14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft purchased Sunrise calendar app for iOS and Android in 2015, and earlier this year, the company announced its decision to discontinue it completely, as it worked to move all features to Outlook Calendar and thus offer just a single app across all platforms.
With the deadline set for August 31, 2016, many users complained that Outlook Calendar wasn’t ready to replace Sunrise just yet, as Microsoft didn’t complete the transition of all features to its own app. And given the criticism, Microsoft risked losing users for its calendar apps, so the company decided to keep Sunrise around for a little longer, as it continues working on transitioning its functionality to Outlook.
In a statement for PCWorld, the company confirms that Sunrise will continue working on iOS and Android for a little bit longer beyond the August 31 date, but explains that this doesn’t mean it’s changing in mind, and the app will be shut down eventually.
“We have chosen to wait a little longer in order to deliver a few more Sunrise-inspired features in Outlook. Once those features are released, the Sunrise app will officially be shut down,” the company says.
Sunrise remains a top calendar app on iOS
Sunrise is currently one of the top calendar apps on iOS and Android, and learning that Microsoft wanted to discontinue it was a difficult moment for the millions of users on both platforms.
Microsoft, however, promised not to leave any feature behind and explained that the final goal was to make Outlook Calendar available cross-platform and offer similar features to all users, including functionality that was previously available in Sunrise.
“The entire Sunrise team is now working side-by-side with the Outlook team and it’s a thrilling moment for us to work on an app of this scale. Unfortunately, as all good stories go, there’s a sad bit to it: we’re not able to support and update Sunrise anymore,” the Sunrise team said in May this year.
Right now, there are still no details as to when Microsoft could shut down Sunrise completely, but the company guarantees that it won’t do it until Outlook Calendar can successfully replace it in full.