Trick makes voice and information service Cortana available on Xbox One

Microsoft has not officially released Cortana for the Xbox One yet, but it now appears that the service is already hidden in the software. A number of console users discovered how to activate the voice and information service.

It appears to be possible to activate Cortana by going up in the settings menu and pressing A several times. In this way, Cortana is made available immediately, according to experiences recorded by The Verge. The trick seems similar to the way developer options are conjured up in the Android operating system. By the way, it only works for people who participate in the preview program.

After activation, Cortana is located on the side of the screen when playing a game and can then be addressed with voice commands: this can be done by shouting “hey Cortana”. The functionality is comparable to Windows 10 for the desktop. It is still unclear whether functions specifically intended for gamers have been built in: Cortana for Xbox does not seem to be finished yet, so that voice commands may be added that have been developed specifically for the console in the long term.

Microsoft will not officially bring Cortana to the Xbox One until next year, the company recently announced. A preview version will be available sooner. It is not clear why the software was made accessible via a trick; the company from Redmond has not yet disclosed any information about this.