Microsoft launches Send, a messaging app

With Microsoft’s new launch, Send, your e-mail will now double up as a messaging app. The new app will enable users to send mails without a subject line and with access to your email contacts, it will work like a messaging app. The app has for now been released on the iOS platform but will soon be open to other platforms.

The reasoning from Microsoft being that its e-mail app can be too time-consuming for a world that is advancing fast. One needs to open the e-mail app, click on the compose window, enter the e-mail id of the recipient, write a subject line before writing the message. Microsoft believes a more user friendly Send will help connect people better.

“Send is for those brief, snappy communications. There is no signature, subject line, or salutation required. Send will help make conversations fast and fluid while keeping the people who are important to you at its core. While tools like text messaging and IM are great for short messages, you often don’t have your co-worker’s cell phone number or an IM app on your work phone. And we’ve heard loud and clear from people at work, they want all their communications available in Outlook — even if they send them from other apps,” Microsoft said in the announcement.

The highlight of the app is that the receiver need not be a Send app user to receive messages. The Send app is designed in such a way that frequent and recent contacts will show up on opening the app. If the receiver is sending a response to you from the Send app it’ll show that the receiver is typing as it does in Google chat.

Message service apps including whatsapp link users with their phone numbers while Microsoft’s Send uses its existing mail contacts and thereby not making it necessary to invite or requesting them to connect separately. The Send app makes it easier to have short conversations with people you don’t want to take the effort to invite or add on your messaging services.

Send app can come in handy when sending short work related messages. With Send app being linked to your email and outlook, the conversation can also be continued on these platforms.