Cortana sneaks onto Xbox One as a secret feature

Cortana isn’t due to officially appear on Xbox One until sometime next year, but she seems to have tried to sneak on a little early. Accessing her, however, feels a little like entering a cheat code.

You can summon Cortana by double-tapping the Xbox button to bring up the menu, then press up on the D-pad and then A twice. This gives you access to a hidden button. Once you press this button you’ll see a familiar interface if you’ve used Cortana on Windows Phone or Windows 10.

According to The Verge, you can start issuing commands by simply saying, “Hey Cortana.”

Cortana’s Xbox One development is still at an early stage. It appears to be a port of the current Windows 10 app, as it includes an option to view your calendar, which is something you can’t do on Xbox One.

Her functionality is somewhat stunted at the moment too, as you might expect. It has been reported that asking her to invite a friend to your party results in a Bing search for your query.

Don’t expect Cortana to work fully, but it is an interesting glimpse at what’s coming to Xbox One. You should also be aware that Cortana’s inclusion is likely only in regions where the virtual assistant is available.