On November 10, 2020, we are rolling out these changes to iOS, Mac, and Android to bring consistency to update channel names across all the platforms on which Office is available. While the Insider program remains, we will use the following new names for the update channels designed for the Insider audience on Mac and Android:
- Beta Channel, previously known as Insider Fast
- Current Channel (Preview), previously known as Insider Slow
On iOS, the channel that was previously known as Insider will now be called Beta Channel.
Only the names of the existing update channels are changing. These update channels still work the same way as they did before.
References to the new names for the existing update channels started rolling out on October 30, 2020. For example, in documentation and in the user interface (UI) of deployment tools, such as Microsoft AutoUpdate.
The following table shows the previous name and the new name for update channels on iOS.
The following table shows the previous name and the new name for update channels on Mac.
The following table shows the previous name and the new name for update channels on Android.
*Beta Channel is only available for individual apps (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). It is not available for Office Mobile.
Availability
Changes started rolling out broadly across documentation, product UI, deployment tools, etc. starting on October 30, 2020.