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Microsoft has quietly launched its Copilot AI assistant on Android mobile devices. The app, which uses OpenAI’s latest natural language models GPT-4 and DALL-E 3, is now available as a free download from the Google Play Store without requiring a Microsoft account to log in.
The launch marks Copilot’s expansion beyond desktop environments such as Windows and Edge to mobile platforms. But unlike the hype and fanfare surrounding the launch of Microsoft’s Bing Chatbot on mobile, Copilot’s rollout has been quiet with no formal announcements.
The new Copilot Android app was first spotted by tech publication Neowin earlier this month when users noticed it on the Play Store. Copilot is still not available on iOS devices, and Microsoft has not yet confirmed plans for an iPhone version.
The move to bring Copilot to mobile comes after Microsoft extended support from just Windows 11 and Edge to Windows 10 devices last year. That helped make the AI assistant accessible to more than 1 billion active Windows devices, demonstrating Microsoft’s commitment to maximizing Copilot’s reach.
The availability of Copilot on Android aligns with Microsoft’s vision to make the tool ubiquitous across all platforms and form factors. Users can now tap into Copilot capabilities like coding help, writing help, and design inspiration on the go right from their mobile devices.
The launch also coincides with Microsoft’s continued improvements to Copilot’s capabilities. Recent updates introduced new features such as video summarization, where Copilot can create text summaries of video content. Another new capability allows Copilot to generate original music compositions from text prompts.
Early reviews show that Copilot offers a fluid mobile experience while retaining desktop functionality such as programming assistance, email writing, and more. The AI assistant can understand the user’s context and intent and provide customized suggestions and additions in real time. Users especially note Copilot’s convenience for quick tasks like taking notes or composing emails on mobile.
However, some limitations remain on mobile. Copilot remains limited in memory capacity on smartphones, limiting its ability to handle complex queries or have longer contextual conversations compared to desktop environments. Reviewers also occasionally mention latency when retrieving Copilot’s responses.
Nevertheless, the launch is a notable milestone in making Copilot accessible to Microsoft’s mobile user base. It positions the company to compete with AI assistants from rivals such as Google and Apple on the vital mobile front. Reports speculate that iOS availability will follow soon.
Microsoft plans to quickly iterate on improving Copilot’s capabilities on mobile devices. Future improvements could potentially include tighter platform integrations and capabilities such as voice support. The company can also expand Copilot’s regional availability beyond the more than 50 countries currently supported.
Now that Copilot is in the pockets of Android users, Microsoft is poised to drive greater adoption of its AI know-how. But questions remain about topics like creator credit and financial compensation, which continue to plague generative AI systems. For now, opening up Copilot’s potential to the mobile masses represents a big step forward for Microsoft’s AI aspirations.