Wither Microsoft Launcher

[RG_Durishin]

Decisions, decisions...

I wish that, with all of the things constantly working, not working, working again, that we could get Cortana right...

	Cortana on ML 5.7.0.53377	Cortana the App 3.3.2	Could in Win Phone 10?	Other Android App(s)that can?
"Hey Cortana from Home screen"	Yes	Sometimes	Yes	N/A
Hey Cortana Dial	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
Hey Cortana Text	No	Yes	Yes	N/A
Frequent Contacts in Feed	Yes	No*	N/A	N/A
Announces and Reads Text	No	No	Yes	ReadIt2Me and others
Control of Sound Output (BT or Phone)	No	No	Yes	Waze

*: If Cortana (Microsoft Launcher) is NOT set as your default Assistant, you cannot have your frequent contacts in your feed. But if you DO have Microsoft Launcher set as your Assistant of Choice, you will not be able to send a text via "Hey Cortana."

[#2]

@RG_Durishin thanks to report this, the Cortana send SMS can't work for now, we will investigate whether other solution support frequent contacts to unblock you.

[#3]

@sarahm1 You have to understand just how much we rely on Cortana being able to be used completely hands free.  This was a CRITICAL capability on our Windows phones and one of the primary reasons we refuse to completely leave Windows phones.  Cortana is set to ALWAYS ON with our devices.  Having incoming text messages announced AND allowing us to respond is one of the MOST important capabilities.  The ability to simply say, "Hey, Cortana" and initiate a number of different tasks is something that MUST be added on Android.  I don't care what it takes.  We hardly use the actual phone capabilities on our smartphones.  When I'm driving (which is a lot) I NEED that hands free capacity.  Coming from Windows phones, the inability to access Cortana for messaging, music, phone calls, etc., without needing to actually TOUCH the device is an unacceptable condition, as far as I'm concerned.

[#4]

@Robert Wade, it boggles my mind that, what, five years on, Android simply cannot do what we could do with Cortana on Windows Phone...and I have tried all the apps I can find that purport to read, let you respond to or initiate texts. 

[#5]

EXACTLY. I mean, seriously. Everyone likes to brag about how much more capable Android is, how customizable it is, but I've seen NOTHING about Android that gives me a tenth of the capability that I rely on with my Windows phone. When I'm working on sets for a play, the ability to simply leave my phone on the edge of the stage and interact with it is key for me. Similarly, being able to drive and press a single button on my steering wheel and begin completely hands-free interaction is important. Why can't Microsoft understand this? Why is this so difficult to do?

[#6]

@sarahm1, Thank you.  I just wonder why the difference in capabilities between Cortana in the Launcher and Cortana the app.

[#7]

There's no excuse for the difference in Cortana on ANY platform. And no excuse for not having at LEAST a much capability all around as there is on a Windows phone. It's just laziness on Microsoft 's part.

[#8]

Microsoft has turned into Lazy cat these days that is why they dis-continued windows phone, now moving to open source market so that they exist but less pain in there brain to create a useless eco-system altogether. Windows phone is always better than Android but sadly market share made a bain to it's future due to Microsoft lazyness in attracting developers from beginning. Looking for a better Android with Microsoft but at odd times it is not reaching its full potential.

[#9]

@Robert Wade This killing of functionality, is what has forced me to look to Android/Microsoft Launcher. I rely on Cortana so much, and I have been able to look passed the lack of apps, etc. in my Windows Phone. But not having simple things, like voice to text, is a killer...which is why Microsoft is doing it I'm sure, to get us all to move along already.

[#10]

Try to improve? What does that even mean? This is not rocket science. Look at EVERYTHING WE COULD DO WITH CORTANA ON WINDOWS PHONES AND ADD THOSE ABILITIES TO CORTANA EVERYWHERE ELSE. I'll tell you what, put Satya Nadella on here and I'll explain it to HIM.

[#11]

As soon as I'm done with my Note 9, I'm going to iPhone.. It's not worth the hassle for me to use this any longer.. I bought a surface pro 3, dock, pen ect, even though I didn't need it, I have two invoke speakers and was very close to getting a glas thermostat, all because I used a windows phone.. I hate Samsung one UI,I never had apple and my wife wants an iPhone once her phone dies and my daughter has an iPad already... Even leaving feedback is a hassle on this.. Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but I knew as soon as this went from a Garage app to a official Microsoft app, it was slowly going to deteriorate...

[#12]

@Lroyny1 , @Robert Wade, 

Understand that, under Windows Phone, Cortana was, first, part of the OS and, then, moved out to an app that still had deep access into the OS. Because of that deep access into the operating system, she could do the things we all miss - and that Android hasn't figured out how to do.  But, because the Goog won't (can't?) grant Cortana such deep access to the system, she will never have those capabilities on Android. 

Clearly, the Team have had to make a decision about what capabilities she can have under our current OS and compromises have had to be made. 

Better with Siri? LOL. I don't think so. 

Best of luck. 

[#13]

Sorry if I seemed to have hijacked your post Richard, I probably went of on a tangent that was more general than in relation to specifics on cortana.. I don't use office or any enterprise specific microsoft software, and I'm probably holding onto the remnants of their consumer side, that I have to let go of I guess. Anyway, I'll continue to use the launcher until it's time to switch, but I think it's time to try something different that works instead of the frustration of something cobbled together...

[#14]

@Lroyny1 ,

Don't give that another thought. The dev team needs to understand how the customers feel. 

I have been thinking about giving over to Goog Assistant and playing with Lucid Launcher - because it is the only one I can find that will allow a vertical orientation.  But, there are downsides:  everything I get in my Feed page on ML, I have to add in Lucid as a widget and, every time I change a setting in Lucid, my work to build a home screen I like is deleted. 

I did, recently, do a complete uninstall/reinstall of ML and that fixed the multi-calendar issue I was having. 

I have to say that, for now, ML continues to best satisfy my needs - and I plug-in the Cortana app where I need to. 

[#15]

I don't really care how it happens or what's required.  Microsoft created an awesome capability, and UNMATCHED capability in ANY platform, and now that they've abandoned it for, apparently, Android, they NEED to do WHATEVER it takes to bring those features to Android.  It's stupid not to, it's LAZY not to, and it's an insult to users not to.  

[#16]

@RG_Durishin This post sums up my feelings pretty well. I've also had issues with Outlook since day one, but for me, it was with syncing new contacts. I have hit "Reset Account" so many times, it has turned from ridiculous, to comical.

At this point, I am so intertwined with Microsoft accounts, the prospects of a decent integration through a different launcher leaves me skeptical, unfortunately. Up until now ML has satisfied most of my needs, and for the most part, I like the UI. With that said, I wish they would fix Cortana, bring over the People App to manage contacts, and design a decent Phone app, preferably something that resembles what they did with Windows Phone 8.1, i.e. a full screen contact picture for incoming calls...But all of this is probably a dream that will never be realized. Sorry, kind of went on a tangent there.

Anyway, I wish Microsoft would throw their resources to fix a lot of these lingering issues. Otherwise, as @Robert Wade put it, "it's an insult to users not to. "