Happy Planner-versary!
A year ago, we introduced Microsoft Planner, a simple, visual tool for organizing teamwork. Since then, we've added a variety of new capabilities to improve the Planner experience and help users get more done. To recap the past few months, we have announced:
- A native mobile app for iOS and Android phones, enabling users to create, view, and edit plans from their mobile device.
- The ability to assign multiple users to a single task, which was the top feature request on our UserVoice page.
- Integration with Microsoft Teams, Microsoft's new chat-based workspace.
- An updated user interface that is more that is faster and more beautiful.
- General availability of the Planner API and connectivity with Microsoft Flow, enabling users to connect Planner to a wealth of endpoints inside and outside of the Office 365 ecosystem.
As we look back, we would like to take a deeper dive into some of these announcements to review what we released and what's to come.
Native mobile app for iOS and Android phones
We released our native Planner app at the end of May, and we're continuing to monitor your feedback here and on our UserVoice site. We will be release app updates across platforms on a frequent basis throughout the year. Over the next few months, you can expect to see push notifications, plan creation, and mobile app management (MAM) through Microsoft Intune in the coming months.
Integration with Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is one of Microsoft's newest productivity solutions, and enables you to collaborate in a real-time, chat-based environment. Since the Microsoft Teams announcement in March, we've further developed the integration between Planner and Teams. Today, you can create a plan in the Planner web app and mirror that plan in Teams, enabling scenarios where users can update the same plan regardless of whether they access it on their mobile device, the web app, or through the integration with Teams. All tasks assigned to you in Teams will appear in the "My Tasks" page in the web and mobile apps.
These features are just the beginning: In the coming year, we will enable users to link more plans from Microsoft Teams, create templates from recurring plans, and incorporate more of the Planner experience within Teams.
Updated user interface
In the upcoming months, you may notice an update to the Planner UI. We have made the Planner experience faster, more intuitive, and more beautiful. This update will roll out to production starting in July.
General availability of APIs and connectivity with Flow
The Planner API, which enables users to extend Planner to other apps both inside and outside of the Microsoft ecosystem, became generally available in May. We've also released the preview of Planner as an endpoint in Flow, Microsoft's solution for automating workflows from a wide variety of endpoints.
In the upcoming year, we will continue to ship new and innovative features that help you do more with Planner, and we encourage you to visit our UserVoice site to submit suggestions. In September, we will release our updated roadmap at Microsoft Ignite in Orlando, and we hope to see you there!
Cheers,
The Planner team
