Completely redesigned Outlook released free for macOS
Microsoft fully redesigned Outlook for macOS to make it better than ever before and free. But is it any good? And where can you download it to try it out as soon as possible?
The popular email application Outlook has now been made free to download for MacOS. This happened along with a redesign from the ground up to make it better than ever before. This means that not only users that are subscribed to Microsoft 365 have access to this new version but everyone. If you want to download it, you can do so from the App Store.
So what is new?
Better native support
Firstly this means there is a version available that is native to Apple Silicon but that was to be expected. More importantly its features are better integrated into the macOS system. As you can see in the picture above there are widgets, notification center reminders and the ability to access the most important features via the menu bar. It is great to see Microsoft make use of these unique possibilites in macOS instead of just porting the application itself.
Handoff with iOS
Apples devices have supported a feature called "Handoff" for a while now. This means that you can easily continue where you last left off on another device. For example you start writing a mail on your Mac but have to quickly get going and want to continue writing on your iPhone. Apple Mail already has support for this but Microsoft will also offer this feature going forward.
Focus on important things
Focus modes allow you to selectively disable or enable specific types of notifications for different apps. Outlook will improve on this by letting you assign focus modes to different mail accounts. This means that won't be distracted by personal emails while needing to focus on critical work. However Outlook Profiles aren't available right now, they're apparently coming soon.
Another thing is the focused inbox you might already know from their mobile apps. This will automatically only include important mails while keeping the not quite so important stuff out of view. Of course you can customize this as it probably isn't perfect for you by default. The last small change I'd like to mention is the addition of swipe gestures to make your workflow of sorting through emails more efficient.
If you're interested in this new and improved Outlook client you can download it from the App Store.
