Microsoft: Outlook Lite Will Soon be Available for Android Devices

Android devices will soon get a smaller and better performing Outlook Lite app.

According to Microsoft 365 Roadmap, the company is preparing a new mobile app for android in addition to an already existing Outlook mobile app.

The new app is called Outlook Lite, a smaller and faster app that will particularly benefit low-end android devices, according to ZDNet.

Outlook Lite Targets Low-End Android Devices Users

Outlook Lite app for android was first mentioned in the roadmap on June 30. The entry said that Microsoft is planning to create a new app that will be available worldwide in July 2022.

The brief description of the new app said: "An Android app that brings the main benefits of Outlook in a smaller app size with fast performance for low-end devices on any network."

Microsoft did not detailed what it referred to as the 'main benefits' of Outlook Lite.

Microsoft did not explain as well why a lighter version of Outlook is necessary. You'll just wonder further once you read the Google Play description for Outlook for android. The description did not mention any android hardware requirements.

These day, most android handsets cannot be considered as underpowered. You will find that even the units sold in developing countries often have plenty of CPU power.

While there are still low-end units, it's hard to see the reason why they would want an Outlook Lite app over the already existing Outlook app.

According to The Register, it is possible that the mention of 'any network' might be the most significant part of the description.

There are developing countries that still use 3G networks. "A version of Outlook that uses less data and can tolerate more latency could be handy on such networks," as per The Register report.

However, it's hard to believe that Microsoft is targeting users in developing nations. This is due to the existence of a support document titled 'Get help with Outlook Lite for Android,' which is published in Romanian, Italian, Hebrew, Chinese and Finnish. These languages are used in nations where 4G and 5G networks are common.

Outlook Lite is Possibly an Updated Version of an Already Existing App

According to ZDNet, a lighter-weight Outlook app is already available in a few countries. The app is known as 'Outlook Lite.' In fact, references can be found in various Microsoft documentation about a light/lite version of Outlook for android.

A support article stated that Outlook Lite supports only personal Outlook, Hotmail, Live and MSN accounts. It does not, however, support work or school accounts.

ZDNet speculated that perhaps, the new roadmap entry could be "referencing an updated version of this app or a more broadly available version of it."

Microsoft did not issue a statement when asked about the new Outlook Lite roadmap entry.

Currently, Microsoft is testing its new "One Outlook" client for Windows publicly. "One Outlook/Project Monarch, which looks and feels a lot like Outlook for the Web/Outlook.com, was said to be designed to unify the Windows, Web and Mac codebases for Outlook," according to ZDNet.

Microsoft officials mentioned earlier this year that the new Outlook for Windows was meant to bring consistency to the Windows and Web codebases. The company, however, did not mention Mac.