Outlook Mobile

Outlook Mobile
Original author(s) Javier Soltero, JJ Zhuang, and Kevin Henrikson
Developer(s) Microsoft
Initial release April 25, 2014 (2014-04-25)
Operating system iOS, Android, Windows, Windows Mobile
Type Personal information manager
Website www.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-com/mobile/

Outlook Mobile (formerly Acompli) is a mobile personal information manager for Android, iOS and Windows 10 devices.

The app was designed to provide comparable to similar apps on personal computers, as opposed to splitting functionality into multiple, focused apps. Similarly to its desktop counterpart, Outlook Mobile integrates email, calendar, and contact management, along with an aggregation of attachments and files stored on cloud storage platforms; a "focused inbox" highlights messages from frequent contacts, and calendar events, files, and locations can be embedded in messages without switching apps. The app supports a number of email platforms and services, including Microsoft Exchange and Google Apps among others.

First released in April 2014 by the venture capital-backed startup of the same name, Acompli was acquired by Microsoft in December 2014. On January 29, 2015, Acompli was re-branded as Outlook Mobile—sharing its name with the Microsoft Outlook desktop personal information manager and Outlook.com email service.[1]

History

Acompli was co-founded as a startup by Javier Soltero, the former chief technology officer of VMWare, alongside JJ Zhuang (CTO), and Kevin Henrikson (VP of Engineering). It received $7.3 million in funding from Redpoint Ventures, Harrison Metal and Felicis Ventures.[2][3]

In order to distinguish itself from other recent email startups, such as Mailbox, Soletero decided to target the enterprise market—particularly, users of Microsoft Exchange servers. He felt that such users had been underserved by the lacking or non-existent support for Exchange in existing mail apps, believing that their developers—despite its wide adoption, "do not fathom the possibility of anyone using Exchange." A result of this mandate was the decision to make the app a personal information manager rather than only an email client, integrating a calendar, a list of recent contacts, and a list of recent files from attachments and cloud storage services.[4][4]

Acompli was first released on April 25, 2014 for iOS.[5] An Android version was released in September 2014.[4][6][7] On November 26, 2014, an incomplete post on its official blog prematurely revealed that Acompli had been acquired by Microsoft. The acquisition, valued at over $200 million, was officially announced on December 1, 2014. Rajesh Jha, vice president of Microsoft's Outlook division, stated that "We’re excited about what’s possible as we build on the app’s success and bring it together with work currently in progress by the Outlook team." Soltero assured users that the Acompli app would not be discontinued, and would continue to receive regular updates.[8][9] On January 29, 2015, Acompli was re-branded as Outlook Mobile, uniting it with one of its original influences.[1]

On February 4, 2015, Microsoft acquired Sunrise Calendar;[10] on October 28, 2015, Microsoft announced that Sunrise would be discontinued, with its functionality being merged into Outlook Mobile.[11]

Features

Outlook Mobile is designed to consolidate functionality that would normally be found in separate apps on mobile devices, similarly to personal information managers on personal computers. is designed around four "hubs" for different tasks, including "Mail", "Calendar," "Files" and "People". The "People" hub lists frequently and recently used contacts and aggregates recent communications with them, and the "Files" hub aggregates recent attachments from messages, and can also integrate with other online storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive.[6][12][13][14] To facility indexing of content for search and other features, emails and other information are stored on external servers.[15]

Emails are divided into two inboxes: the "Focused" inbox displays messages of high importance, and those from frequent contacts. All other messages are displayed within an "Other" section.[15][16] Files, locations, and calendar events can be embedded into email messages. Swiping gestures can be used for deleting messages.[12][17][17][18][19]

Outlook Mobile supports a large number of different e-mail services and platforms, including Exchange, iCloud, GMail, Google Apps, Outlook.com, and Yahoo! Mail.[20][21] The app supports multiple email accounts at once.[22]

