In line with my voiced expectations of more apps for Office 365 Microsoft has just release OWA for iPad and iPhone. You can read all about it and see it in action at:
http://blogs.office.com/b/office365tech/archive/2013/07/16/owa-for-iphone-and-owa-for-ipad.aspx
At the moment it is only for Office 365 users but it is apparently slated to shortly also become available for on premise and other Exchange hosted solutions.
In essences it looks very much like what you see when you use the browser interface although it does have some nice touches.
Like I said it is very much the same as using a browser interface but it does however it does offer some capabilities only available through native integration with the device including:
- Stored credentials so you are automatically logged into the app
- Push notifications that actively notify you of new email
- Meeting reminders that pop up even when the app is closed
- Voice activated actions like scheduling a meeting or sending email
- Contact sync so that OWA contacts are recognized by the iPhone’s caller ID function
- Remote wipe capability that allows IT to delete email and calendar data in the app from the device in the event that the device gets lost or the user leaves the organization
So for the average ‘business’ end user these are big benefits over using the standard web browser. Although the browser works fine IT Professionals need to remember that most end users prefer dedicated apps for their interactions with a product.
To get the full details of the new apps check out the blog post mentioned above and watch out for will surely be more apps coming from Microsoft.
You can download the new apps directly from:
iPad – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/owa-for-ipad/id659524331
iPhone – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/owa-for-iphone/id659503543
CIAOPS 