Microsoft Outlook for Android will soon let users RSVP from their lock screen.

Microsoft released an update today for Outlook on Android that lets users quickly RSVP to meeting requests right from the notification on the lock screen, thus circumventing the need to unlock the phone first. However, at the time I'm writing this post, only the changelog has been updated.

After installing the update on my OnePlus 6T, I decided to test the new RSVP feature. I created a test event on my iPhone and sent an invite to my Outlook.com account. The event did show up in my OnePlus notification on the lock screen but without the 'RSVP' feature. Only 'Accept', 'Decline', and 'Tentative" were there. The RSVP feature is still in the invite email.

I'm not sure why the new feature is missing after installing the update or maybe a Microsoft employee forgot to toggle that server switch. Anyway, check it out in Google Play store. The 'RSVP' button will eventually show up.

WHAT'S NEW

RSVP to meeting invites in the moment! The next time you're invited to a meeting you can RSVP right from the push notification on your lock screen.

Microsoft Outlook now lets users easily compress videos to avoid attachment limit.

Sending attachments in emails can be a frustrating experience because of the size limitations imposed on us by the service providers. All of them - Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo - have the same limitations and while they may sometimes frustrate us, users, these limitations exist to save precious storage and bandwidth. Currently, the attachment size limit in Outlook is a measly 34 MB. If sending from OoneDrive, the size gets bumped up to 2 GB. However, Microsoft Outlook for Android has decided to give its users some slack.

The latest update to Microsoft Outlook allows users to send videos that exceed the attachment limit by compressing them. The app now has an option to easily compress the videos before sending them. I'm sure some will welcome this new feature. Personally, it does not make a difference as I always upload whatever I need to share to my OneDrive and send a link to it to my recipients.

The update is available for download on Google Play store. Check it out.

Microsoft Outlook for Android quietly gets a 'Delete' button in the notification area.

Microsoft has quietly added a much-requested feature to Outlook for Android which lets users quickly delete an email right in the notification area. Now, Outlook users will get the options to Archive, Delete, and reply to emails in Android's notification area without having to open the Outlook app first. Prior to this update, users could only archive and reply to messages. 

The addition of a 'Delete' button to the Outlook notification is very useful for situations where the provided preview is more than enough and you don't need to take any further action on the email. I for one surely welcome the 'Delete' button.

I'm not sure if this feature is being deployed through an update or is just a server-enabled feature. Either way, you can always download Outlook for Android in Google Play Store.

Microsoft Outlook for Android supports viewing inline images and opening of attachments in Calendar events.

Microsoft is finally letting users view inline images in Outlook Calendar on Android. Additionally, Microsoft Outlook Calendar also supports opening the attachments or viewing them inline. The software giant says this can be done from the event details.

While this new feature sounds great, in my opinion, it only highlights Microsoft Outlook shortcomings. First, this a long overdue feature. Secondly, the app still does not support attaching files directly in the app on Android. Sure, this can be done in the email part, but it is still not possible to rely entirely on the Calendar section to get things done and not being able to add an attachment to an event on my devices is a bummer.

Hopefully, Microsoft will bring adding attachments to calendar events soon. Until then, grab today's update in the Play Store.

Microsoft Outlook for Android lets you resize large images attached to messages to use less data.

Our beloved devices are great, but like all things, have their pros and cons. But what matters most to us is data consumption. A phone without a data connection is a dumb phone and unfortunately, data costs money and we have to find the right balance to save as much data as possible. Sure, our devices are getting smarter at that with most of them having a data saver feature of some sort. And better yet, we now have apps with their own built-in data saver, mostly browsers. But there’s more.

Today Microsoft updated Outlook for Android with a feature that gives users the choice between resizing images or keeping the original size when sending them as attachments in emails. The changelog says the new feature will “resize large images attached to your message to use less data.” The screenshot above will appear when sending images to let users choose whether they want to resize and save data or not. This comes in handy, especially now that our phones' cameras are getting better and better at capturing high-resolution images.

