Cortana For Android Leaked, Microsoft Promises Release Within Weeks

The Android version of Cortana, Microsoft’s answer to Siri, has been leaked to the internet following a closed beta. As PC Magazine reports, Microsoft had originally sought a handful of Windows Insider members from the U.S. and China who wanted to “get their hands on an early version of the app.” Turns out, far more people will be getting their hands on Cortana for Android as a result.

The unofficial news site Microsoft News reported that the leaked version of Cortana for Android features the same abilities found on Windows 10’s version, such as reminders and Cortana’s joke-telling abilities.

You can check out a video of the leaked version of Cortana for Android here.

There are, at least in the beta version, some limitations, however. When using a Windows Phone, simply saying “Hey Cortana” will bring up the app, ready to receive questions and queries. PC Magazine reports that on the leaked Android version, you need to bring the app up manually before use. Not a huge limitation, and one that, following the fears of alleged eavesdropping by Chrome, some may actually appreciate.

Ars Technica also reports a few other gaps in the current Cortana beta, compared to its capabilities on Windows devices. Cortana for Android can’t yet read emails, screen calls during certain times, or pick up that music is being played. It remains to be seen whether this sort of deep integration will be possible with the final version of Cortana for Android.

Whether Microsoft’s digital assistant is capable of the same withering put downs as Siri, as reported by the Inquisitr, is yet to be discovered.

Speaking to VentureBeat about the leak, Microsoft retrod similar ground as they did in their introductory blog post on Cortana, published on July 14. They did, however, announce that Cortana for Android would be releasing more widely in a few weeks.

“We’re testing the Cortana for Android beta with a limited number of users in the U.S. and China before releasing the beta publicly in the next few weeks.”

Whether they will manage to release Cortana in July, after missing their originally planned rollout in June, is less clear.

Users can install the beta by allowing apps to be sideloaded, since it’s obviously not up on the Play Store, having been leaked as a plain old.apk.

Do you expect to find Cortana for Android useful? How do you feel about digital assistants?

[Photo by Bhupinder Nayyar via Flickr, CC BY 2.0]