Microsoft 365 Updates: Outlook mobile conditional access fix, Teams Android gets a walkie talkie feature, Exchange retention changes, Updated sharing experience, and SharePoint
Key Updates and Announcements
Happy Friday, everyone!
Here’s a quick overview of several updates which caught my attention:
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Microsoft Teams Walkie Talkie is rolling out in preview for Android clients, the public preview requires a setting change made within the Teams admin center to enable, whereby the feature is available within 48hrs. This is an interesting feature which could be made to good use for hospitality, manufacturing, education, etc.
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Those using Apple Safari on Mac will soon notice additional features and functionality introduced enabling device audio, and will no longer be required to dial into an audio conference. This is great news for any organisation who wants to remove the need to have an audio conferencing license to accommodate meetings on Safari.
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Retention labels for Exchange items will soon change to apply retention policies from when the label is applied, not when the message was sent or received.
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Big update for conditional access policies and Outlook mobile. Certain conditional access policies were not applying correctly and therefore device rules were not applying, a fix to correct this issue, and only allow specific device bypass rules, will be put in place by August 1st 2020. The update provides information on how to prepare for this change.
Change Brought Forward:
- (Updated) Enabling basic formatting on the sign-in page text component in Company Branding : To be rolled out to End June (Previously Late July)
Delayed and Rollout Date Change Announcements:
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(Updated) New Feature: Change how users Teams in Islands users schedule meetings from Outlook/a> : To be rolled out to for Outlook for Mac Early July (Previously Mid June)
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(Updated) Feature Update: Reverse number lookup in activity feed, call history, and voicemail : To be rolled out End June (Previously Mid June)
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(Updated) New Feature: Modern experience for managed metadata services, tagging and filtering : To be rolled out to Standard Release early July (Previously End June)
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(Updated) Enabling basic formatting on the sign-in page text component in Company Branding : To be rolled out to End June (Previously Late July)
New Microsoft 365 Features
Note: Please ensure you’re signed into your Office 365 Administration portal to access the links referenced below. Also note, some tenants may not have all the below updates currently published to them
New: SharePoint spaces 360° image tours with annotations
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MC217384, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 26, 2020
We are adding a 360° tour web part that allows authors of SharePoint spaces to select multiple 360° images, link them together, and add annotations to each image.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 65072.
When this will happen
- We will roll this out to Targeted Release tenants in mid-July 2020.
- We will gradually roll this out to all tenants from mid-to-late July 2020.
SharePoint - lists and libraries web parts consume dynamic data
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MC217382, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 26, 2020
Dynamic filtering allows you to filter the contents of a list or library web part on a page depending on a value selected in another list or library web part on the same page.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 57307.
When this will happen
- We will begin rolling this out to targeted release tenants mid-July.
- We expect to complete the rollout to standard release tenants by the end of July.
SharePoint lists and libraries - Sticky column in Quick Edit
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MC217379, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 26, 2020
As users scroll horizontally across a list or documentary library in Quick Edit, the far left column will soon remain in place.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 64866
When this will happen
- We will roll this out to targeted release users beginning early July; we expect the rollout to be complete by late July 2020.
- We will roll this out to standard release users beginning late July; we expect the rollout to be complete by the end of September 2020.
Retirement of the Outlook People Pane (formerly the Outlook Social Connector)
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MC217364, Plan For Change, Published date: Jun 26, 2020
We will be retiring the People Pane (formerly the Outlook Social Connector) feature from Outlook for Office 365 with minimum version 16.0.12712.10000 beginning in late July. Instead of the People Pane we recommend the utilization of the find related messages feature or the new faster search experience. For meeting items you can use the Scheduling Assistant and Tracking pane to see who is attending the meeting.
Key Points:
- Major: Retirement
- Timeline: Begin at the end of July and complete by the end of August
- Action: Review and educate users as appropriate
Teams Desktop: Language-Aware Spellchecking
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MC217362, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 26, 2020
Now, Microsoft Teams users can more easily communicate using multiple languages. Users who write different messages in different languages will now see spellchecking relevant to the language they’re actively using when typing a message in the Microsoft Teams desktop app.
This is a key improvement to the existing Teams Desktop Spellchecking feature, to make it “language-aware” and improve the overall Messaging compose experience for bilingual & multilingual users around the world.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 65446
When this will happen
This improvement will start rolling out at the end of June and conclude by the end of July.