Security

Outlook Mobile temporarily stores and indexes user data (including email, attachments, calendar information, and contacts), along with login credentials, in a "secure" form on Amazon Web Services servers located in the United States. On Exchange accounts, these servers identify as a single Exchange ActiveSync user in order to fetch e-mail. Additionally, the app does not support mobile device management, nor allows administrators to control how third-party cloud storage services are used with the app to interact with their users. Concerns surrounding these security issues have prompted some firms, including the European Parliament, to block the app on their Exchange servers.[23][24][25] Microsoft maintains a separate, pre-existing Outlook Web Access app for Android and iOS.[25]

Reception

Acompli received mostly positive reception: James Kendrick of ZDNet considered the app a "must-have" for bring your own device scenarios, citing its focused inbox, convergence, and support for both personal and business-oriented e-mail platforms. However, he felt that the calendar was not "fancy", and lacked different view modes.[22] Noting its level of support for Gmail, quicker deletion gesture, along with its "clean approach" to filtering through emails and other content, Engadget argued that Acompli "can be a speedy and powerful tool if you're willing to take the time to learn its nuances."[12]

On the day of its release, Acompli quickly reached the top 10 free "Productivity" apps on the iOS App Store.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Microsoft rebrands Acompli as Outlook for iOS and Android". The Verge. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  2. ↑ Novet, Jordan (April 25, 2014). "Acompli is already in the Top 10 after its Apple App Store premiere today". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  3. ↑ Perez, Sarah (April 24, 2014). "Acompli, The Email Productivity App Backed By $7.3M, Goes Live On App Store". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Newton, Casey (April 24, 2014). "The history of Microsoft's new Outlook for iPhone app". The Verge. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Novet, Jordan (April 25, 2014). "Acompli is already in the Top 10 after its Apple App Store premiere today". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Acompli brings its Exchange-friendly email app to Android". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  7. ↑ Gannes, Liz (February 20, 2014). "Acompli, From Zimbra and VMware Vets, Tees Up a Swing at Mobile Email". Re/code. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Microsoft may have accidentally announced that it's buying email app Acompli". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Microsoft acquires email app Acompli". The Verge. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  10. ↑ Miners, Zach (4 February 2015). "Microsoft reportedly buying slick calendar app Sunrise to bolster productivity push". PC World.
  11. ↑ "Microsoft To Shut Down Sunrise Mobile Calendar After Integration Into Outlook Completes". TechCrunch. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Bowen, Andy (May 3, 2014). "Test-driving Acompli: Could an email app be reason enough to go back to the iPhone?". Engadget. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  13. ↑ Bell, Karissa. "Acompli Launches App to Simplify Mobile Email". Mashable. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  14. ↑ Stern, Joanna (April 29, 2014). "You're Emailing Wrong: The Best Mobile Apps for Managing Your Inbox". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  15. 1 2 Redmond, Tony. "Do the ex-Acompli now Outlook clients really compromise security or is everyone overreacting?". Windows IT Pro. Penton. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Better email apps for your iPhone". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  17. 1 2 Vogel, Sandra (September 15, 2014). "Mobile app of the day: Acompli". ITProPortal. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  18. ↑ P., Daniel (September 12, 2014). "Accompli arrives for Android: intelligent email wrapped in calendar and cloud storage". PhoneArena. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  19. ↑ Williams, Owen (April 27, 2014). "Acompli: a Perfect iOS Email App but We Wish it Wasn't Free". The Next Web. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  20. ↑ Langshaw, Mark (April 30, 2014). "Best new mobile apps for iOS, Android: IFTTT, miDrive, more". Digital Spy. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  21. ↑ Dredge, Stuart (April 28, 2014). "20 best iPhone and iPad apps this week". The Guardian. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  22. 1 2 Kendrick, James. "Acompli for iOS review: Must-have app for BYOD". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Outlook for iOS, Android flagged for inherent security flaws". NetworkWorld. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  24. ↑ "Security issues lead IT to block Outlook for iOS". TechTarget. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  25. 1 2 "EU Parliament blocks new Outlook apps over privacy concerns". IT World. Retrieved 10 February 2015.

External links

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