Microsoft adds new address book and calendar features to Outlook for Android

Outlook has been revamped and is now a full-featured address book, which is about time for those who have opted to rely on Microsoft's app. Instead of a somewhat lightweight view of contacts, this latest version allows you to view unified card entries across all connected accounts. Actions include sending an email, calling said contact, viewing previous conversations and even shared files.

The main contact view is an easier-to-use alphabetical list. And because you're rocking an Android smartphone, Outlook will even pull contacts stored on your handset locally.

Outlook Android

In case you're connected to an organizational directory and a Global Address List, Outlook now offers such integration. Microsoft makes it easy to allow you to search for contacts using the search bar (selecting "Search Directory"). For the calendar, there's now a useful three-day view when using the app in landscape mode - perfect for those with larger devices who want to see more on-screen.

"We've also delivered other improvements in the Calendar, including support for zero-length meetings, a 'remove from calendar' action for cancelled meetings and an improved calendar day picker when creating and editing meetings."

Here's a quick list of other improvements added in this latest release of Outlook:

  • Select all—You can now "select all" to perform bulk operations on messages in a folder (available on iOS, coming soon to Android).
  • Undo of bulk actions—Undo now works on bulk operations like delete and archive.
  • Empty trash/deleted items folders—You can now permanently delete items from your deleted items folder.
  • Localization—Improvements to localization across our 30 languages.
  • Accessibility—Improvements on the message list and compose screen.

The company closes the announcement blog post covering this update with news that more features will be added in the coming weeks and months, which will introduce security and management features. Speaking of which, see the link below for more details on Microsoft's plans for Outlook on Android and iOS.

Source: Microsoft

Rich Edmonds