Outlook for Mac 2016 Gaining Delivery Notifications, Send Later Option, and More

[MacRumors]

Microsoft today announced that it's implementing several new features in Outlook for Mac, all of which have been highly requested by its Office 365 subscribers. Timed emails, delivery notifications, email templates, and more are being added to the Mac software.

With a new Send Later feature, Outlook for Mac users can draft an email and then schedule it to send at another time using the new drop-down Send Later button located next to the send button. The email is saved to Drafts and then sent automatically at the specified time.

Alongside Send Later, there are now options to be notified when an email has been delivered and read by a recipient. Delivery receipts confirm that an email has been sent to the recipient's inbox, while a read receipt confirms that a message has been opened. Outlook for Mac users can also choose to decline to send read receipts.

To make it quicker to send the same type of emails, messages can now be saved as templates, and emails can also be dragged and dropped to the calendar to make automatic calendar appointments. Microsoft is also improving the account setup experience through automatic detection of email account type (Exchange, IMAP, or POP) and automatic email account importing when you've previously signed into another Office app.

The new account setup experience is available for all Mac users who are running Outlook version 15.34, while the delivery and read receipts, email templates, and calendar changes are available for all Office 365 subscribers running Outlook version 15.35. Office 365 users who are also Office Insider Fast users on version 15.36 have access to Send Later, a feature that will be available to all Office 365 subscribers starting in July.

Article Link: Outlook for Mac 2016 Gaining Delivery Notifications, Send Later Option, and More

 

[jmkinny]

Where is CalDAV and CardDAV support?

 

[Rivanov]

This will make many businesses very happy! Those were the most asked questions when I came at offices as an Apple Consultant.

 

[macduke]

I bet I'll somehow end up being the only guy at work who has read receipts turned off and get crap for it. I hate that we have to use Outlook. I'll often check my email because if something crazy is going on, like our website blowing up or some serious typo online, then I'll need to go fix it right away. Otherwise I'll often read messages and then mark them as unread or flag them so that I can come back to them after I'm done working on something else. My strengths are as a designer but I do the full stack which includes dev. When I'm working on a particularly tricky piece of code, I just have to block out everything else or I'll lose focus during implementation or while going through multiple debugging steps and have to find my place again, which really slows me down. And everyone who has requests for the web usually wants them done right away, not two hours from now, because God forbid someone does any planning or communicating in advance when they need something on the website at a specific date and time. I can just see it now: "He read my email, but hasn't responded yet! I am outraged! My request is the most important request!"

 

[Rafterman]

This will make many businesses very happy! Those were the most asked questions when I came at offices as an Apple Consultant.

Not really. If you have a volume license (not 365), features like Send Later won't work. If you have your own Exchange server and it isn't Exchange 2016 CU5 or later - it won't work.

As usual, Mac Outlook is FAR behind the Windows version.

 

[Rigby]

And everyone who has requests for the web usually wants them done right away, not two hours from now, because God forbid someone does any planning or communicating in advance when they need something on the website at a specific date and time. I can just see it now: "He read my email, but hasn't responded yet! I am outraged! My request is the most important request!"

That's precisely the reason why I never honor requests for read receipts. The great thing about email (being an asynchronous mode of communication) is that I can choose to respond (or not) on my schedule. If someone wants something right now they can try to contact me by chat, if my presence status is "available".

 

[Jacquesvw]

.

 

[odedia]

R-E-C-A-L-L.

Shouldn't be too hard, Microsoft.

 

[venom600]

Send later is HUGE for me. I can't wait to try it out!

 

[Nunyabinez]

That's precisely the reason why I never honor requests for read receipts. The great thing about email (being an asynchronous mode of communication) is that I can choose to respond (or not) on my schedule. If someone wants something right now they can try to contact me by chat, if my presence status is "available".

While maybe some people abuse things like read receipts, it can also be very helpful to know whether something is waiting for someone to even see it versus waiting for them to respond. There are plenty of times when I need to notify someone of something and I don't need a reply, I just need to know that they have opened it.

Granted, I have been frustrated at times when I sent a text message to someone, saw that they read it, and then nothing happened. But I don't think it made me more frustrated than when I sent something and nothing happened period.

 

[rcooked]

Not sure this beats Airmail.

Airmail seems pretty feature rich, and a lot more light weight.

 

[macduke]

That's precisely the reason why I never honor requests for read receipts. The great thing about email (being an asynchronous mode of communication) is that I can choose to respond (or not) on my schedule. If someone wants something right now they can try to contact me by chat, if my presence status is "available".

