Microsoft has released updates to Microsoft Outlook for iOS and Android, focusing on adding security enhancements.
Outlook now implements password enforcement using Exchange ActiveSync. If your company email policy requires that devices have a password in order to sync mail, Outlook will enforce this at the device level. How this works on iOS and Android devices varies slightly, based on the available controls provided by Apple and Google.
On iOS devices, Outlook will check to make sure a passcode is properly set. In the event a passcode is not set, it will prompt users to set one up in iOS settings. Until the passcode is setup, the user will be unable to access Outlook.
Outlook for iOS only runs on iOS 8.0 or later. These devices are shipped with built-in encryption, which Outlook uses once the passcode is enabled to encrypt all the data Outlook stores locally on the device. Therefore, iOS devices will be encrypted whether the Office 365 or Exchange policy requires this or not.
The next addition to the update is improvement in remote wipes which will erase you Outlook data within seconds if your device is compromised. Outlook for Android and iOS now has IMAP support as the service uses IMAP IDLE whenever possible this means that push-like behavior is possible even with IMAP accounts.
Finally, Android users are getting customize Outlook’s gestures which allows then to configure left or right swipes on emails. Already available on iOS, it includes delete, archive, move, flag mark as read or schedule. Whereas, iOS will be able to turn off the conversation view, which groups all messages with the same subject line together. This feature will soon come to Android.
Outlook App for Android - Outlook App for iOS
