What you need to know
- The Office hub app will be rebranded to Microsoft 365 later this year.
- Several new features will be added to the app as part of the rebrand, many of which focus on accessing content from a wide range of other applications.
- A recent video from Microsoft showcases the new app.
A new Microsoft 365 app is on the way. It will replace the current Office hub app and have more features than its predecessor. The goal of the app is to provide a unified experience across Microsoft 365 apps, including Office, Outlook, OneDrive, and Teams. To show off the app, Microsoft shared a brief video this week (via Neowin).
Microsoft’s video doesn’t include any new information, but it shows the app in motion, which makes it easier to appreciate. The clip starts off by illustrating that the new Microsoft 365 app plays nicely with content from all apps, not just those from Microsoft’s suite. Figma, Adobe, and other files appear within the “My content” section of the app.
All of the Microsoft 365 apps appear within the “Apps” section alongside third-party apps and company apps. There’s also a feed that includes meetings and content from people you follow.
The Microsoft 365 app separates content into categories, including items that were shared within meetings or by other people.
Here are the features Microsoft highlighted when announcing the app earlier this month:
- A new feed: A new way to keep up with work by showcasing shared files from the people users work with and trending content in a bite-sized card format.
- Apps module: A redesigned interface to access any Microsoft 365 app and related third-party apps. The apps module is now available on mobile for the first time.
- Tagging: A new, intuitive way for users to organize their work independent of where files are stored.
The new Microsoft 365 app will begin rolling out in November 2022. It will arrive as an update to the existing Office app on Windows. Since it’s based on web technology, the new Microsoft 365 app will provide the same experience across various platforms, including Windows, the web, and mobile platforms.
