The Outlook team announced on April 29th, 2015 that Outlook.com is going to have add-ins like Uber, Boomerang and PayPal. Now, developers across the globe can make use of the open platform created by Outlook APIs. Developers can build contextual experiences for Outlook as well as for Office 365; just like these famous apps did. The add-ins brought by these famous partners will benefit 400 million active users of Outlook across the globe. All these users will leverage the new unified consumer and commercial Outlook APIs as announced by Outlook team.
Outlook.com and the open platform for developers
At the Build 2015, along with the Boomerang add-in, Microsoft announced that Outlook will now have add-ins, in which Uber, and PayPal too will be amongst the first ones to join Outlook. The new API of Outlook and Office 365 will allow developers to create add-ins or integrated experience for each application which will enhance productivity. These add-ins will also help users to get more done without changing between applications. Thus, developers get a chance to create specific add-ins for Outlook as well as for Office 365. With this, Office will consist of several other apps along with Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Microsoft mentions in the blog,
“Add-ins are easy to build with open standards like HTML, CSS3, and JavaScript for user interfaces, with the option to integrate further using REST APIs and OAuth for secure access to data and services – all delivered to a global audience of Outlook.com and Office 365 customers. And best of all, developers get the benefit of write once, run anywhere technology, meaning their apps will work in Outlook.com, Outlook Web App and Outlook desktop. If you’re one of the many developers at Build, stop by the Office 365 booth and talk with the team about our new Napa development tools that make it easy to get started. Also be sure to visit the teams from Uber and Boomerang to get a closer look at what they’re working on.”
Here are some features that you will see in the very first add-ins of Outlook.com:
- Add-in by Uber: With this add-in, you can book a cab to go to a place to attend a meeting or an event. Since it’s an add-in with Outlook, you can conjoin the cab booking with an event or meeting in your calendar. The Uber ride reminder can be entered in any calendar event with a single tap.
- Add-in by Boomerang: With this add-in, you can send messages at the perfect time, get a reminder, if your email doesn’t receive a response, and add a smart calendar assistant that lets you schedule meetings and share your real-time availability, all without leaving your email.
Currently, Microsoft hasn’t made clear what PayPal add-in will provide. The announcement regarding this will be made later.
For more information on add-ins and FAQs visit Office Blogs.