To take advantage of this data-saving feature in Microsoft Outlook, get the update in Google Play Store and start saving.

Microsoft Outlook for Android updated with a bunch of calendar event-related features.

Since the beginning of the new year, Microsoft has been issuing some small but useful updates for Outlook on Android, and today, the company published the second update of the year with another useful set of calendar features. The first update added spam control options.

From now on, users will be able to add a note when they respond to an event. The note is optional, and should users want to add one, the feature is there now. Microsoft also added the ability to respond to events without notifying the organizer. By default, the app will notify the event organizer about your RSVP choice. Now, there’s a toggle that you can turn off to prevent an email from going out to the organizer.

Furthermore, it is also now possible to set events in the calendar as free or busy and private. Events marked as private will be visible to the calendar owner even if the calendar is shared.

That’s it for this week’s update. Make sure you check Google Play Store on your Android device to update Microsoft Outlook.

Finally, Microsoft Outlook for Android lets you easily mark messages as spam and empty spam folder with one tap.

Microsoft Outlook for Android got updated today and this time it’s not just the usual weekly updates which also includes the usual performance improvements and bug fixes. This time, Microsoft added a new feature that I find to be very useful. Actually, it’s two. Kind-of.

And it was about time. Finally, the Outlook app gets a ‘Move to spam’ option in the app menu. Before this update, users only had the ‘Move to folder’ option to move emails they considered spam to the spam folder. Now, all they need to do is select one or more messages in their Inbox and tap the new ‘Move to spam’ to get the job done. And there’s more.

Microsoft also made it easier for users to empty the Spam folder with one tap. As can be seen in the screenshot above, Microsoft added an ‘Empty Spam’ button at the top-right of the app. I check my Spam folder every day and it was a pain to clear it manually, which required a series of steps. That’s history now. That said, it was about time for Microsoft to add such a simple feature to Outlook.

Download the update in Google Play Store.

Microsoft adds Android Wear watch support to its Outlook app.

Thanks to my Zenwatch, I can quickly read my Gmail messages on my wrist without having to reach for my phone and today Microsoft is introducing the same feature to Outlook for Android and users will be able to read their Outlook emails on their wrist and reply with pre-set messages or voice dictation.

A vibration will alert me when a new email arrives. Swiping up will show me the content, while swiping to the left gives me the option to delete, schedule the email to be read later, and as I wrote above, to reply with either voice or pre-set messages. The one feature that I found missing is "open on phone" icon, which opens the app for you on the phone after you get it out of your pocket.

Making Outlook Android Wear friendly is a great addition for me because Outlook is my main email client. That's where most of my important emails go to. Prior to this update, I had to fish my phone out of my pocket to read and take action on my emails because my watch would only show a new email with little information about its content.

If you own an Android Wear watch and use Microsoft Outlook for Android, head over to Google Play store and update the app. The change log does not mention anything else, so the update is there for all to download and maybe even have you consider getting a smartwatch.

Outlook for Android lets you set Mondays & Saturdays as first day of the week; brings tinted background to flagged messages.

Microsoft Outlook for Android keeps getting better and better and as a Windows Phone MVP I can tell that Outlook for Windows Phone has a lot of catch up to do. But that's not the point of this article. This is about the update that Microsoft published to Google Play store today with some quite nice  and simple features.

Top of the list is the ability for users to set the first day of the week to Saturdays and Mondays instead of just Sundays. Not everyone has the same routine or maybe this is intended to meet some religious needs. The first day of the week can be changed in the app settings.

Microsoft also made it easier to spot flagged messages in your busy and cluttered Inbox. In addition to the little flag icon, Microsoft added a tinted background to help find those flagged messages easily.

The last feature in the change log is about email scheduling. This is not a feature I use at all on my devices, but the change log says that "more options are now available when scheduling an email, including schedule to this weekend or next week."

Get the update from Google Play store and enjoy the great Outlook experience Microsoft has to offer on Android.