motion that we may not know of to compensate for the loss of Cortana.

The news comes from the full support notes from Microsoft U.K., which reads as follows:

To make your personal digital assistant as helpful as possible, we’re integrating Cortana into your Microsoft 365 productivity apps. As part of this evolution, on January 31st, 2020, we’re ending support for the Cortana app on Android and iOS in your market. At that point, the Cortana content you created – such as reminders and lists – will no longer function in the Cortana mobile app or Microsoft Launcher, but can still be accessed through Cortana on 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 January 31st, 2020, the Cortana mobile app on your phone will no longer be supported and there will be an updated version of Microsoft Launcher with Cortana removed.


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