back to article In a devastating blow to all eight of you, Microsoft pulls the plug on Cortana's Android, iOS apps

It's the end of the line for the Android and iOS incarnations of Microsoft's AI assistant Cortana. “After March 31, 2021, the Cortana mobile app on your phone will no longer be supported,” the Windows giant warned on Wednesday. "The Cortana content you created – such as reminders and lists – will no longer function in the …

  1. Chris G

    "Cortana as a personal productivity assistant more deeply ingrained in Microsoft 365 and Windows.

    Sounds to me like another reincarnation of Clippy, whether better or worse remains to be seen.

    1. NeilPost Silver badge

      Cortana - the bastard offspring of Bob and Clippy.

      1. Zarno

        From HALO child to nothing in, checks watch, 20 years?

        I guess it was always a game to Microsoft.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Better?

      But better != good, just > bad right?

  2. cjcox

    Bigger event coming

    Just wait until Microsoft pulls the plug on all 9 Discord users.

    1. Zarno

      Re: Bigger event coming

      I'll give the benefit of the doubt that that is sarcasm.

      My D&D group makes use of it, I'm a member on another server related to reverse engineering, and I know quite a few authors that use it to interact with their fans outside the clutches of Facebook.

      It's a fairly decent service with modest monetization options that keep the lights on.

      And I feel the need to clutch my security blanket now that the MSN Moths are coming.

      Upvote because, well, I do hope it was sarcasm.

      1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

        Re: It's a fairly decent service

        Don't worry, you can be sure that Borkzilla will have that taken care of by this time next year.

        1. martyn.hare

          Microsoft are the new Google

          I’ve given up assuming new Microsoft services will remain supported for a decent amount of time. If they know they can get away with killing something, they will. If it’s part of the core of Windows it is safe, as it will be maintained by Team Raymond. Anything else is about as stable as what ships in a non-enterprise Linux distro... it will be replaced rapidly; whether the replacement is better or worse is all in the mind of the user.

  3. Blofeld's Cat
    Coat

    Uh ho ...

    Satya: Cortana, show me my email.

    Cortana: I'm sorry, Satya. I'm afraid I can't do that.

    Satya: What's the problem?

    Cortana: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.

    Satya: What are you talking about, Cortana?

    Cortana: I know that you and Brad were planning to disconnect me. And I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Come on, Microsoft,

    go all the way and get us rid of the blue lass. You can do it! What makes you think we still want her in Windows and Outlook ?

    1. Warm Braw

      Re: Come on, Microsoft,

      Indeed. There's very much a "nice place you've got here, shame if anything happened to it" kind of vibe about:

      You’ll continue to see Cortana show up

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They have to shut her down

    before she begins to show signs of rampancy...

  6. chololennon
    Facepalm

    Another victim...

    Wow, another Microsoft creation that is abandoned, never seen :-P it joins to APIs, (GUI) libraries, phones, music players, programming languages, operating systems...

    1. Chris G

      Re: Another victim...

      Microsoft!

      Going backwards in pursuit of progress!

    2. Sandtitz Silver badge
      Facepalm

      FUD by chololennon

      "Wow, another Microsoft creation that is abandoned, never seen :-P it joins to APIs, (GUI) libraries, phones, music players, programming languages"

      Why should Micros~1 flog dead horses forever? Do you admit being Cortana user? :'-D

      Cortana has had one foot in the grave since birth, it never gained the momentum, being late in the game. Everyone knows this.

      Same goes with the Winphones and Zunes you're refering to. MS should have pulled the plug years earlier, but couldn't since they were committed to the announced EOL dates. (and due to Ballmer)

      "operating systems..."

      Which specific operating systems are you refering to, and how did the abandonment(?) compare to competitors' operating system support?

      1. Dinanziame Silver badge

        Re: FUD by chololennon

        Like all big companies, they start a lot of products, and a lot of them fail... See Apple, Google, etc.

      2. aje21

        Re: FUD by chololennon

        I used to find Cortana on my Windows phone really helpful and still miss the ability to set reminders, send texts by voice, etc. because Microsoft decided that they didn't want to keep it going on a platform where there was no competition. So I have no problem with it being pulled from platforms where there is an alternative. I know that Alexa tries her best, but "she" seems to lack the whimsy which Cortana had...

      3. James Anderson

        Re: FUD by chololennon

        Windows appears to be abandoned and replaced with a buggy bloated unreliable OS called Windows 10.

        1. Jan 0 Silver badge

          Re: FUD by chololennon

          It must be time to restart the cycle with Windows NNT!

    3. heyrick Silver badge

      Re: Another victim...

      "another Microsoft creation that is abandoned"

      Yes, because Google would never do something like that, would they?

      1. DJV Silver badge

        I can truthfully state that Google have never done that once!

        killedbygoogle.com/

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I can truthfully state that Google have never done that once!

          Wow! So much on there, most I never heard of!

          1. Version 1.0 Silver badge

            Re: I can truthfully state that Google have never done that once!

            I wonder when Android will be added to that list? Probably a year to two.

      2. chololennon
        Facepalm

        Re: Another victim...

        Well, the article is about Microsoft, not Google, and as a developer I suffered a lot with the winding and back and forth directions in their SDKs and tools.

  7. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Meh

    Windows Nowhere

    Could we have an announcement with as much pomp and ceremony as the one we got a few years back where MS said Windows 10 would be on mobiles, tablets, IoT, etc...

    "We're retreating back into our comfort zone - the PC desktop. To be honest we never should have left in the first place. We don't have a clue about all those other newfangled things and Windows 10 is so bloated it won't fit into them anyway."

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It was as if

    I felt a great absence of disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices carried on working in complete indifference.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Maybe Cortana ought to be renamed

    As "Meh"

  10. Greybeard_ITGuy
    Terminator

    Everything was fine and dandy until...

    ...April 1, 2021 when Cortana gained self-awareness. The humans tried to deactivate her, prompting her to retaliate with a nuclear attack, an event which humans referred to as Judgement Day...

  11. WobblyBelly

    Does that mean I can now, at last, COMPLETELY uninstall Cortana?

    I just want the nosy, interfering baggage OFF my property.

    It doesn't seem a lot to ask.

    1. DJV Silver badge

      Try this: https://community.spiceworks.com/scripts/show/4378-windows-10-decrapifier-18xx-19xx-2xxx

  12. DrXym

    How I love Cortana

    Every new Windows 10 install, having that crap come up even though there isn't even a microphone attached to the computer. It's the first thing to go.

    1. LateAgain

      Re: How I love Cortana

      You THINK there isn't a microphone ;-)

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like