Cortana and Android just couldn’t go together. If you’d remember, Microsoft recently stripped off the Android version of its voice assistant from ‘Hey Cortana’ feature, largely because a conflict with Google Now.
Well, if Android couldn’t do it, Cyanogen has. Yup, the Microsoft-backed forked Android mobile software maker has released a fresh update to its OS — the one it promised to roll out last year — and has integrated Cortana into it. And just so if you were thinking, obviously Microsoft’s investment has to do with all this integration.
The change though, would only be noticed by those who own the flagship killer brand One Plus’ One — largely because that is the only device officially coming up with this update. Obviously if you have installed Cyanogen on your phones instead of the original Android (which is largely the case), then you’d also get the update, though no timeframe has been provided.
Coming to the update, it sounds a lot similar to how Siri works on iOS with one crucial difference — Siri works only on Apple devices while Microsoft has proven Cortana’s cross-platform workability pretty solidly — thus giving it access to a much much much larger userbase. Here’s what Cyanogen has to say on the upgrade,
Once awake, from setting reminders and scheduling meetings, to calling and texting friends, Cortana helps you do more with hands-free multitasking. Whether you’re glancing at your lock screen or immersed in an app or game, Cortana is at attention as soon as you say “Hey Cortana.” Immediately she will go to task.
Talking about Siri, Cyanogen CEO Kirk McMaster said in an interview with International Business Times last year,
When Apple launched Apple Music at WWDC, they showed the Siri integration with Apple Music. Siri doesn’t power Spotify like that so we can do these kind of things with for example, integration of Microsoft’s Cortana into the OS enabling natural language to power Spotify and other services.
