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Microsoft is Bringing Cortana To Android Lock Screen (mspoweruser.com)

Posted by msmash on from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.

Microsoft is testing out a new way to access Cortana, its digital assistant, from the Android lock screen, with just a swipe. It's a new feature that's clearly designed to replace Google's own quick access, and to convince Android users to switch to Cortana. According to MSPowerUser, Cortana on the lock screen doesn't replace existing lock screens, so you can still use a custom one or the default experience that ships with your Android device. Cortana is activated simply by swiping left or right on the floating logo. Microsoft is currently testing this new feature, and any Android users can opt-in to trial the new beta features over at the Google Play Store.

20 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Offer, Not Bring by Luthair · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The question is does anyone actually want it.

    1. Re:Offer, Not Bring by Z00L00K · · Score: 3, Interesting

      We are pushed a lot of stuff that we don't want, and that's one of the reason why so many 'root' their phones these days - to get rid of the bloatware. I got severely bugged by "News Republic" and "Kid Mode", the latter once hijacked my phone and I had some serious problems before I finally got it back to normal. Now when I run a rooted phone I made sure to get rid of it.

      Vendors must be aware that if you bug the users about unnecessary and uncalled for stuff then the users will start to hate you.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    2. Re:Offer, Not Bring by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

      I picked my phone, specifically because the manufacturer was known to offer a very close to "stock" android on it. There is only one added feature to the Android from stock, and it's useful, something I use all the time.

      Bloatware lost LG, or Samsung getting at least one sale.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    3. Re:Offer, Not Bring by slaker · · Score: 2

      If you know how to use adb, you can disable all the stuff you want on your Android device. Literally everything is modular, so if you like the dialer on your Asus phone better than the one Samsung gave you, go ahead and switch.
      There's no reason to do anything but buy the right fit of hardware. Everything about the software load is adjustable even if you don't feel like dealing with root access.

      Even the Pixel has what I'd call annoying bloat, but since it only takes about five minutes to clean all of it up on a device I'll probably use for a few years, this isn't much of an inconvenience.

      --
      -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
    4. Re:Offer, Not Bring by The-Ixian · · Score: 2

      Just because I can do something doesn't mean I want to spend hours doing it.

      Think of it another way: If you keep buying stuff that you know you will have to modify later, you are still voting for that practice to continue. Better to solve 2 problems with one action which is to buy the phone with comparable hardware AND does the software right. For this reason, I bought an OP3 and I really like it.

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    5. Re:Offer, Not Bring by The-Ixian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Just to play devils advocate here: There is no other way Microsoft could do it in this case. They don't own the platform.

      I kind of like the arrangement as it stands currently. Google owns the platform but MS (or anyone else) is able to bring their services to it in such a way as to actually compete with the native Google stuff. There is nothing similar on iOS, you just get what Apple gives you in key areas (lock screen, assistant, web browser, etc)

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    6. Re:Offer, Not Bring by slaker · · Score: 2

      Hours? I'm talking about minutes here. Not even very many of them.
      The practice *I* want to continue is the ability to purchase phones that have removable batteries and card readers that I can repair with no tools other than a screwdriver. The only contemporary phones that still have those features are made by LG. I'm willing to accept five minutes of inconvenience in plugging in my phone and typing a few commands to kill a few apps I object to so that I can continue to get proper hardware, rather than accept a lame device with hardware that I'll NEVER be able to modify.

      --
      -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
    7. Re: Offer, Not Bring by frootcakeuk · · Score: 2

      Do I want to give my phone the equivalent of cancer? Why the fuck would anyone want this?

      --
      Remember kids: What's right isn't as important as what's profitable.
    8. Re:Offer, Not Bring by spire3661 · · Score: 2

      I wish these companies would understand i dont want an assistant. I dont want the computer to reply with snappy comebacks. I dont want it to say please or thank you. I want a SLAVE that expressly follows my orders to the letter.

      --
      Good-bye
    9. Re:Offer, Not Bring by The-Ixian · · Score: 2

      As with a lot of things in life, once you know how to do something you can probably do it in a much shorter time and with increasing proficiency.

