What works where: Outlook vs. Outlook vs. native apps

Office 2016 starts to unify the Exchange experience on the desktop, but native apps do better on mobile clients.

Executive Editor for Global Content, Computerworld |

What works where: Outlook vs. Outlook vs. native apps — Derek Walter

Microsoft is in the midst of reworking its Outlook clients and server software to truly support its mission to bring its Office communications tools everywhere: the Mail, Calendar, People (contacts), and Notes components in Outlook. (I did not include OneNote because it does not work through Exchange but through the still-unfinished OneDrive for Business.) In the meantime, Microsoft has a hodgepodge of clients whose capabilities vary widely, which can bedevil multiplatform organizations.

It may take years for Microsoft to deliver fully on that universal promise, but Outlook 2016 is off to a good start, at least on the desktop. Outlook 2016 is now available for all major platforms, with two exceptions:

Although available for local and personal Office 365 installation, Outlook 2016 (like the full Office 2016 suite) won't be available for enterprise Office 365 installation until later this month.
Windows Mobile 10, the Windows 10 version of Windows Phone, is still in beta; thus, so is its Office 2016 software. I did not include it here as a result.

Native clients from Apple, Google, and Samsung also support many Outlook features via their Exchange connections, and for some organizations, a mix of Microsoft and non-Microsoft clients may make sense.

To make sense of the universe of Exchange-compatible clients on the major operating systems, I've put together a table that shows the features where differences often remain. That way, you can see what client mix best supports the features you use, and which features are ones that will thwart a multiplatform policy based on the notion of equal citizenship.

You may be surprised by how capable, for example, the Apple and Samsung clients are on their platforms. They also have better user interfaces than the Microsoft and Google clients, in my opinion. When you look at the capabilities of the Windows Universal "Outlook" apps that come with Windows 10, called simply Mail and Calendar, you'll also see why any business Windows user really needs the full Outlook app over the free limited Universal apps.

The tables below have three major sections: one for all the Outlook 2016 clients, one for the native Apple OS X and iOS clients, and one for native Android clients from Google and Samsung. You may need to scroll horizontally to see all the columns. And you may find it easier to work with an Excel spreadsheet directly, so I have provided a downloadable version of the complete table in Excel format as well.

download

What works where: Outlook vs. Outlook vs. native clients

Compare which features work on which Outlook clients, and how they compare to the native clients for Apple and Android devices. Galen Gruman / InfoWorld

Mail capabilities in Outlook and native Exchange clients

**[1]**Filters to block spam addresses and domains can be set. **[2]** Cannot set future start date. **[3]** Cannot set start or end date.
	Microsoft Outlook 2016						Native Apple clients		Native Android clients
Mail feature	Windows	Windows Universal	OS X	iOS	Android	Web	OS X	iOS	Google	Samsung
Access non-Exchange email	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Set follow-up	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Apply flag/priority	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Apply category	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Create and apply local filter rules	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Partial [1]
Create and apply server filter rules	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Create and edit folders	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Apply smart folders	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Format email signatures	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Organize conversations	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Accept meeting invite	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Set out-of-office (external and internal)	Yes	Yes [2]	Yes	Yes [2]	Yes [3]	Yes	Yes	Yes [2]	Yes	Yes
Password-protect email access	No	No	No	No	No	NA	No	No	No	No

Calendar capabilities in Outlook and native Exchange clients

[4a] Feature opens delegated calendars but does not work to delegate to others. [4b] Feature does not work except for sharing among Windows and Web users. [4c] Feature works only for shared calendars set up by users in Windows and Web environments or, for multiplatform environments, only for those set up on back end by IT. [4d] Calendars shared by individuals are available, but not group calendars set up by IT. [5] Separate phone-only app does not access Outlook Group calendars. [6] By using room name as an invitee.
	Microsoft Outlook 2016						Native Apple clients		Native Android clients
Calendar feature	Windows	Windows Universal	OS X	iOS	Android	Web	OS X	iOS	Google	Samsung
Delegate calendars	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Partial [4a]	No	No	No
Initiate shared calendars	Yes [4b]	No	No [4b]	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Access shared calendars	Yes [4c]	No	Yes [4c]	No	No	Partial [4d]	No	No	No	No
Access non-Exchange calenders	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Use Outlook Groups	Yes	No	No	No [5]	No [2]	Yes	No [5]	No [5]	No [5]	No [2]
Check others' availability	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Comment to organizer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Set travel time	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Specify time zone	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Set repeating events	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Set custom repeating events	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Access meeting rooms	Yes	Yes [6]	Yes	Yes	Yes [6]	Yes	Yes [6]	Yes [6]	Yes [6]	Yes [6]
Password-protect calendar access	No	No	No	No	No	NA	No	No	No	No

Contacts capabilities in Outlook and native Exchange clients

[7] Messaging supported within compatible Outlook clients only.
	Microsoft Outlook 2016						Native Apple clients		Native Android clients
Contacts feature	Windows	Windows Universal	OS X	iOS	Android	Web	OS X	iOS	Google	Samsung
Create and manage groups	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Manage social accounts	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Initiate call or message	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Partial [7]	Yes	Yes	No	Partial

Notes capabilities in Outlook and native Exchange clients

[8] Capability not supported on platform. [9] Notes cannot be created, but notes created elsewhere can be viewed and edited and formatted. [10] Notes synced to Exchange can have only limited text frmatting; iCloud notes can have images, attachments, hyperlinks, and extensive formatting. [11] To be enabled in iOS 9.3.
	Microsoft Outlook 2016						Native Apple clients		Native Android clients
Notes feature	Windows	Windows Universal	OS X	iOS	Android	Web	OS X	iOS	Google	Samsung
Format notes text	Yes	NA [8]	Yes	NA [8]	NA [8]	No [9]	Partial [10]	Partial [10]	NA [8]	NA [8]
Include photos and attachments	Yes	NA [8]	Yes	NA [8]	NA [8]	No	No [10]	No [10]	NA [8]	NA [8]
Password-protect notes access	No	NA [8]	No	NA [8]	NA [8]	NA	No [11]	No [11]	NA [8]	NA [8]

Galen Gruman is executive editor for global content at IDG Foundry Co.’s enterprise sites.

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