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Best mobile communications app gets better: Microsoft updates Outlook for iOS and Android

Microsoft continues to improve Outlook on mobile platforms. iOS users get new features while Android users finally get the improved iOS layout.
Written by Matthew Miller, Contributing Writer
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Thanks to Microsoft I continue to regularly use an iPhone 6s Plus. Outlook has been fantastic on iOS and last night Microsoft announced updates that continue to make Outlook a stand-out application for mobile platforms.

Outlook for iOS improvements

Outlook for iOS includes email, calendar, and contact integration, making it a far better cohesive communications experience than the default Apple apps. Business users will appreciate the update for iOS that include Skype calling integration for events. You can now create a new appointment on your calendar and enable Skype calling directly within the event details. Group chatting within Skype call is also supported on iOS.

The calendar for iOS was also updated with a new two-week mini-calendar and three-day view. You can also now set your week start preference, handy for those billing to timesheets that have specific week start and end requirements. These options will be coming soon to Android as well.

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Outlook for Android improvments

While Outlook for iOS is better than the default mail and calendar apps, I never quite felt the same about Outlook for Android. However, the Android version keeps getting better with regular updates and a major layout change was made with this release that convinced me to give Outlook a try again on my Android smartphones.

Previously, in order to access your mail, calendar, files, and contacts you had to make menu selections at the top of the display. This new release moves these four buttons to a new bottom navigation bar, much like what we see on iOS. While it may sound subtle, this will make it much easier on large screen devices to navigate around the application and I can't wait to try it out.

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