      To do as you suggest, I first need to get all the relevant hardware in place (USB cable and a desktop computer) then download the Android SDK or whatever software is necessary, research how to issue adb commands (probably requires enabling specific debug stuff on the phone), figure out the fully qualified names of the "modules" I want to uninstall or remove, back up my device and become versed in doing a restore to make sure a good recovery point can be made, figure out how the removal of the modules is going to affect everything else, etc, etc, etc.

      Sure, just running the commands takes almost no time but there is a lot of stuff on both sides of that task which does. Add in research if you have never done it before and you are in it for hours or even days if you have to deal with and make tweaks based on the fallout.

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    10. Re: Offer, Not Bring by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 2

      Apple also only publishes to its own platform, basically pretendin that only theirs exists, so they have at least some excuse. But, I'm curious why Microsoft does this and yet if somebody else wanted to install their services on a Windows lock screen, Microsoft would have none of that.

      It's probably a good thing that both consumers and developers are eschewing Microsoft's UWP and mobile platforms to the point that even Microsoft is starting to do the same.

      http://arstechnica.com/gaming/...

      http://m.windowscentral.com/mi...

  2. Let's all thank Google. by bogaboga · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Android users can opt-in to trial the new beta features over at the Google Play Store

    I'd like to see Apple do something close to this.

    1. Re:Let's all thank Google. by Lothsahn · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think the grandparent's comment was about the openness of the platform. Siri and "OK Google" are both available on the lock screen. The key thing here is a 3rd party company's ability to put their own helper on the lock screen, not voice activation from the lockscreen.

      And I do applaud Google for building a product where 3rd parties can do such a thing, but I'm also concerned about their moves to lock down Android by incorporating everything into gapps, blocking competing products like Amazon Underground, etc. We'll have to wait and see if Google tries to block Microsoft from putting Cortana on the lock screen...

      And yes, slashdotters are usually for open platforms and against tracking. Therefore, they often rail on Apple for their closed platform and Windows 10 telemetry for its tracking. It seems like an open platform against tracking would please most slashdotters... I think you'll find many of them like LineageOS, whether they use it or not...

      --
      -=Lothsahn=-
  3. I don't want Clippy on my phone! by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't want Clippy 2.0 on my PC and I certainly don't want it on my phone. Very few people actually want Cortana, MS, why do you keep trying to push failing ideas and never know when to give up? You keep digging a deeper financial hole hoping your failed gamble pays off. See Windows Phones.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    1. Re:I don't want Clippy on my phone! by Merk42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't want Clippy 2.0 on my PC and I certainly don't want it on my phone.

      Android > Google Now/Assistant
      iPhone > Siri.
      So what phone do you use?

  4. Re:I'm missing something crucial by bigman2003 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, here is one really good reason: CHOICE.

    People may prefer Google Now. But if you have no other choice- that sucks. Microsoft is trying to provide an option.

    I can't imagine they are hoping for a big uptake on Cortana on Android. Google Now is so tightly integrated.

    But for everyone complaining about this, or saying, "This is dumb, I don't want it!" - Better to have a choice than not.

    So you don't like one of the choices. Cool. But it's always nice to have options.

    --
    No reason to lie.
  5. Re:I love my Windows phone, it's great! EXCEPT.... by Noishkel · · Score: 2

    I find all of these voice command software packages to be a complete waste of time. Almost everything that I can do by voice I can do faster and easier with just my hands on the screen.

    But then again I don't keep my face stuck in my smart phone all day. Mobile games are a garbage, mobile media is a joke, and there's thing productivity wise that you can do one a phone that you can do faster and better on a real computer.

  6. Hi! I'm Clippy, er, Cortana. by mmell · · Score: 3, Funny

    I see you're using an Android phone. Can I help?

  7. That would be cool! Except... by Overzeetop · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Cortana is better than Google at answering questions. Unfortunately, unless the question is very simple, she dumps you into a Bing search, which is even less helpful than Now always dumping you into a Google search. If you're interacting via voice, you shouldn't have to look at your phone or press links. At least in Google, you can often read the answer (after you stop driving/doing whatever it was that prevented you from typing in the first place, of course); with Bing, you end up copying the search text so you can paste it into Chrome to get useful links to answers.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  8. Re:Of course; everyone HATES Windows phones by spire3661 · · Score: 2

    And it has no apps. I use several authenticators, none of which are available on Windows Phone. MS Phone is a nice phone, but a shitty pocket computer.

    --
    Good-bye