Microsoft hinted at a new mobile app for Outlook users earlier in the year. The new app, Microsoft Outlook Lite, is now available to users across 14 countries, with more to follow. This effectively means that there will be no escape from your emails anymore.
That’s right; Outlook Lite is a stripped-down version of the Outlook email client, with all the necessary features included while placing less strain on your device resources and battery life. While the full app is jam-packed with the features you’d find on the desktop client, this makes it hard for users with the older generation or lower-end devices as it uses many system resources and drains the battery life quickly.
Outlook Lite, on the other hand, only takes up 5MB of storage space on your device and was specifically designed to run on devices with as little as 1GB of RAM. Aside from this, the new lightweight app also runs well on older 2G and 3G networks found in many undeveloped countries.
Despite its lightweight stature, Microsoft Senior Product Manager, Pradeep Elavarasan, has reassured users that it still contains all the necessary features while ensuring the app runs smoothly. He went on to explain that millions of users worldwide make use of the Outlook email client. Yet, a wide range of devices cannot get the best experience from the service because they don’t have the necessary capabilities.

This new app, along with the many updates to Outlook overall, hopes to address this and enable more users to access and use the app easily. At the moment, Outlook Lite is only available in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela. More countries will be added to the list to receive Microsoft Lite.
We look forward to seeing how the new app works. We’re also eagerly awaiting the release of One Outlook, currently in development and aimed at business and education customers that subscribe to Microsoft or Office 365.