Say Goodbye to the Beautifully Designed Sunrise Calendar App
When Microsoft acquired Sunrise, founders Pierre Valade and Jeremy Le Van said that the calendar app isn’t going anywhere, that it will remain free and available for iOS, Mac, Android and the web. Prepare to be disappointed!
The Sunrise team announced that it won’t release any more app updates. On top of that, Microsoft announced that it plans to merge Sunrise with Outlook and eventually discontinue the Sunrise app. That’s great news if you’re a fan of Outlook, lousy news if you’re an existing Sunrise user.
The whole story can be broken down into three chapters. Here’s what I mean.
Microsoft acquires Sunrise
Back in February 2015, some rumors were going around, saying that that Microsoft wants to pay $100 million and purchase Sunrise, the mobile calendar app and service launched in 2013 by Pierre Valade and Jeremy Le Van. Those rumors were confirmed by Rajesh Jha, Corporate Vice President, Outlook and Office 365.
“I’m pleased to announce that Microsoft has acquired Sunrise, provider of a next-generation calendar app for iOS and Android,” said Rajesh Jha on February 11, 2015. “We are making this acquisition because we believe a reinvention in the way people use calendars on mobile devices is long overdue. Our goal is to better help people manage and make the most of their time in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.”
Microsoft acquired Sunrise because it is a beautifully designed and awesomely engineered calendar app. Microsoft wants that for its own productivity and calendar apps. By acquiring Sunrise, it can use Sunrise's expertise to make its own products better.
Microsoft uses Sunrise to improve Outlook
After the Microsoft acquisition, the Sunrise team worked closely with the Outlook Mobile team. The goal: to make Outlook for mobile a better productivity app. The best productivity app there is.
In January 2015, Microsoft released Outlook for iOS and a preview of Outlook for Android. In February, Microsoft acquired Sunrise because it wanted to make Outlook better. The months went by, Outlook and Sunrise worked together, and we waited for news. They came on October 28, 2015.
Here’s the gist of it:
Javier Soltero, Corporate Vice President of Outlook at Microsoft, explains:
“The Sunrise team is now officially a part of the broader Outlook product team, bringing a fresh approach to calendaring and combining it with Microsoft’s deep expertise in both email and calendar. Better Outlook calendaring gives you more ability to manage your personal and professional life from a single, powerful app. Over the coming months, you’ll see richer calendar experiences come to Outlook from Sunrise—including Interesting Calendars and connections to your favorite apps and services. You will also see improvements to Outlook’s ability to create meetings while on the go and handle meetings across time zones. All of this means Outlook will eventually replace the current Sunrise app. We will leave Sunrise in market until its features are fully integrated into Outlook, the exact timing of which we will communicate in advance.”
Microsoft discontinues Sunrise
The entire Sunrise team is busy working on Outlook for iOS and Android, meaning there’s no time to work on Sunrise. Consequently, the Sunrise team announced that it won’t be updating the Sunrise apps anymore.
Sunrise will continue to exist. Microsoft, as Javier Soltero explained, will let Sunrise live for a bit longer. When Microsoft is done integrating Sunrise into Outlook, it will pull the app from the market.
So to sum it up, we know that Microsoft will discontinue Sunrise, we just don’t know when. Until that happens, you won't get any more Sunrise updates.
Seeing that all the features you love about Sunrise will eventually become a part of Outlook, perhaps this might be a good time to switch to Outlook – or at least give it a try.
Outlook is available for free on Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Did you know that Outlook has more than 30 million active users? At the time of writing this, almost 30 million people are active users of Outlook on their smartphones and tablets.
The Sunrise team announced that it won’t release any more app updates. On top of that, Microsoft announced that it plans to merge Sunrise with Outlook and eventually discontinue the Sunrise app. That’s great news if you’re a fan of Outlook, lousy news if you’re an existing Sunrise user.
The whole story can be broken down into three chapters. Here’s what I mean.
Microsoft acquires Sunrise
Back in February 2015, some rumors were going around, saying that that Microsoft wants to pay $100 million and purchase Sunrise, the mobile calendar app and service launched in 2013 by Pierre Valade and Jeremy Le Van. Those rumors were confirmed by Rajesh Jha, Corporate Vice President, Outlook and Office 365.
“I’m pleased to announce that Microsoft has acquired Sunrise, provider of a next-generation calendar app for iOS and Android,” said Rajesh Jha on February 11, 2015. “We are making this acquisition because we believe a reinvention in the way people use calendars on mobile devices is long overdue. Our goal is to better help people manage and make the most of their time in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.”
Microsoft acquired Sunrise because it is a beautifully designed and awesomely engineered calendar app. Microsoft wants that for its own productivity and calendar apps. By acquiring Sunrise, it can use Sunrise's expertise to make its own products better.
Microsoft uses Sunrise to improve Outlook
After the Microsoft acquisition, the Sunrise team worked closely with the Outlook Mobile team. The goal: to make Outlook for mobile a better productivity app. The best productivity app there is.
In January 2015, Microsoft released Outlook for iOS and a preview of Outlook for Android. In February, Microsoft acquired Sunrise because it wanted to make Outlook better. The months went by, Outlook and Sunrise worked together, and we waited for news. They came on October 28, 2015.
Here’s the gist of it:
- Outlook for iOS and Android received a fresh new look, thanks to Sunrise’s design expertise.
- Rich calendar experiences will be added to Outlook in the coming months.
- Sunrise will eventually merge with Outlook.
Javier Soltero, Corporate Vice President of Outlook at Microsoft, explains:
“The Sunrise team is now officially a part of the broader Outlook product team, bringing a fresh approach to calendaring and combining it with Microsoft’s deep expertise in both email and calendar. Better Outlook calendaring gives you more ability to manage your personal and professional life from a single, powerful app. Over the coming months, you’ll see richer calendar experiences come to Outlook from Sunrise—including Interesting Calendars and connections to your favorite apps and services. You will also see improvements to Outlook’s ability to create meetings while on the go and handle meetings across time zones. All of this means Outlook will eventually replace the current Sunrise app. We will leave Sunrise in market until its features are fully integrated into Outlook, the exact timing of which we will communicate in advance.”
Microsoft discontinues Sunrise
The entire Sunrise team is busy working on Outlook for iOS and Android, meaning there’s no time to work on Sunrise. Consequently, the Sunrise team announced that it won’t be updating the Sunrise apps anymore.
Sunrise will continue to exist. Microsoft, as Javier Soltero explained, will let Sunrise live for a bit longer. When Microsoft is done integrating Sunrise into Outlook, it will pull the app from the market.
So to sum it up, we know that Microsoft will discontinue Sunrise, we just don’t know when. Until that happens, you won't get any more Sunrise updates.
Seeing that all the features you love about Sunrise will eventually become a part of Outlook, perhaps this might be a good time to switch to Outlook – or at least give it a try.
Outlook is available for free on Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Did you know that Outlook has more than 30 million active users? At the time of writing this, almost 30 million people are active users of Outlook on their smartphones and tablets.
