Android users can now set Amazon’s Alexa as their default voice assistant

Microsoft Cortana is compatible with devices running Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone 8.1, Invoke smart speaker, Microsoft Band, Xbox One, iOS, Android, and Windows Mixed Reality.

Download the Amazon Alexa app from the Google Play Store.

As expected, this will enable Amazon Alexa as your personal assistant.

Though Alexa has grabbed the early lead in the competitive digital assistant market – which also includes the Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri and more – Amazon doesn’t expect to ideal the technology alone.

We also tried to do the same on our Samsung Galaxy S9 and the feature worked perfectly fine. Asking Alexa to open Cortana gives users access to Microsoft’s assistant through Alexa-enabled devices like the Echo. You cannot summon Alexa by using voice commands, nor can you use it by squeezing your phone. For instance, you can invoke Google Assistant by saying “Ok Google” or “Hey Google” but the same does not happen in Alexa’s case.

We’ve known for almost six months that Alexa and Cortana will soon work together, making each voice assistant platform more useful.

When Microsoft and Amazon first discussed integrating their virtual assistants, it was described as a two-way street – that is, Cortana could pass requests back to Alexa, and vice versa. You typically aren’t locked into using specific apps or services. Sure, you can scream at the top of your lungs, “Alexa, Alexa, ALEXA!”, but it will be a waste of your breath. Alexa notably came from the box onto a handful of smart phones from Years past including the HTC U11 and Moto X-4 in certain markets. So whenever you need to launch the Google Assistant, you can simply say the wake up command and Google Assistant will be right there to assist you. If you don’t want any assistant at all that’s also an option. You can use these links to get the apps: Alexa, Cortana.