Microsoft's Cortana is now in more places than ever, but it needs to start looking the part of a future-driven A.I. personal assistant.

Microsoft's personal assistant Cortana is getting a new home this week on Android. The Microsoft Launcher for Android (beta) now has Cortana built in, and it got a design revamp. Of course, being Microsoft and Cortana, the feature is region-restricted to just a handful of countries including the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and China. One of the more exciting aspects of the Cortana integration – which is very well done – is the updated UI, which is now cleaner. This design contrasts with the existing Cortana app for Android and iOS, which is more reliant on the old "card" interface. Both contrast even more with the current version for Windows 10. While platform variation is to be expected – even encouraged – Microsoft needs to unify its Cortana user experience across devices better if it expects broader user adoption. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more

Embracing platform diversity ... but not too much

Microsoft has waxed and waned in the past between a single, unified UI design for its apps and services to more tailored ones that better fit into specific platforms. This shift in design philosophy was expressed profoundly in Skype, which for many years looked like the PC desktop version, then shifted countless times with various changes in design. To be fair, the approach of tailoring something like Cortana for Android is welcome. While Microsoft idealists believe the company should turn Android into a pseudo-Windows Phone with Live tiles, cooler heads have prevailed. Instead, Microsoft's apps for Android embrace Google's design choices to blend in better. The problem right now, however, is the different looks of Cortana within Android. The Cortana app and Cortana voice recognition screen look very different from the new Microsoft Launcher version (the new one seems way better).

Perhaps this is part of a grand scheme where Microsoft will align its Cortana, Bing, and Launcher apps with the same Cortana experience – and maybe that will even look like Windows 10 – but knowing the company's past gives me pause. Other issues like region restrictions, or the inability to wire deeper into Android. like "Hey, Cortana." is more reflective of the difficulties in making an assistant for a competing platform. Amazon's Alexa will face similar problems on Windows 10 whenever that app rolls out on select PCs. Cortana's look needs to wow users