Microsoft Rolls Out In-Mail Messaging App

Microsoft is enabling a new feature for iPhone users in the form of an in-mail chat app as of today, July 22. The app is known simply as “Send,” but was formerly dubbed as “Flow.”

The Send app is currently available for iPhone users in the US and Canada from the iTunes store. The company officials said that it will be “coming soon” to Android and Windows Phone owners. For now, the app is available to users with Outlook and Office 365 business/school email accounts. Microsoft executives said that there are plans to make the app available for more users in the coming months.

Microsoft’s Outlook for the iOS is a renewed version of the Acompli email application which Microsoft acquired at the end of 2014. Send is intended to be an extension or a complement to Outlook, not as a substitute for it, according to CNET.

According to the new app’s information page, Send requires the device to run on Apple’s iOS 8.0 software or later. The app is also optimized for the iPhone 5, 6 and 6 plus, but also works on the iPad and iPod touch.

Microsoft describes send as an app that gives users a simple, quick text message-like experience that allows them to reach all co-workers and have all of their communications in Outlook for reference. Send lets users quickly and easily send any co-worker a message without a subject line or formal email constructs. The company also says that the app is focused on reaching out to co-workers rather than friends.

Before release, Send was kept in Microsoft Garage; the company's tech incubator for lightweight consumer-focused apps for iOS, Android and Windows devices. The Garage apps are cross-platform, which means they are available in the Apple App Store, Google Play and/or Windows Store, where applicable. All apps in Microsoft’s Garage are all in the experimental phase and are continuously updated and improved based on feedbacks from users.

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