Cortana is a mobile productivity application that was developed by Microsoft. It is a virtual assistant app that leverages the Bing search engine to help users perform various tasks, such as setting reminders, taking down notes, or answering random queries. It features cross-platform compatibility, letting it work and sync across all of your devices. If you use Microsoft products such as Office or Outlook, you'll be pleased to know that it integrates with these services seamlessly.

What can Cortana do?

Cortana is a virtual assistant that you can interact with and command through your voice. Similar to other apps like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, it is also able to perform different kinds of tasks for you. You can set reminders under various conditions, including time, day, or even location. It can sync notifications between your mobile device and your PC that runs Windows 10 and up. You can even make quick and simple queries directly to it.

Over time and the more you use it, Cortana will slowly transform into your "virtual notebook" of sorts. It will learn from all the data that was gathered from all your queries and repeated commands and tasks. This, in turn, will help it offer more relevant information to you based on your interests, location, and other specific patterns and behaviors. You still have control over your data, though, and you can choose to delete it at any point.

Cortana integrates well with other services, and it works best within Microsoft's own ecosystem. The company's extensive suite of productivity tools would be the best example of this. Integration with mobile devices has improved, as well. This is evident in the Microsoft Launcher that has the virtual assistant already embedded into it. There are still a few nagging complaints, though. It still can't be launched with your voice and app control is still limited in options and is inconsistent.

A capable virtual assistant for mobile

All in all, Cortana is a handy and capable virtual assistant app that you can use together with your smartphone. It has most of the features and capabilities that you expect from such an application, and it does quite well. Best of all, it integrates seamlessly with Microsoft's products and services. It's worth checking out.