Microsoft's digital voice assistant Cortana is coming to Android phones and iPhones this summer, Microsoft announced Tuesday.
Cortana will be able to do most of the things it does on the PC or a Windows phone, including answering your questions, giving you reminders and tracking your flights, Microsoft explained in a blog post, confirming rumors of the migration that circulated earlier this year.
Microsoft's voice assistant will be a part of a suite of apps, supported on all three major mobile platforms and installed via a desktop app called the Phone Companion. The Phone Companion is an interesting proposition -- you mostly won't need it for a Windows Phone device, which will be integrated with Windows 10 out of the box. But if you have an iPhone or an Android, installing the apps offered by the Phone Companion will make it work much more closely with Windows 10.
To install Cortana, you'll launch the Phone Companion app on your Windows PC, which will help you install and set up Microsoft's mobile apps on whichever mobile platform you prefer. For example, this might include setting up OneDrive, Skype, Office and other Microsoft apps on your iPhone.
However, there are some limitations. Since Cortana is not integrated with Android and iOS as deeply as it is with Windows Phone, some features won't work. This includes toggling settings, opening apps and invoking hands-free mode, though Microsoft gives hope for the first two features, indicating support for those might come later.
The Cortana companion app will be available for Android phones at the end of June, and support for iPhone is coming "later this year."