Microsoft announced a Bing Chat home-screen widget for iOS and Android on May 16, 2023. It was a shortcut to Bing Chat: Microsoft said tapping the Bing icon opened chat, while the microphone icon let users ask a question verbally. The rollout was later confirmed for Android on May 26 and iOS on June 16, 2023. Those announcements document the 2023 launch, not the widget’s current name, availability, or interface.
What the Bing Chat widget did
The widget was designed to provide quicker access to Bing Chat from a phone’s home screen, rather than replace the Bing mobile app. In its May 16 announcement, Microsoft described tapping the Bing icon to open chat and using the microphone icon to ask a question aloud. These details describe the announced design; they do not establish how the feature works today.
The Bing mobile app was already available for iOS and Android by February 2023. Microsoft described chat, voice input, answer display options, and answers that could include citations in that earlier announcement. The widget added a home-screen entry point to the app’s chat experience.
When it arrived on Android and iPhone
| Platform | Microsoft’s confirmation | What the announcement says |
|---|---|---|
| Android | May 26, 2023 | Microsoft said the Bing Chat widget had launched; selecting its Bing icon opened chat. |
| iOS | June 16, 2023 | Microsoft said the widget had launched on iOS and noted that Android was already available. |
The May 16 post said the widget was rolling out “this week,” but the later release notes provide the more precise platform dates. Microsoft also mentioned a separate feature for continuing conversations across devices that was still flighting. That conversation-sync rollout was not the widget launch.
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How to add it to a home screen
Microsoft’s May 2023 announcement linked to Apple and Google instructions for adding home-screen widgets. The sources documenting the launch do not verify the current setup process, platform requirements, or whether the Bing Chat widget remains available under that name. For current instructions, check the widget options and official help for your phone’s operating system and the Bing app version you have installed.
What Microsoft said about the launch
In the May 16, 2023 announcement, Divya Kumar, Microsoft’s Global Head of Marketing, Search & AI, wrote: “This week, we’re launching a new Bing Chat widget that you can add to your iOS or Android home screen.” Microsoft’s February 2023 post, by Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President & Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, said the Bing mobile app was “Available on iOS and Android today.”
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Microsoft also reported an eightfold increase in daily downloads since the new Bing launched in its May 16 post, without specifying the measurement window. Mehdi’s February post cited a figure of 64% of searches occurring on mobile phones as context for the mobile apps, but did not identify the underlying study or its year. Neither figure should be read as an independently verified current statistic.
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Microsoft’s source announcements
- Microsoft Bing Blog, May 16, 2023: Bringing the new Bing to Mobile and Skype
- Microsoft Bing Blog, May 26, 2023: release notes confirming the Android widget
- Microsoft Bing Blog, June 16, 2023: release notes confirming the iOS widget
- Official Microsoft Blog, February 22, 2023: the Bing and Edge mobile apps
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