The Dictation feature in Outlook for iPhone, iPad and Android will leave the apps in September for no reason Microsoft will share.
The announcement was made discreetly so that only Microsoft 365 non-consumer accounts with Admin access are notified. Message MC841218
“We will be retiring the Dictation feature from Microsoft Outlook for iOS and Android starting early September 2024 and ending by late September 2024.”
So you don’t have long to speak your emails into iPhone, iPad or Android devices.
Arguably, Dictation is more important on mobile devices that usually don’t have a keyboard and need other ways to enter text.
Dictation and Read Aloud in Office is a comprehensive guide to the ‘speech to text’ and vice-versa features in Microsoft Office.
We’ve said it before and will surely say it again:
“Microsoft giveth and Microsoft taketh away”
Redmond 1:21
Microsoft has become more willing to drop features even for paying customers. They give no reason, just relatively short notice and it’s gone. Copilot Pro customers, already paying a high-premium have lost the crucial Copilot GPT Builder.
The company hasn’t given any reason for dropping Dictation from Outlook mobile. A technical reason is unlikely because Dictation is leaving two very different platforms (iOS and Android) and the server-side is used by other Dictation features in desktop, web and other mobile apps.
Most likely it’s “Follow the money”. Microsoft has decided to cut development and maintenance costs, regardless of the effect on paying customers.
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