Microsoft has today announced in a support article that it will end support for all third-party Cortana skills on September 7, followed by Cortana apps for iOS and Android in early 2021, as it looks to shift its focus on a “transformational AI-powered assistant experience” in Microsoft 365.
Microsoft urges its users to start managing their calendar and email, join meetings, and do much more via its new productivity-focused experiences, such as the Cortana Windows 10 experience, Cortana integration in Outlook mobile, and soon Cortana voice assistance in the Teams mobile app.
“We’ve spent a lot of time thinking through this transition and understand that these changes may be disruptive to some of our customers. We look forward to continuing to innovate on ways Cortana can help you navigate the modern workplace so you can save time and focus on the things that matter most in your day.”
Additionally, the company is offering one Microsoft $50 gift card per active Invoke to the owner of the latest U.S.-based Microsoft account used to set up an Invoke speaker that sent a voice request to the Cortana service after July 31, 2019, and prior to today’s announcement.
