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Microsoft Outlook’s functionality-enhancing add-ins are now available for the Android version of email application.
Mobile Outlook add-ins first debuted for Apple iOS on Feb. 2. The initial batch included Dynamics 365, Evernote, GIPHY, Microsoft Translator, Nimble, Smartsheet and Trello. Now, owners of Android smartphones, like the soon-to-be released Samsung Galaxy Note8, can get in on the act.
Microsoft is currently rolling out add-ins for Outlook on the Android mobile operation system, a process that may take a few weeks. Besides the previously mentioned add-ins, iOS and Android users now have access to several more, including OnePlaceMail, JIRA, MeisterTask, Gfycat, MojiLala and Wrike. Outlook Customer Manager, a new add-in that helps users track customer relationships, will launch soon, according to the software giant.
For now, the add-ins work for users with Outlook.com and Office 365 business email accounts, although the company plans to extend support to Gmail users within the next few months.
Outlook add-ins on iOS and Android help users make the most out of the limited screen real estate afforded by their devices while they catch up on email conversations or consult their calendars. Rather than launch another app to look up customer information, access translation services or other tasks, Outlook’s time-saving add-ins allow users to access that functionality without leaving the app.
Add-ins like Gfycat and MojiLala can be used to inject some personality into email chains with the use of animated GIFs and stickers, respectively. But Outlook add-ins aren’t all fun and games.
The JIRA add-in from Yasoon allows developers to keep an eye on their software projects when they step away from their workstations.
“Designed specifically for software teams, JIRA provides best-in-class agile tooling, deep developer tool integrations and a single repository for every step in your software project’s lifecycle,” stated Microsoft in a blog post. “The JIRA add-in for Outlook helps you stay on top of software project issues and communication with customers, partners, or vendors by enabling easy tracking of your project’s progress, right from Outlook.”
The MeisterTask add-in brings some of the platform’s project and task management capabilities into the mobile email client, allowing users to create tasks from emails and assign them to other team members. Users of the Wrike project management software can also use emails as the basis of new tasks, as well as view and edit tasks in Outlook with the associated add-in.
Elsewhere in the Office ecosystem, Microsoft quietly launched the My Workspace app for macOS.
Residing on the Mac menu bar, My Workspace displays upcoming calendar events and recent files in the OneDrive cloud service. It also acts as a launcher for Office 365 desktop applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote).
My Workspace hails from a Microsoft Garage team in Vancouver. It is the first Mac-based project from Microsoft Garage, the software giant’s experimental app division. The goal of My Workspace is to give Office users on MacOS a one-stop destination for keeping track of calendars and shared files.
