Microsoft continues to add its generative AI services to more of its products. The latest such addition is the Microsoft Launcher app for Android devices. A new report says that the beta edition of the app has added support for Microsoft"s Bing Chat chatbot AI.
The report comes from Microsoft software enthusiast "XenoPanther" in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Bing AI has been integrated into the latest beta build of Microsoft Launcher along side a new Bing Search widget pic.twitter.com/k1c60rbN0c
— Xeno (@XenoPanther) August 24, 2023
The screenshots of the Microsoft Launcher beta show that users can access Bing Chat via its traditional text prompts, with its Creative, Balanced, and Precise modes. They can also use their voice to put in Bing Chat prompts as well.
Alongside the new Bing Chat features, the Microsoft Launcher beta also has a new Bing Search widget, according to XenoPanther. The widget will allow Android users to access Bing"s search engine directly from their smartphone or tablet"s home screen.
Right now there"s no word on when these new Bing Search and Bing Chat features might roll out to all Microsoft Launcher users. If you are interested in getting the beta versions of the launcher to try out new features, you can sign up at the Google Play app site.
A recent update to the "stable" Microsoft Launcher version caused the app to break and crash for many Android users, including on Microsoft"s own Surface Duo smartphones. Hopefully, when the Bing Chat features are added to the main version of the app, they won"t cause too many crashes and issues.
Microsoft recently started adding a "no search" feature for a limited number of users in Bing Chat. It allows them to keep the chatbot from accessing Bing Search in order to provide answers to questions and conversations.