Microsoft’s mobile, multi-platform vision continues as the company announced that at the end of this year its virtual assistant, Cortana, will be coming to iPhone and to Android phones as early as June. The app will work similar to how it does on a Windows Phone, with a few features missing. It will at least speak English this time, unlike Portaña, the version of Cortana for Android we saw last month delivered to us by Italian hackers, OrangeSec.

“Everything in Cortana’s Notebook will show up across all your devices and any changes you make on one device will be reflected when you use Cortana on any of your other devices,” wrote Microsoft in a blog post, adding, “The Cortana companion app will help you complete tasks you begin on your PC wherever you are, on your phone.” That means iPhone and Android Phone users later this year will have Cortana working with them, reminding them to put out the trash, pick up the kids, or track a flight that their granny is on. Anything that is stored in Cortana’s Notebook will be available on all devices, and updated across those devices simultaneously. First of all though, you’ll need to find your phone from your PC using the ‘Phone Companion’ app that is built-in to Windows 10.

The phone companion will also help you bring all your files to your phone without much of a headache, so your documents and photos can be with you wherever you go. Any music you’ve saved in OneDrive can also be accessed from your phone, giving you an on-the-go jukebox.

What’s missing?

Microsoft added that the Cortana app for Android devices or iPhones will be missing a few features, due to the fact that they cannot be integrated with iOS or Android. This includes the unavailability of using the “Hey Cortana” voice command to invoke the hands-free setting, as well as opening apps or toggling settings.

One thing is for sure, it will be interesting to see Siri and Cortana on the same device, foes at heart, side by side. We’ll have to wait a while to know.

Photo credit: Microsoft