Microsoft Kills Cortana iOS, Android App

Microsoft continues to inflict a ‘death by a thousand cuts’ on its personal digital assistant Cortana.

The software giant announced in a support page that it has officially ended support for Cortana on mobile platforms, and the apps will stop working after 31 March 2021.

The future of Cortana has been in doubt for a while now, ever since Microsoft’s humiliating retreat from the smartphone market, where its digital assistant featured heavily within the now defunct Windows Phone operating system.

Microsoft Cortana

When Windows Phone died, the Cortana app was ported across to the Android and iOS platforms.

In the meantime the Cortana assistant also became an integral part of Windows 10, but it struggled to compete against the likes of Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and even Amazon Alexa.

Indeed, the Cortana app on Android is thought to have only been installed 1 million times on Android devices.

In November 2019 Microsoft announced that it would shortly pull the plug on its Cortana app on Android and iOS.

Then in June 2020 Microsoft removed Cortana for consumers in a Windows 10 update, and instead focused it on enterprise and education customers.

A month later in July 2020 it again announced that it would discontinue the Cortana app for mobile devices.

App shutdown

Fast forward to this week, and Microsoft confirmed that it has officially ended support for Cortana on mobile, and the apps will stop working after 31 March.

“As we announced in July, we will soon be ending support for the Cortana app on Android and iOS, as Cortana continues its evolution as a productivity assistant,” the support note reads.

“As of March 31, 2021, the Cortana content you created – such as reminders and lists – will no longer function in the Cortana mobile app, but can still be accessed through Cortana in Windows,” it said. “Also, Cortana reminders, lists, and tasks are automatically synced to the Microsoft To Do app, which you can download to your phone for free.”

“After March 31, 2021, the Cortana mobile app on your phone will no longer be supported,” it concluded.

Microsoft continues to state that Cortana will still receive new features for the business and education sector, but how long that will continue remains to be seen.