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Microsoft brings Outlook to Apple Watch

Outlook users with iPhones and an Apple Watch have a new way to quickly manage their email, complete with custom notifications and voice dictated responses.

Written by Kevin Tofel, Contributor Aug. 6, 2015 at 8:14 a.m. PT

Microsoft made a bigger push in the wearables market on Thursday, but not with new hardware. Instead, the company updated its Outlook for iOS app to support the Apple Watch.

The free software is available in the iTunes Store; updating Outlook to version 1.3.5 on an iPhone adds the Apple Watch support.

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Similar to the native Email app on Apple Watch, Outlook users can scroll through their Inbox or get a quick glance at their messages and calendar events with a swipe up from the watch face. Replies are supported through canned responses, emoji or full voice dictation on the device. Microsoft says the new watch app also supports custom notifications.

Microsoft debuted Outlook for iOS and Android devices earlier this year, rebranding the mail client from Acompli, which it purchased in December, 2014. For now, smartwatch support is only available for iOS and not yet for Android Wear watches. The company has brought a steady stream of software updates to Outlook for non-Microsoft platforms and I'd expect Android Wear support to follow soon.

Outlook for iOS works with Office 365, Exchange, Outlook.com, Yahoo Mail, Gmail and other email account types.