Microsoft’s mobile apps related to productivity are about to receive a lot of news to improve productivity. Cortana integration in Microsoft Teams, Handwriting recognition in Office Mobile, reactions in Outlook much more.
With the increasing use of productivity apps on mobile devices due to the pandemic, with successive lockdowns, Microsoft has seen how the use of Teams, Outlook and Office has increased significantly. Remote communication in the work environment, messaging in educational groups, increased use of Office mobile tools … And Microsoft wishes to enhance this mobile use by greatly improving its applications for these devices.
Office 365 mobile apps see their productivity improved
The company has communicated all the changes underway in its large suite of mobile applications, both for Android and iOS. Office for mobile, Outlook, Teams … and Cortana: the personal assistant gains presence in Office 365 applications with the idea of facilitating the use of these applications and interactions with other users.
The list of changes is very long, as is the number of apps that receive updates. Among them are:
- More from Cortana. Microsoft’s personal assistant will be integrated with Outlook and Teams to respond to user requests. Search for emails, calendar appointments, locate specific user’s messages, files that have been shared … Of course, it will only be available in English at first.
- Shortcuts for micro-tasks. Office 365 applications have the ability to create small shortcuts with a multitude of different tasks. So-called “ Micro Tasks shortcuts ” allow you to create small surveys in Office or Teams, OneDrive will allow the use of file shortcuts, Outlook will show time based on location when creating new appointments, Outlook will also integrate a window navigation by clicking on a link …
- Scanning will be much easier. Microsoft Lens is set to include handwriting recognition after taking photos in a document; then the option will go to the Office mobile app, first in English. And that said, Microsoft Lens will also be integrated into Teams to capture content, annotate it, and share it in the messaging app.
- Annotate PDF files in Office. The mobile productivity app will not only continue to offer reading and editing of PDF documents, but it will also allow annotations. Notes, forms, dates and time stamps can be included.
- Reactions in Outlook. In addition to improving email security, Microsoft has committed to adding feedback to its email application. Don’t want to reply to a message with a simple yes? Add a thumbs up reaction and you’re done.
All the changes introduced by Microsoft will gradually be added to the productivity apps for mobile devices.
More information | Microsoft
