I want to like Cortana, I really do. Unfortunately, it's linked to my phone's default language. So even though I <i>could</i> speak English, Cortana will not talk to me because my phone's interface is in Spanish.<p>That is something I can understand - maybe there are development reasons why second language voice recognition is not possible. However, every time I update my OS, Cortana is added to my main screen again, perhaps to remind me of the wonderful times we could have together if only I changed my phone's main language.<p>It shouldn't be too hard to add an extra "if" somewhere in the installation process, right?
Can anyone that has used Cortana say how it compares to Google Now? The Google Play preview screenshots show a lot of great stuff - flight tracking and so on - that Google Now already has. I'm not wedded to Google by any means (in fact, I like the idea of diversifying the services I use) but I'm not seeing huge pluses to Cortana yet.<p>Irrespective, Microsoft has really been impressive lately. If I were in the market for a new laptop I would be strongly considering a Surface Book - I imagine Cortana on my phone would be a great addition if I had one.
Since I couldn't find the iOS link anywhere (even on their main Cortana page), here it is for everyone else:
<a href="https://appsto.re/us/hTM2-.i" rel="nofollow">https://appsto.re/us/hTM2-.i</a>
I've been using Cortana a lot because of my Surface Book being my primary dev laptop.<p>I like it. In particular its recording, geofencing, and exposure of reminders is just MUCH more reliable than Google Now, which was previously my go-to for such tasks.
do Siri, OK Google or Cortana offer any API's for 3rd party apps? So that I could do things like get X app to do Y with voice commands?<p>Either when I've got the app open/focused, or even when the app isn't running?
Just tried it out on my Nexus 6. Scrolling the "home" list feels sluggish to me, as does the "Notebook" feature. Is this written in something like Cordova? I certainly hope not.
Giving this a shot because I've always liked Windows Phone as a different experience from iOS and Android. I'm on a 5s with iOS 9.<p>Maybe the cortana servers are over loaded, but none of my questions are even being registered. All that happens is the app just keeps showing recommended news articles.<p>Finally got it to recognize a weather question. But I have headphones plugged in and <i>somehow</i> the app plays through the iPhone speakers instead of my headphones. I didn't even think that was possible.<p>Even speaking loudly and succinctly, the voice recognition only catches parts of a sentence or starts searching after only getting a single word like "what" or "who".<p>Gonna pass on this for now.
It's on-boarding process needs to consist of entering an email address/password for account creation only and or a social sign in option.<p>After going through a frustrating sign up with many screens and processes I was able to use Cortana. There I realized if it's not built into the phone it's going to be hard to delight users and or compete with each devices' built in assistant. I use Siri daily and she is useful when driving to control what Apple Music plays and other quick requests/actions.<p>I'm looking forward to trying Facebook's assistant .. hopefully it gives Siri a run for it's money and more!
I'm really excited about this, because it gives us another option that isn't constrained by specific platforms. I know there are complaints left and right, but we have to bear in mind it's only just been released, Microsoft is competent enough to fix the warts. Hopefully they're quickly responsive during these crucial moments of the apps release. I'm going to install Cortana and leave it on my phone even if I have to avoid using "her" for a little while. Though I hope that's not the case.
I purchased Nokia with Windows Phone 7 expecting the same kind of OS updates that I got as an Apple user. My iPad 2 (from 2011) is on the latest iOS version. Instead Microsoft abandoned Windows Phone 7 users. It's mildly annoying that I can get Cortana on my iPad now but not my Windows Phone device.
The Android app is really choppy and slow, I couldn't get the voice search to work, and uses Android design themes/elements from four years ago.<p>I also had to create a Microsoft account in order to check it out for the 5 minutes I did so before it was summarily uninstalled.
No way to say "hey Cortana" even if the app is open? Personally, I'm looking for an app where I can say "take a note" then spend the next 15 minutes saying my notes into my device with having to touch the screen.
Went to install it on Android until I saw the list of permissions:<p><pre><code> - Device & app history
- Identity
- Calendar
- Contacts
- Location
- SMS
- Phone
- Photos/Media/Files
- Microphone
- WiFi connection information
- Bluetooth connection information
- Device ID & call information
</code></pre>
Wow!