Outlook.com for Android Gets Offline Access, Server-Side Search and More

In a bid to provide more features to Android users, Microsoft has started rolling out an update to its Outlook.com app for Android, introducing some new features for easier access to emails, new colours for the app interface, and more.

The update Outlook.com app for Android bumps the app version to 7.8.2.12.49.7564. The update lets users access emails from any time period via the Outlook server-side search. Earlier, users could only access those mails which were downloaded on to the Android device.

Another new feature is unlimited sync, which syncs all email history to the device so that users can access all their emails even in offline mode.

Another new feature for the Outlook.com app for Android, first introduced for the Web last week, is alias support. With the new Android app, users can now send email from their new Outlook.com alias accounts, in case they don't want to share their personal email id with others.

The Outlook.com app for Android update also lets users choose their Outlook.com app interface colours from 8 different options, a feature already present in the Outlook.com's web interface.

Other features in the Outlook.com app for Android update include the ability to manage and create vacation replies, and support for traditional Chinese language.

The updated Outlook.com Android app is available to download from the Google Play, and is listed as being updated on Monday on the India-specific app store. The update is yet to reach iOS-based devices.

Back in May, Microsoft updated its Outlook.com email service by introducing the 'Advanced Rules' feature - a way to create multi-condition and multi-action rules in the user's mailbox for better organisation.

The above-mentioned update also enabled users to chat with a friend on one service and continue the talk on another service if needed. Users also got the simple plug-in download for Skype video chatting service to their Outlook.com account.