Best Google Assistant alternatives You should try – Cortana & Hound

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Virtual Assistant powered by complex Artificial Intelligence was the dream of every smartphone geek. We had seen them in a lot of Hollywood movies where the Protagonist often interacts with the computer verbally, and there was a time when we all thought that these things would never make it out of the movies. Here we are in 2017, where having Virtual Assistant in your smartphone is just like having a camera. It has become a niche necessity, and more people are getting onboard this technology.

Talking about Virtual Assistants, Google has its own version which is the Google Assistant. Exclusively rolled out with Pixel smartphones, now the assistant is widely available for pretty much all the smartphones running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and above. Apple, on the other hand, is still trying to make Siri better. While Google Assistant is more user-friendly in comparison, this will always remain debatable topic. But what about other Assistants? Yes, there are a couple of other Assistants as well, but they’re buried deep under the popularity of the mainstream Google Assistant & Siri.

Cortana

If you have been a Microsoft supporter or at least, if you have been following the news, then you might have heard about the name ‘Cortana.’ Cortana is Microsoft‘s masterpiece which works just like any other voice assistants out there in the market. Initially launched only on Windows OS, now Cortana has been available on Android since August 2015. Yes, that is way before Google’s Assistant and even the days when Siri was not all that great. And as a matter of fact, since then, Cortana has gotten better with each update.

However, Cortana is definitely not there yet. It is still miles away from being close to Google Assistant or Siri, but like I said, it is getting there. You can get answers to your basic questions like ‘Who is the President of the U.S?’ but then if you continue to ask contextual questions, then you are not going to get anything out of it. And this is where it falls behind. You even need to fiddle around with connected services to add services like Uber, etc.

On the other hand, if you just need an Assistant to tell you about your appointments, calendar events, etc. then Cortana will do wonders for you and you will definitely not the presence of Google Assistant or Siri. And despite being a third-party assistant app on Android, it still does a great job of providing you with great options like lock screen shortcut, etc. You can get Cortana from the link given below, so be sure to give it a try.

Download Cortana 2.5.0 App Apk 24.96 MB 1 downloads

Cortana is a personal assistant by Microsoft, that works like any other virtual Assistants...

WP-Appbox: Cortana (Free, App Store) →

Hound

Hound is yet another great voice assistant that is out there in the market which you should try. Although it might not impress you like Google Assistant would do, it is still far from being bad. It is backed by a music-centred company, SoundHound Inc. (hence the name, Hound). SoundHound as you all might know is one of the most popular music recognition software, and Hound doesn’t fail to take advantage of that. If you are fond of music, then this is the one to go for.

Hound also has a built-in video player which can play pretty much anything you ask for. It does it by pulling the music videos from Youtube for you. However, the only downside of Hound is that you really need to reach out to it in order to get the job done. You can’t simply talk to it or ask something with your screen locked. You need to have the app open, and only then you can talk to it. Even the ‘Ok Hound’ catchphrase will work when the app is actively open. It is worth a shot nonetheless. You can download Hound for Android or iOS from the links given below.

WP-Appbox: HOUND Voice Search & Assistant (Free, Google Play) →

WP-Appbox: HOUND Voice Search & Assistant (Free, App Store) →

With that said, we will be getting new Virtual Assistants in the future as Samsung is also coming up with a new offering which is supposedly called ‘Bixby.’ Even Huawei is expected to come up with a new Assistant for their smartphones. However, on the other hand, if you are an iOS user, then you are pretty much out of options here since Siri is the only way to go if you don’t like using Cortana or Hound. Be sure to let us know which one do you like and which one are you currently using and also stay tuned to PhoneRadar for more such tutorials.

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