Acompli

Acompli is a discontinued mobile app that allowed for user interaction with email messages as well as management of multiple email accounts in one programme.[1][2] In addition, the tool also organized one's calendar and shared files.[3][4] This application provided for integration with cloud storage platforms such as Dropbox, OneDrive, and iCloud;[5] it also carried support for Microsoft Exchange and Gmail.[6][7] Acompli launched on 24 April 2014.[8] The startup company, which had $7.3 million in funding, was led by CEO Javier Soltero, J.J. Zhuang (CTO) and Kevin Henrikson (VP of Engineering).[9][10]

Acompli
Operating systemiOS, Android
PlatformiPhone, Android devices
TypeEmail client
Websiteacompli.com

First released in April 2014 by the venture capital-backed startup of the same name, Acompli was acquired by Microsoft in December 2014. On January 29, 2015, Acompli was re-branded as Outlook Mobile—sharing its name with the Microsoft Outlook desktop personal information manager and Outlook.com email service.[11]

History

Acompli was co-founded as a startup by Javier Soltero, the former chief technology officer of VMWare, alongside JJ Zhuang (CTO), and Kevin Henrikson (VP of Engineering). It received $7.3 million in funding from Redpoint Ventures, Harrison Metal and Felicis Ventures.[12][13]

In order to distinguish itself from other recent email startups, such as Mailbox, Soltero decided to target the enterprise market—particularly, users of Microsoft Exchange servers. He felt that such users had been underserved by the lacking or non-existent support for Exchange in existing mail apps, believing that their developers—despite its wide adoption, "do not fathom the possibility of anyone using Exchange." A result of this mandate was the decision to make the app a personal information manager rather than only an email client, integrating a calendar, a list of recent contacts, and a list of recent files from attachments and cloud storage services.[14]

Acompli was first released on April 25, 2014 for iOS.[15] An Android version was released in September 2014.[14][16][17] On November 26, 2014, an incomplete post on its official blog prematurely revealed that Acompli had been acquired by Microsoft. The acquisition, valued at over $200 million, was officially announced on December 1, 2014. Rajesh Jha, vice president of Microsoft's Outlook division, stated that "We’re excited about what’s possible as we build on the app’s success and bring it together with work currently in progress by the Outlook team." Soltero assured users that the Acompli app would not be discontinued, and would continue to receive regular updates.[18][19] On January 29, 2015, Acompli was re-branded as Outlook Mobile, uniting it with one of its original influences.[11]

Purpose

The goal of Acompli was for users to be able to experience, on a mobile device, the full email functionality that a desktop computer normally provides.[20] This mobile application's "innovation is its focus on bringing multiple features like calendaring, contacts, and file management into the application to ease the pain of application switching."[21]

Features

Engadget reported that Acompli featured "three integrated hubs: "Calendar," "Files" and "People," each with its own tab at the bottom of the screen,"[22] which eliminates the issue of app switching.[23] Acompli prioritized email messages in order of importance and provides an integrated calendar view.[24] Priority was given to the response rate to a particular contact and emails from frequently replied contacts were termed "Focused" messages.[5][25] Users were able to delete emails by swiping their dominant thumb from right to left halfway across the screen.[26] The mobile app also associated with other cloud storage platforms, including Dropbox, in addition to Google Drive and OneDrive (SkyDrive).[24][27] Ryan Lawler of TechCrunch stated that Acompli "adds file management and scheduling directly into your inbox".[28] Moreover, "calendaring and location sharing is built right into new email composition."[29] Acompli supported "Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Google Apps, Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Outlook.com, Hotmail, MSN and Live."[30][31][32] In order to find a desired email, Acompli users were able to use "smart filters".[33] This mobile application did this by sending one's "emails, appointments, files and contacts through its own servers to deliver all that data to your device and to make it searchable".[34][35] Joel Mathis in Macworld wrote that Acompli allowed people to "browse all email attachments in the attachments list, and send them from your mobile inbox even if the file wasn’t downloaded to the phone."[36] Acompli also had an autocomplete feature.[37]

