It is maintaining a four-star rating amongst over 1,200 user reviews. It is rapidly climbing up the “Top Free” chart, helped by a featured position on the App Store homepage in “Best New Apps.”
The new Outlook app is not actually developed in-house though. Instead, it is a rebranded version of email app Acompli which Microsoft bought late last year. Designed to show important email more visibly in inboxes, it also allows the user to “schedule” received messages. This hides them from view, reappearing later at a convenient time to be handled.
The success of the relaunched product is reminiscent of Microsoft’s launch of Office on the iPad last year which soared high into the charts immediately, reaching the top very quickly. The ability of Outlook to do the same is a very positive thing for Microsoft as it shows they can lure iOS users away from the stock apps included with iPhones that have the same base functionality as Outlook.
The new app enables Microsoft to bring more of Outlook’s functionality onto other platforms. The long-standing productivity manager is finally making its app debut, albeit on third-party platforms. With the inclusion of a new Outlook client in Windows 10, perhaps Microsoft will try to add some features from Acompli to this too. The most powerful way to experience Outlook remains with the traditional Windows desktop application for now.
Interestingly, Outlook is not performing as well as on iOS on Android’s Google Play. The same app is not to be found in the charts although it has attracted over 2,500 reviews to give it the same total four-star rating as the iOS one. You can download the new Outlook, derived from innovative Acompli, on Android and iOS right now for free.
