Get Outlook for iOS!

A surprising number of the messages I receive from students end with the line Get Outlook for iOS. The strangest time was in response to a survey I sent out to the class asking What will you do to be more successful on the next exam?

Except in cases like that, I’m tempted to respond,

No thank you. And why would you make such a suggestion? Don’t you know that I generally avoid Microsoft products when I can [1]?

I’m also tempted to suggest an update.

Get Outlook for iOS! Put a felon on your phone.

But then I realize that they probably didn’t actually write that suggestion. It’s probably not that they are being paid to shill for Microsoft. One option is that the Outlook app added it before they sent it [2] and they are too lazy to take the time to remove the inappropriate advertising text from their message or, better yet, to set a new default signature. Another option is that the Outlook app added it after they sent it. A less probable option is that our Outlook server knows that I don’t use Outlook for iOS and puts a suggestion into randomly selected email messages. But I find that doubtful.

So, here’s the question. How should I respond to such a suggestion? Here’s one possibility.

Thank you for that suggestion. Could you explain why you think it would be useful for me to use Outlook for iOS and, more particularly, why it is preferable to the default mail application on iOS. For example, does it support PGP [3]?

But that seems a bit over the top, even for me. Alternately,

I’m not sure why you are shilling for Microsoft without receiving any compensation. If you’d like to change your default signature in Outlook for iOS to something other than that advertisement, (1) click on the hamburger menu in the upper-left-hand corner, (2) click on the gear icon in the lower-left-hand corner, (3) click on Signature, and (4) enter a new signature.

Maybe I should let it go.

Or maybe I should even consider using Outlook for iOS. After all, at least one ’blog calls it the best iPhone mail app. If I do that, I might even end up replying.

Thank you for that amazing recommendation. I never would have considered using Outlook for iOS without the constant reminders like this I have received. Using Outlook for iOS has transformed my life and my phone. Thank you thank you thank you.

But that would require me to try Outlook for iOS. And, well, I’m not all that inclined to play around with new software this semester. Maybe some other day.

Get software product for operating system!

[1] Microsoft Word is clearly the ``lingua franca’’ of a lot of communication and so I do regularly work in word. And, as much as I hate to admit it, Powerpoint is sometimes useful when I want to make something quickly.

[2] Perhaps as a default Signature.

[3] I’m not sure that I want to run PGP on my iPhone; it feels like a less secure device than my desktop. But the question is worth asking.

Version 1.0.1 of 2017-09-03.