Microsoft announces that the Mac version of Outlook will be revamped and bring new features to the mobile/watch version

      On the morning of September 2, Microsoft announced today that it will replace the user interface design of its Mac version of Outlook mail application, and also announced several other improvements for Outlook on iOS and watchOS.

　　In preparation for the official release of macOS Big Sur, Microsoft has been testing a new UI for Outlook on Mac. This includes Microsoft's Fluent-style icons and some of Big Sur's design styles, such as rounded corners. To make the design simpler, Microsoft's ribbon interface has been removed. The final product is a blend of Apple and Microsoft's design languages.

　　With the new mail composition interface, single-line view and "ignore" function, the new version realizes simpler reading/writing of email. Collapsible panels and compressible message lists also allow users to customize the main view to a greater extent.

　　Outlook's contact system has also been adjusted, with contacts and colleagues in events and emails separated, new detection of frequent contacts, and a new feature to mark contacts as favorites. Calendar and search have also been improved through grouping and emphasizing relevance, and there is also greater integration with Microsoft Teams (a team group chat and collaboration tool).

　　Microsoft's sync technology from iOS, Android, and Windows Mail will also be used in Outlook for Mac, making syncing between platforms faster. Support for iCloud and IMAP accounts is also said to be coming soon.

　　The update is set to be available to all Mac users in mid-October.

　　Separately, Microsoft also announced some smaller updates to Outlook for iOS, including a new calendar widget for showing upcoming meetings from multiple accounts on the home screen, emojis, voice commands, and the expansion of the “Play My Emails” voice interaction feature to Canada, Australia, India, and the United Kingdom.

　　With watchOS 7, Outlook will support Apple Watch watch faces, allowing users to see the number of their unread emails or calendar status.

　　The new features in Outlook for iOS and watchOS will be available later this year.