Yeah and we have to use Skype for business which is a crapshoot on the Mac. Sometimes it will just disconnect and won't give me any indication. Other times it will seem like it's working fine but people will start yelling down the hall or emailing me that chats aren't going through to me, even though everything looks fine on my end. Drives me crazy.

Email is great for those reasons. I hate that everyone is increasingly needing an instant response. Sometimes I have to think over something before responding, or go into depth to explain why I can't do what they're wanting on the web due to whatever various limitations, either in software or in policy due to accessibility standards or whatever. Or I have to research what they're wanting to see if it's feasible and fits into our other timelines for a product update, which can sometimes take hours to figure out. It's only getting worse, and more and more people are starting to expect responses after hours, and I've got my phone set to read work email, but not receive notifications, because it's my personal phone and I can do what I want with it. And if it's after hours and the site blows up, somebody will call me.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I like the new features listed. The Apple Mail app needs to gain some new features as well, in my opinion.

 

[DrumApple]

I don't understand why Apple's mail apps can't handle attachments like Outlook. It's SO much better having them at the top of the message and not a giant icon you have to search for at the bottom of long threads. Would be nice to have both options - inline attachments (a la Apple), and message attachments (a la Outlook). Especially for business email.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Signatures are still butchered.

 

[eatrains]

Have they made Outlook not slow yet?

 

[spazzcat]

R-E-C-A-L-L.

Shouldn't be too hard, Microsoft.

You know you can't recall email after its been sent, email doesn't work that way.

 

[NightFox]

Send later is HUGE for me. I can't wait to try it out!

Me too, now I can make my boss and colleagues think I’m working late when I’m sat in the garden drinking a beer

 

[DotCom2]

I like the new features listed. The Apple Mail app needs to gain some new features as well, in my opinion.

It sure does! I would LOVE "send later" and "read receipts" in Apple Mail.

 

[H.Finch]

I don't understand why Apple's mail apps can't handle attachments like Outlook. It's SO much better having them at the top of the message and not a giant icon you have to search for at the bottom of long threads. Would be nice to have both options - inline attachments (a la Apple), and message attachments (a la Outlook). Especially for business email.

This!
This will be the reason I'll switch to Outlook I think. For years Ive uploaded stuff to dropbox for my clients, simply because attachements always caused issues through Apple's mail...
[doublepost=1497902199][/doublepost]If there’s anyone using the 365 version of Outlook a lot.., I'd love to hear some thoughts on it...

The programs of Office seem pretty bulky, with messy interfaces and seem to take ages to start (I do use Word and Onenote every day)… But I’m really thinking of ditching Apple’s mail soon and I’m looking for the best alternative.

 

[jgelin]

I am up-to date version wise but a majority of the features still have not populated on my end. Read receipts and the send later feature not in Outlook.app yet. Waiting patiently.

 

[Rigby]

I am up-to date version wise but a majority of the features still have not populated on my end. Read receipts and the send later feature not in Outlook.app yet. Waiting patiently.

Send Later will come in July, as stated in the article. Requesting read and delivery receipts already works for me on version 15.35. Have you switched to the "Options" tab in the message composition window?

 

[Luke MacWalker]

I don't understand why Apple's mail apps can't handle attachments like Outlook. It's SO much better having them at the top of the message and not a giant icon you have to search for at the bottom of long threads. Would be nice to have both options - inline attachments (a la Apple), and message attachments (a la Outlook). Especially for business email.

I don't know about Outlook, not having used it for years, but in Apple Mail attachments are also at the top of the messages, in a popup menu with several actions available like save, quick look, add to Photos, etc.

 

[tjleonard]

Not sure this beats Airmail.

Airmail seems pretty feature rich, and a lot more light weight.

I have never had the send later feature work in Airmail.

*edit* but if I'm doing it wrong, would love to know what's up with it!

 

[sir1963nz]

Not really. If you have a volume license (not 365), features like Send Later won't work. If you have your own Exchange server and it isn't Exchange 2016 CU5 or later - it won't work.

As usual, Mac Outlook is FAR behind the Windows version.

Yep, compared to the Windows version of Outlook the Mac version is a pile of ****.

So much so we have staff who run a Windows VM on their Macs just so they can run Outlook.

I must spend some time and see about getting Outlook running in a WINE environment so we can save some money .

I would go so far as to say this is Microsoft policy, that "real businesses" use Windows/Outlook and to encourage them to keep it that way they make the Mac version the poor cousin.And the Mac version is probably just good enough to keep a anti-competition trust suit away.