What you need to know
- Microsoft Launcher for Android is getting updated with Bing Chat integration.
- Users will be able to quickly launch into Bing Chat via the search bar on the Launcher.
- It's coming to any device running the Microsoft Launcher, including Surface Duo!
- The feature is currently in beta, but will likely rollout to everyone soon.
It's been a very long while since Microsoft Launcher on Android received any new features. For the last year, Microsoft has seemingly had the Launcher in maintenance mode, but that may now be changing as the latest Microsoft Launcher beta update finally introduces a feature users have been asking for since February.
With the latest beta build, Microsoft has added Bing Chat AI integration into the Launcher's search bar, giving users the chance to jump into a Bing Chat session without first needing to download the Bing app. Now, users will see a Bing Chat icon in the search bar pinned to their home screen, or when swiping down to access the Launcher's search functionality.
Tapping on the Bing Chat icon will pull up an immediately familiar Bing Chat interface, as it's simply using the website like it has been doing in pretty much all cases where Bing Chat is available. So now users will have a quick launch capability into Bing Chat when using the Microsoft Launcher.
The good news is this feature appears to also be rolling out on Surface Duo devices, so if you're using Microsoft's first-party Android device, you too are getting an AI injection with the upcoming Microsoft Launcher update.
As mentioned, this functionality is currently only available in the Microsoft Launcher Beta, which you can sign up for here. Now that it's in beta, it shouldn't be too long before it begins rolling out to all users, hopefully in the coming weeks.
