Microsoft announced that a native Outlook Web App (OWA) is now available for some Android phones. The company first announced its intention to bring the app to Android in March at the Microsoft Exchange Conference.
The current release is considered a pre-release version.
Senior product marketing manager Steve Chew explains, “During this pre-release, we’ll be gathering feedback, fixing bugs and making sure the app is ready for prime time! The app distribution will be limited to a few devices to begin with. We’ll be adding new device support regularly so if your device isn’t supported right now, check back often.”
The navigation screen gives you quick access to Outlook, Calendar, and People. When you hit Outlook, you get a list view of new messages in your inbox.
When you tap on an individual message, you open the reading pane, which includes support for inline URL previews. Here are some screenshots from Google Play.
“With OWA for Android, if you’ve enabled the app to sync your contacts to your device, you can update those contacts directly from the device’s address book and OWA will make sure the changes get changed in your Office 365 mailbox,” he says. “So, if someone sends you a new phone number in a text message you can just update the contact on your phone, and you’ll see the change reflected in OWA.”
To use the app, you must be running Android 4.4 Kit Kat or higher, your mailbox must be running on Office 365 for business, and your device size must be consdidered “small” or “normal” by Android OS.
Images via Google Play