Bing Chat from Microsoft is coming to a mobile device near you
That was revealed earlier in 2023 Microsoft tested Bing Chat on third-party browsers such as Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Mozilla Firefox. Now the tech giant announced that it would not only bring Bing Chat to these browsers, but also to mobile devices.
With this move, Microsoft aims to compete with other AI services and built-in browser tools, such as Google’s generative AI search features found in both the browser and mobile app, according to TechCrunch.
At Microsoft official Bing blog post, it stated: “This next step in the journey allows Bing to show the incredible value of summarized answers, image creation and more to a wider range of people. You will enjoy most of the great benefits of Bing and we will continue to optimize along the way to meet your needs across browsers.”
The tech giant also warned that while you can use your preferred platform for Bing Chat, the best service is provided on Bing. For example, users and windows latest noted that Chrome’s Bing supports five messages per conversation versus the 30 in Microsoft Edge. Bing in Chrome has a character limit of 2,000, while Edge supports 4,000.
Microsoft’s blog post mentioned some limitations. “Edge unlocks longer conversations, chat history, and more Bing features built right into the browser. To experience the best browser for Bing and get all the features, just open the Microsoft Edge browser…”
Can Microsoft pull this off?
It’s an interesting strategy for Microsoft to put its own service on mobile devices and other browsers. Especially mobile, as it’s one of the most popular ways to access websites, services, and applications, and the lack of a dedicated mobile version of Bing Chat is missing out on a critical audience.
And it’s an understandable direction, too, since the end goal is to increase Bing’s market share. Getting users who would otherwise never use Bing to try out Bing Chat on their browser of choice and then slowly convince them to use it on Edge is pretty crafty. But restricting access to Bing Chat in the hopes of luring users to Bing is also a risky move.
Instead of getting more Bing users, the real threat is to disable these users and make them switch back to the other AI chat they used before. Switching browsers is a big deal, and it’s hard to get a dedicated Chrome or Firefox user to switch to a brand new browser just for a service they can get elsewhere. And losing mobile users would be a particularly hard blow considering they are such a huge market.
Perhaps Bing can get more users if Microsoft continues to upgrade the experience on mobile and other browsers, such as get dark mode, speech inputAnd other interface improvements like what iPhone users received. Not to mention equalizing the experience between other platforms and the Bing browser.