Reception

Acompli received mostly positive reception: James Kendrick of ZDNet considered the app a "must-have" for bring your own device scenarios, citing its focused inbox, convergence, and support for both personal and business-oriented e-mail platforms. However, he felt that the calendar was not "fancy", and lacked different view modes.[38] Noting its level of support for Gmail, quicker deletion gesture, along with its "clean approach" to filtering through emails and other content, Engadget argued that Acompli "can be a speedy and powerful tool if you're willing to take the time to learn its nuances."[39][24]

Jordan Novet of VentureBeat wrote that "app, which pulls in calendar and contact information and files to help people get more done on their mobile devices, had catapulted to the No. 9 slot in the free productivity-app section of the app store" as of 25 April 2014.[40] Joshua Brustein in Bloomberg Businessweek, has written that due to Microsoft's absence from the iPad, programmes like Acompli and Evernote have been successful.[41] Jeremy Schoemaker stated that Acompli has been "an absolute game changer".[42]

On the day of its release, Acompli quickly reached the top 10 free "Productivity" apps on the iOS App Store.[15]

Funding

Re/code, in addition to VentureBeat, reported that Acompli "has raised $7.3 million in funding led by Redpoint Ventures, with Harrison Metal and Felicis Ventures."[43][44]

See also

References
  1. Hamburger, Ellis (19 September 2014). "These are the apps you want to try on your new iPhone". The Verge. Retrieved 28 September 2014. Pro email app Acompli will let you interact with emails, right from your notifications with an update coming soon.
  2. Vogel, Sandra (15 September 2014). "Mobile app of the day: Acompli". ITProPortal. Retrieved 28 September 2014. If you struggle to manage multiple email accounts, attachments and contacts quickly and easily, Acompli could be your new best friend.
  3. Klosowski, Thorin (28 April 2014). "Acompli Integrates A Powerful Email Client With Your Calendar". Lifehacker. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Acompli’s main trick is the integrated calendar. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see your schedule so you can look at it at any time when you’re tapping out emails. You can also create meetings right in the app and share it as a calendar invite with either Exchange or Gmail. Acompli also has a massive file browser that includes every attachment you’ve ever sent or received.
  4. Perez, Sarah. "Email App Acompli Arrives On Android, Adds A "Focused" Inbox That Displays Your Most Important Mail First". TechCrunch. TechCrunch. Retrieved 28 September 2014. One of the better mobile email applications to emerge in recent months is Acompli, an app designed for business and professional users looking for a simple, but powerful tool to manage their email, calendar, and shared files while on the go.
  5. Zeis, Adam. "Email app Acompli arrives on Android, helps you focus on what's important". Android Central. Retrieved 28 September 2014. Acompli bases your Focused Inbox not just on your big interactions, but also whether you actually respond to a particular contact. Add in integration with Dropbox, OneDrive, and iCloud and you have a nice little email app on hand.
  6. Cohen, Peter (24 April 2014). "New and updated apps: Storehouse, Injustice, Wireshark and more!". iMore. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Acompli is a new iPhone app that combines email and calendar functions into a single app. At release, Acompli supports Microsoft Exchange, Google Apps and Gmail.
  7. Dredge, Stuart (28 April 2014). "20 best iPhone and iPad apps this week". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Acompli is the latest startup hoping to help you get a grip of your inbox. Except this email app also pulls in your calendar. Unlike some rivals, it also looks beyond Google's Gmail, as it supports Microsoft Exchange too. Early indications are good: a neat, accessible app that makes clever use of filters to navigate your email clutter.
  8. Stern, Joanna; s (30 April 2014). "The Best Mobile Apps for Your Email -". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Just last Thursday another promising service called Acompli hit Apple‘s App Store.
  9. Novet, Jordan (25 April 2014). "Acompli is already in the Top 10 after its Apple App Store premiere today". VentureBeat. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Acompli announced a $7.3 million funding round in February.
  10. Perez, Sarah (24 April 2014). "Acompli, The Email Productivity App Backed By $7.3M, Goes Live On App Store". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Acompli announced a $7.3 million funding round in February. Led by CEO Javier Soltero, previously a CTO at VMware and CEO and co-founder at Hyperic, and joined by former VMWare and Yahoo engineers J.J. Zhuang (CTO) and Kevin Henrikson (VP of Engineering), Acompli aims to solve some of the still significant pain points involved with using email on our smartphones today.