Note: that “language-aware spellchecking” will initially be available for the Windows Desktop client and the General (public cloud) only.
Support for Linux and Mac Desktop clients is under active investigation. Support for customers in the M365 Government clouds (GCC, GCC-H, DoD) is also under investigation
‘Office Client’ Service health Communications
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MC217351, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 25, 2020
In an effort to provide greater clarity on the Service health page, we’re removing the service listing for “Office Subscription”, and consolidating communications under ‘Office Client’.
When this will happen
This change will be rolled out to Service health in early July.
Add shortcuts to shared folders in your OneDrive in Public Preview
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MC217339, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 25, 2020
Your users will soon be able to add shortcuts to shared folders in OneDrive and SharePoint shared libraries, and access those shortcuts from their OneDrive.
When this will happen
- This public preview will slowly roll out in late July.
- We will move from public preview to general availability by the end of September.
New Features: Batch policy assignment and group policy assignment
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MC217337, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 25, 2020
The Microsoft Teams PowerShell module will soon support two new features to streamline the process of assigning policies to multiple users: batch policy assignment and policy assignment to a group, such as a security group or distribution list.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 61185.
When this will happen
We’ll be rolling this out to customers in early July 2020, and the roll out will be completed by end of July 2020.
Support for native device camera and location capabilities for Personal apps and tabs
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MC217255, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 24, 2020
Developers building Microsoft Teams apps that use tabs will soon be able to leverage native mobile device functionalities for richer app experiences. This experience is currently supported for the Teams desktop client and is being introduced to the Teams mobile app via new APIs.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 64615.
When this will happen
- We will begin rolling out this feature in the Android and iOS app stores in late July 2020.
- We expect rollout to be complete by the end of July 2020.
M365 Information Governance: Update to retention labels
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MC216379, Plan For Change, Published date: Jun 16, 2020
Major update: Announcement Applies To: null
We’re introducing the ability to have Exchange items support retention labels for which period of retention or deletion is based upon when an item was labeled.
Key points:
- Timing: Initiating release in mid-July and complete for all customers by early August.
- Rollout: Tenant level
- Control type: Admin Control
- Action: Confirm policy expiration date matches your expectation
We’re updating the list and list item sharing experience
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MC217146, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 23, 2020
We’re updating the list and list item sharing experience.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 64164
When this will happen
- We’ll be gradually rolling this out to Targeted Release tenants in early July and expect the rollout to be complete by mid-July.
- We’ll be gradually rolling this out to Standard Release tenants in mid July and expect the rollout to be complete by the end of July.
100 GB File Size for OneDrive and SharePoint
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MC217136, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 23, 2020
Microsoft is increasing the Max File Size from 15GB to 100GB for a single file. We previously announced this feature late in 2019 and are fully rolling out to ALL tenants at this time. This change applies to OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online. For best performance, we recommend uploading very large files using the OneDrive Desktop client. We apologize that we did not communicate this ahead of the roll-out and we are working to improve this in the future.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 49368
When this will happen
This feature is available now.
New service plan, Project for Office, to enable control of the Microsoft Project tile
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MC216880, Plan For Change, Published date: Jun 20, 2020
Based on feedback from the rollout of the Common Data Service service plan, MC209158 or MC211030 (April ‘20), a new service plan, Project for Office, will be rolled out to allow you to control the visibility of the Microsoft Project tile in the Microsoft 365 app launcher. Additionally, if you have a Project Plan 1, Project Plan 3, or Project Plan 5 subscription, the Project for Office service plan will allow Microsoft 365/Office 365 users to view project roadmaps built in Roadmap.
If your tenant does not have a Project license, this new service plan will not apply to you. If you don’t want the Project icon to appear in the Microsoft 365 app launcher, then you can hide >it by following the directions in the article, Remove Project from the Office 365 App Launcher.
Key Points:
- Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 60646
- Timeline: Starting late July and complete by end of August.
- Roll-Out: Tenant level
- Control type: License management, PowerShell
Microsoft Graph connectors for Microsoft Search are now available in Targeted Release
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MC217074, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 23, 2020
We’re pleased to announce that Microsoft Graph connectors for Microsoft Search is moving out of public preview and into general availability in September.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 65331.
When this will happen
- We will roll this out to Targeted Release tenants in late June 2020.
- We will roll this out to Standard Release tenants in mid-September 2020.
