Reuters reported back in March that Microsoft planned to bring its Siri competitor Cortana to iOS, and Microsoft has now officially confirmed this in a blog post.

Today, we’re announcing a Cortana application for Android phones and for iPhones which works as a companion to Cortana on your Windows 10 PC. The ‘Phone Companion’ app on the PC will help you install the Cortana app from the Google Play or Apple App Store onto your phone so you’ll be able to take the intelligence of Cortana with you, wherever you go […] The Cortana companion will be available for Android phones at the end of June and for iPhones later this year.

While Microsoft is pitching the app as a companion to a Windows PC, it appears that most of the functionality will work in the iPhone app without the need for a Windows device, Microsoft saying that you can “make the same queries, ask the same questions” in the standalone app …

As we noted last time, the move seems to be primarily geared to acknowledging the reality that even avid Windows PC fans are unlikely to own a Windows Phone – but by offering tight integration between the iPhone and Windows 10, Microsoft will also be hoping to persuade iPhone users that they don’t need to buy a Mac to have a close working relationship between their phone and laptop or tablet.

With the Apple ecosystem a key part of the appeal for iPhone owners, Microsoft has set itself a tough challenge, but as a big Siri fan, I’ll certainly be curious to see how Cortana compares once it makes it to iOS.

Microsoft has repeatedly attacked Siri in a series of ads for Cortana.

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