As the makers of the Office suite of productivity apps, the Xbox, and more, Microsoft hopes you’ll forget all your doubts about the Windows operating system. The company has an army of new apps and services to win you back. No app or service released yet perfectly captures the promise of Windows 10 like Cortana for iPhone.
Like Apple’s Siri, Cortana is a digital personal assistant. It lives in Windows 10’s Taskbar, if you let me. Assistant doesn’t bring coffee, but it makes it easy to set reminders and keep track of your calendar. It also handles more complex tasks like keeping you up to date with the latest news and weather conditions, tracking your packages, keeping an eye on your college courses, and ordering you an Uber in just enough time to make your movie.
Using Cortana on iPhone
Cortana on iPhone is completely free for you to download at: iTunes App Store, just like many of the other apps Microsoft makes available to iPhone owners. No cheats, no subscription plans, and no catches. Microsoft plans to keep Cortana for iPhone updated with new features and new options overtime.
That being said, there is some setup required. For Cortana for iPhone to be effective, you must actually have the Windows 10 operating system installed on your computer. It is the most powerful one out there, offering options that are not yet available on any other platform. Upgrade to Windows 10 is free if you currently have Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 installed on your device.
Note that after installing Cortana for iPhone, you will need to give her your Microsoft Account username and password. Make sure you use the same Microsoft Account you use in other services and products of the company. For best results, use the same Microsoft Account that you signed into Windows 10 with.
Before installing Cortana, there is something you need to know. Cortana pulls information from your email, calendar, and physical location to help. If this is not information you can provide, do not install the app on your iPhone. Microsoft does not share the interests and data that Cortana collects with third parties. However, it syncs this data with its servers to make it available for every version of Cortana you use.
Cortana Reminders, Interests and Voice Commands
When you open the Cortana app for iPhone, your personal assistant gives you a short greeting and a briefing on what’s going on that day. Weather, meetings, traffic, and what it watches for you appear on this homepage.
In addition to getting the weather from where your iPhone tells her you are, Cortana interfaces with Microsoft servers to get information about what you like and dislike. You can set these interests in Windows 10. Interests can range from business news to getting traffic updates when it’s time to go home from work.
Like Siri, you interact with Cortana using both your voice and your text. The search bar on the button of the Cortana for iPhone app provides access to both options. Writing a message is great when you’re in a room with other people or if you don’t want to bother someone else. When you’re alone or can’t type any text, pressing the volume button lets Cortana for iPhone listen for voice commands and questions. Siri can be turned on without pressing a button on the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone 6 Plus, but Cortana for iPhone cannot. This is an important distinction if you’re considering switching to Cortana full-time.
Cortana will try to answer any question you ask her, using the information provided to her by Bing. It will speak to you when you ask a question or make a call with your voice. If you write a message, it will reply as text.
From Cortana’s menu, you can access the Reminders you set. Reminders sync with any version of Cortana linked to your Microsoft Account. For example, asking the personal assistant to remind you to buy cabbage the next time you go to Kroger’s will also get you a reminder on your iPhone. Reminders can be set to sound or text for specific times or specific places.
Cortana’s Notebook
Cortana on iPhone’s Notebook is where all your interests and settings are. Cortana keeps everything she knows about you here in the Notebook. You can add new interests or remove old interests.
Again, what’s in your Notebook syncs across devices with your Microsoft Account. Travel, Weather, Meetings, News, Packages and Reservations or Cortana are among the most popular options to have. Microsoft is always adding more capabilities to Cortana through Notebook. For example, ordering an Uber in time to make a reservation is a fairly new feature for the personal assistant. Adding new interests to Notebook adds new cards to Cortana for the iPhone’s home screen.
For Certain Interests, Cortana for Windows scans incoming email and adds new cards to your experience. However, it will appear on other devices after you explicitly allow it to add a piece of information to your ledger, such as travel arrangements or the address of your business. Microsoft says this is to protect your privacy.
Cortana iPhone Integration
Cortana for iPhone can’t integrate into your iPhone in all the ways Siri can. Apple doesn’t allow this. That said, Microsoft hopes that having Cortana on your laptop, desktop, and tablet will be enough to overcome the downside.
Especially for iPhone users, there is a widget that can be added to the notifications area. This widget provides quick access to your reminders and a button to quickly ask the personal assistant a question. Swipe down from the top of your iPhone screen to add the widget.
Cortana Commands
For some reason Microsoft doesn’t provide a very solid list of voice commands for Cortana. Perhaps this is because the company hopes that users will discover new commands over time. Here are some basic commands the company provides online.
I’ve found that adding events to my calendar with a voice command like “add (event name) to my calendar for 4PM” works. Many of my favorite voice commands are not yet available in Cortana for iPhone. For example, on Windows, I can tell Cortana to play a certain type of music. I can’t do this on iPhones.
Good luck with Cortana for iPhone.
