Software giant Microsoft has generously extended many of its products to Android and iOS, such as its Office app. Apart from that application, the popular Outlook app has also been made available for the aforementioned mobile platforms. During the month of January, the company had release a new version of Outlook for iOS and Android, and was a far more refined one in contrast to its predecessor.

However, Microsoft believes that significant amounts of time and effort will be wasted if its diligent employees continue to maintain two applications, which is why starting from July 31, the company will be terminating support for the older Outlook application for Android. However, if Microsoft makes this move, then Android device owners running outdated versions of Google’s mobile operating system will have no Outlook app to sync their email to.

New Outlook App For Android Will Support Android Devices Running Version 4.0 Or Higher

According to Neowin, 'Outlook for Android’ will only be compatible on devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or later. Users who attempt to run the application on older versions of the platform will receive the following message:

“You can continue to receive your email on your device’s browser by navigating to www.outlook.com. You can also add your @outlook.com address to your device’s pre-installed email app.”

While this may seem as an unfair move from the software giant, those users who will be affected by this decision are in a very small number as opposed to those who are running updated Android operating systems. The report reveals that less than 6 percent of Android users are currently running versions earlier than 4.0, even if that total percentage might mount to millions of users.

Users who are running Android 4.0 or later are advised to remove the ‘soon to be removed’ application from their Android devices. If you guys want to continue using Outlook for Android, then it is recommended that you download the latest version from Google Play.

Image source: Outfresh