Microsoft has confirmed the new feature called Communication Site it launched for SharePoint will be getting support for each of the mobile apps, alongside some enhancements to its list capability.
In its announcement of this, the tech company stated the newest Android and iOS mobile apps for SharePoint, meaning 2.0 beta and 3.0 respectively, would now be able to support Communication Site. Although it is still at the beta testing stage now, the final version of the app for Android phones should be available for download on a widespread basis before the end of August.
Microsoft also pointed out while Communication Site support may not be available to all enterprises straight away, the service is being provided to every enterprise customer of Microsoft. Officials from the firm said during spring's SharePoint Virtual Summit that the global release of Communication Site would be completed by the end of the autumn. It is a variation on Team Sites designed for wider communications within an organisation, instead of the smaller, group communications Team Sites are designed to enable.
When it comes to the enhancements Microsoft is making to the feature's list capability, these largely revolve around two types of SharePoint list. The two in question are Announcements and Links, and the changes made to them focus on enhancing their responsiveness and performance levels.
Office 365 and SharePoint Senior Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft, Chris McNulty, posted within the Microsoft Tech Community that enterprise customers of Microsoft would start to see these changes take effect early in August.
He also went on to provide further information, stating the web part called Lists would not be able to support the two altered list types, and the News or Quick Links web parts would be the best alternative way of adding web part updates or links within a page in SharePoint.
There was also further news from the software giant about ditching the SharePoint Online Site Mailboxes function, in favour of Office 365 Groups. Although the company announced this feature would be dropped at the start of the year, there were no details provided about a transitional option for businesses trying to adjust, and Microsoft has now stated that: "We understand that we have a lot of customers still actively using site mailboxes and that this deprecation will affect their day-to-day operations. We assure such customers that we are working on providing a solution for the transition process. By the end of 2017 we will have a process in place which will let you connect your classic experience SharePoint team site to an Office 365 group."
If you think any of the enterprise solutions we create here at WM Reply could be the answer to improving your business processes, why not give us a call right now?