Microsoft Outlook for iOS Updates, Takes Aim at Mailbox Users

Microsoft released a new update to Outlook for iOS Monday as mobile email service companies aim to take advantage of the rare opportunity to seize Dropbox's soon-to-be-killed Mailbox customers.

Microsoft’s Outlook is a free email application that works with a variety of email providers including Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud and of course Microsoft’s Outlook.com, Office 365 and Exchange.

Microsoft’s product update adds 3D Touch support to Microsoft Outlook for iOS and enables Outlook users to leverage Apple’s pressure-sensitive technology while reading, writing, and sending emails. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S users have the added benefit of home screen shortcuts for quickly creating new emails or events on Outlook’s calendar. Additional product features include new email print functionality and better support for the Apple Watch.

Microsoft Outlook for iOS is compatible with iOS 8.0 or later, and works on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The application also adopts the technology of Accomplis and Sunrise, two companies that Microsoft has acquired within the past year.

This week’s release is likely inspired by the opportunity to seize a share of Dropbox’s Mailbox users when the email application is killed early next year. Outlook.com currently has 400 million active users, but Microsoft’s mobile audience is much smaller and only numbers at an estimated 30 million active users.

Microsoft Outlook for iOS v.2.0.8 marks one of several companies launching mobile email releases or updates within the past week to compete for Mailbox’s users. Yahoo and Readdle both announced updates to their email mobile application on Friday, with Yahoo adding Gmail support to Yahoo Mail and Readdle adding a snooze feature to its Spark email application.

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