Teams personal account banner notifications
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MC216971, Plan For Change, Published date: Jun 22, 2020
Action required by Jul 22, 2020
Major update: Announcement Applies To: null
Starting on June 30th, similar to adding a personal mailbox in Outlook, a user can add an account in Teams for personal use by visiting their profile in the app. If you wish to manage the use of multiple accounts in Teams please refer to MC214328 (May 2020). To inform users about the new productivity features and the ability to sign in with different accounts, we will show a banner in the activity feed for Teams mobile app users.
Key Points:
- Timeline: Begin at the end of July and expect to complete rolling out to all customers by the end of December.
- Control: Contact Support
Acronym answers are now available with Microsoft Search in SharePoint
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MC216995, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 22, 2020
We’re bringing acronym answers with Microsoft Search to SharePoint Online.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 64865.
When this will happen
- We’ll begin rolling out to Targeted Release customers in mid-June and expect to be complete by early July.
- We’ll begin rolling out to Standard Release customers in late August and expect to be complete in mid-September
New Feature: Inline Chat message translation for iOS
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MC216842, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 19, 2020
Inline chat message translation lets users translate Teams mobile chat messages into the language they choose. This feature is rolling out first for iOS; we will send a separate message when we have the schedule for Android.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 63227.
When this will happen
- The updated iOS app will be released to the store in late June 2020.
- We anticipate that the rollout will be complete by mid-July.
Fluent design coherence updates for SharePoint
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MC216864, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 20, 2020
Microsoft uses the Fluent design system to ensure a cohesive and accessible design for all Microsoft products and users. Fluent will be applied to modern SharePoint which will result in some visual changes. You will notice larger and bolder typefaces, increased opacity for drop shadows, and rounded corners for square graphical elements.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 63777.
When this will happen
- We will begin rolling this out to Targeted Release customers in late June
- We will begin rolling this out to Standard Release customers in early July
- We expect the rollout to be completed by mid-July
Office Mobile Apps for Office 365 to become available for additional product SKUs
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MC216859, Plan For Change, Published date: Jun 20, 2020
The Office Mobile Applications (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote) for iOS and Android are being made available to Office 365 operated by 21Vianet customers who have purchased M365 Business Basic, F3, E1, and A1 SKUs.
When this will happen
We’ll be rolling this out starting in late July, and we expect the roll out to be complete by the end of September.
Upcoming Exchange Device Access and Conditional Access changes with Outlook mobile
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MC216824, Plan For Change, Published date: Jun 19, 2020
Recently, we discovered that certain Azure Active Directory Conditional Access policies prevented Exchange Online device access rules from being applied to Outlook for iOS and Android. For example, customers with a conditional access policy that required Multi-factor authentication (MFA) resulted in Exchange Online not processing device access rules for Outlook for iOS and Android.
Beginning in August 2020, we will roll out changes in Exchange Online to ensure that only certain Conditional Access policies bypass Exchange’s device access rules. Specifically, only Conditional Access policies configured with the following grant access controls will prevent Exchange device access rules being applied to Outlook for iOS and Android:
- Require device to be marked as compliant
- Require approved client app
- Require app protection policy
Key Points:
- Timing: Beginning of August
- Action: Review and assess organizational impact
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Microsoft Teams - improvements in meetings experience for Safari browser
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MC216823, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 19, 2020
We are bringing improvements to the browser-based meetings experience for those who join Teams meetings with Safari browsers on Mac. Users will no longer be required to use Audio Conferencing to dial into the meeting for audio needs, but rather, can use their device to speak and listen. As was prior, participants can continue to view meeting content being shared in their browser. We are also introducing group call functionality.
If your organization does not use MacOS you can safely disregard this message.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 65090 and 65330
When this will happen
We will be rolling this out late June and expect be complete by early July.
Sensitivity labels in Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 groups, and SharePoint sites generally available
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MC216757, Stay Informed, Published date: Jun 18, 2020
Your ability to apply sensitivity labels to Microsoft Teams sites, Microsoft 365 groups (formerly Office 365 groups), and SharePoint sites is moving out of public preview into general availability. This extends the protection options we announced in May, when sensitivity label protection for Office files in SharePoint and OneDrive became generally available.
This feature is related to Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 64965.
When this will happen
We will begin rolling this out in late June and expect the rollout to be complete in early July.
Walkie Talkie in Teams Android
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Walkie Talkie, which provides instant push-to-talk communication, will soon be available in Public Preview on Teams for Android.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 57157.
When this will happen
We will begin the rollout in mid-July and expect to be complete by end of July.
