Outlook on Android gets some much-needed add-ins

Once upon a time, Outlook was the king of the desktop productivity hill. But in a predominantly mobile world, it was just one of the boys, and not a very big one at that. Making up for lost time, Microsoft has been aggressively pushing Outlook to once again become the be all and end all of e-mail clients, including on mobile. It started with what it calls "Add-ins" on iOS earlier this year, which is reaching Android shores at long last.

Add-in is just fancy speak for Outlook integration with other apps and services. Practically admitting it doesn't have all the answers, add-ins allow users to quickly perform tasks they would normally do on another app without leaving Outlook. Convenient for the user but very convenient for Microsoft too.

February this year, Microsoft released the first batch of add-ins for Outlook on mobile but limited them to iOS. Now Android users no longer have to be jealous, as they can finally directly save emails to Evernote without having to forward it to an @evernote.com email, translate emails right then and there with Microsoft Translator, or create new Trello cards from a new email.

But Microsoft is doing one better and is actually expanding the number of Outlook add-ins available. With Wrika for general projects and JIRA for software development teams, Outlook users don't need to leave the mobile app just to file a bug report or create a new task for the team. Email doesn't have to be all serious work either, with Gfycat and MojiLaLa literally inserting a bit of fun inside emails.

Now for the fine print. Outlook add-ins for Android are only available for those with Outlook.com or Office 365 email accounts. Microsoft promises that Gmail account holders on iOS and Android will soon be in on the fun. The new add-ins are available on all platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and the Web.

SOURCE: Microsoft