  11. "Microsoft rebrands Acompli as Outlook for iOS and Android". The Verge. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  12. Novet, Jordan (April 25, 2014). "Acompli is already in the Top 10 after its Apple App Store premiere today". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  13. Perez, Sarah (April 24, 2014). "Acompli, The Email Productivity App Backed By $7.3M, Goes Live On App Store". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  14. Newton, Casey (April 24, 2014). "The history of Microsoft's new Outlook for iPhone app". The Verge. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  15. Novet, Jordan (April 25, 2014). "Acompli is already in the Top 10 after its Apple App Store premiere today". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  16. "Acompli brings its Exchange-friendly email app to Android". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  17. Gannes, Liz (February 20, 2014). "Acompli, From Zimbra and VMware Vets, Tees Up a Swing at Mobile Email". Re/code. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  18. "Microsoft may have accidentally announced that it's buying email app Acompli". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  19. "Microsoft acquires email app Acompli". The Verge. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  20. Newton, Casey (24 April 2014). "Acompli is the powerhouse email app for iPhone that Outlook users have been waiting for". The Verge. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Acompli helps you avoid desktop email in two ways, both of which get their own tab at the bottom of the inbox. First, an integrated calendar lets you scan upcoming appointments and set meetings without ever leaving your email app. The calendar also appears in the message-compose window, and tapping it will pull up two options: you can either send your availability, highlighting times with a couple taps, or create a calendar invitation for a specific time. All of it can be done in seconds, with your thumb, while you’re eating a salad. Acompli’s second move away from the desktop lies in its approach to files. A significant number of the files we need for work are already sitting on our email servers, but good luck finding them with a stock email app. Acompli puts your recent files in a tab, letting you scroll through them quickly and attach them to messages with one tap.
  21. Weinberger, Matt (20 February 2014). "Acompli: The perils of trying to build a better mobile Exchange app". CITEworld. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  22. Bowen, Andy (3 May 2014). "Test-driving Acompli: Could an email app be reason enough to go back to the iPhone?". Engadget. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  23. Bell, Karissa. "Acompli Launches App to Simplify Mobile Email". Mashable. Retrieved 29 September 2014. The app aims to solve what Soltero says are the most common issues people experience when using email on their smartphones, the worst of which is app switching. To combat this problem, the company built a full-fledged calendar into its app so users can check their calendar without ever leaving their email. Users can also interact with their calendar by setting up appointments or sending their availability to others all from within Acompli.
  24. Vogel, Sandra (15 September 2014). "Mobile app of the day: Acompli". ITProPortal. Retrieved 28 September 2014. Acompli integrates a range of different information types and it is designed to be useful for work email. It can automatically put the most important emails at the top of your inbox, gives you an easy, well integrated calendar view so you can share times with other people to schedule meetings, and integrates with email, Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive so you can easily attach files.
  25. Steele, David (5 September 2014). "Acompli's New App To Help An Overrun Inbox". Android Headlines. Retrieved 28 September 2014. The new feature is called the Focused Inbox, which has made its debut this week in the Android version. The application shifts through your inbox to try to understand how you interact with your email and contacts to determine what is most important to you. When you install and open the app, by default you see two inbox modes; Focused and Other.
  26. Bowen, Andy (3 May 2014). "Test-driving Acompli: Could an email app be reason enough to go back to the iPhone?". Engadget. Retrieved 28 September 2014. It just feels better to swipe from right to left, as is the case with Acompli. Additionally, you only have to swipe your thumb halfway across the screen to incur the delete option, compared to three-quarters of the screen with Mailbox.
  27. P., Daniel (12 September 2014). "Accompli arrives for Android: intelligent email wrapped in calendar and cloud storage". PhoneArena. Retrieved 28 September 2014. Since it also folds in a calendar function, and a cloud storage management service for Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive, Acompli can also show you all the related emails, meetings and shared files with your most popular contacts at one central place, so you can manage the relationships better and faster.
  28. Lawler, Ryan (9 September 2014). "MailTime Turns Your Email Inbox Into An SMS Chat Session". TechCrunch. Retrieved 28 September 2014. There has been no shortage of apps and startups looking to fundamentally change the way we communicate by email. They range from products like Mailbox, which seeks to help users reach inbox zero, to Acompli, which adds file management and scheduling directly into your inbox.
