Microsoft will soon shut down the use of one of its mobile apps that was developed for both iOS and Android platforms. The mobile Microsoft Bookings apps will no longer work after July 15.
The announcement was made with a note posted in the Microsoft 365 admin center, via Petri.com. The article notes that the Bookings app had already been removed from Apple"s iOS app store and the Google Play Store in February 2023. However, this new note now states that people who had already installed and were using the Booking apps will find they will no longer work after July 15.
The Bookings service was first announced by Microsoft back in July 2016, and it went live to all Office (now Microsoft) 365 Business Premium users in 2017. Bookings allows business owners to automate the process of setting up appointments by their customers. They can use a web-based form to sign up for a specific day or time, and even assign specific staff members they want to contact.
Microsoft didn"t offer a specific reason why the Bookings mobile apps were being shut down. However, it"s more than likely that those apps simply didn"t get a lot of use, so the company decided to retire them. It did state in its message that mobile customers can still access the web-based Bookings service on their browsers.
Microsoft is also planning to retire the current Windows Mail and Calendar apps in favor of the recently launched new Outlook app for Microsoft 365 services. A few days ago, it was revealed that the Mail and Calendars apps would begin to be replaced with the new Outlook in September 2024. However, due to feedback from Microsoft 365 users, the company has since backtracked on that Mail and Calendar retirement schedule, and is currently "reevaluating the timing and implementation of this change."