Microsoft is working on an ‘Outlook Lite’ app for Android. The app would be smaller and faster than the current Outlook for Android app, but will lack some features as a consequence.
The company mentions Outlook Lite on its Microsoft 365 roadmap, describing it as an “app that brings the main benefits of Outlook in a smaller app size with fast performance for low-end devices on any network.” Moreover, the roadmap mentions a general availability date of July 2022, suggesting Outlook Lite could arrive this month.
According to ZDNet (via The Verge), Microsoft already offers a version of Outlook Lite in some regions, so this appears to be a broader release of that app. The Verge also cites Microsoft documentation that Outlook Lite will only support Outlook, Hotmail, Live, and MSN accounts, and won’t support work or school accounts.
The Verge notes that Outlook is one of the more popular email options on Android, with over 500 million downloads on the Play Store. It makes a lot of sense that Microsoft would seek to expand that popularity by offering a lightweight version of the app that will work well on older phones or less powerful devices.
Of course, as with any ‘Lite’ app, I find myself wondering why companies don’t just shrink the main app.
Anyway, it’s worth noting Microsoft is also hard at work improving the Outlook desktop app. The company is testing a new ‘One Outlook’ app that would unify the Outlook experience across web, Windows and Mac.