  29. Williams, Owen (27 April 2014). "Acompli: a Perfect iOS Email App but We Wish it Wasn't Free". The Next Web. Retrieved 29 September 2014. The best thing in Acompli has to be that calendaring and location sharing is built right into new email composition. Location sharing is just that, when sending an email, hit the marker icon and Acompli embeds a pin of your location so you can meet up.
  30. O'Neill, Mark (29 April 2014). "Cool Websites & Tools - Weekly Work Reports, Windows Screen Capture, & Blood Alcohol Calculator". MakeUseOf. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Acompli – empowers professionals to do more with email, calendaring, file sharing and contacts in one fast, easy-to-use app. Supports Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Google Apps & Gmail. Mobile email just got a promotion.
  31. Langshaw, Mark (30 April 2014). "Best new mobile apps for iOS, Android: IFTTT, miDrive, more". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Acompli is the latest app with ambitions to fulfil all of your inboxing and calendar needs. It's a neat and comprehensive service that makes smart use of filters to separate important messages from fluff, and it even supports Microsoft Exchange as well as Gmail.
  32. Tyrsina, Radu (2014). "Best 10 Android Apps This Week". Technology Personalized. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  33. Sage, Simon (6 September 2014). "The Best Android apps and games of the week: Angry Birds Stella, Reddit AMA, and more!". Android Central. Retrieved 28 September 2014. Acompli is a calendar and e-mail with a eye to efficiency. Smart filters let you find e-mails extremely quickly, an attachment manager helps you send and view files sent via e-mail, Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, plus you can easily share your calendar availability and current location to meeting attendees.
  34. Stern, Joanna (29 April 2014). "You're Emailing Wrong: The Best Mobile Apps for Managing Your Inbox". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 September 2014. The Acompli iPhone app goes even further. From within the compose window, you can add recently emailed files and photos from your library, and even your location and the times you're available to connect. The app integrates your Gmail or Exchange calendar, so you simply tap on free blocks in your schedule to include them in your message. (Whether these companies store your passwords depends on the email provider you use, but when you give them access to your mail, they do store the contents on their servers.
  35. Cha, Bonnie (1 May 2014). "Acompli Email App review". Re/code. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  36. Mathis, Joel (1 May 2014). "This Week in iOS Apps: Bon app-etite!". Macworld. Retrieved 28 September 2014. Acompli is the latest entry in a crowded market, combining email and calendar functions for Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Google Apps, and Gmail. You can browse all email attachments in the attachments list, and send them from your mobile inbox even if the file wasn’t downloaded to the phone.
  37. Duncan, Mary (29 April 2014). "Acompli Email Smartphone App Available for Free Download". Gadget Gestures. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Acompli has a very powerful search feature that includes automatic suggestions that appear as you’re typing and a keyword highlighting.
  38. Kendrick, James. "Acompli for iOS review: Must-have app for BYOD". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  39. Bowen, Andy (May 3, 2014). "Test-driving Acompli: Could an email app be reason enough to go back to the iPhone?". Engadget. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  40. Novet, Jordan (25 April 2014). "Acompli is already in the Top 10 after its Apple App Store premiere today". VentureBeat. Retrieved 29 September 2014. San Francisco startup Acompli has finally launched its business-email app for iOS devices in the App Store, and it’s off to a terrific start. The app, which pulls in calendar and contact information and files to help people get more done on their mobile devices, had catapulted to the No. 9 slot in the free productivity-app section of the app store as of this morning.
  41. Brustein, Joshua (27 March 2014). "Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Announces Office Apps for iPad". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 29 September 2014. Microsoft could hardly wait forever, although for years it seemed bent on trying. Competing programs such as Evernote, Dropbox, Quip, Slack, and Acompli have all been trying to take advantage of Microsoft’s absence from the iPad.
  42. Schoemaker, Jeremy (20 February 2014). "Its time to get things done (and get to the front of the line)". ShoeMoney. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  43. Gannes, Liz (20 February 2014). "Acompli, From Zimbra and VMware Vets, Tees Up a Swing at Mobile Email". Re/code. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  44. Kelly, Meghan (20 February 2014). "Funding Daily: February 20, 2014". VentureBeat . Retrieved 30 September 2014. Acompli raises $7.3M.
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