Users of the Office Mobile apps are facing a deprecation of several features. It is not uncommon for Microsoft to remove features from Office, either because they are obsolete or simply not much used.
This time, Microsoft is taking away the Share Nearby feature from Office Mobile. If you are unfamiliar with this tool, it allows users to send and receive files efficiently over Wi-Fi through the Office apps.
There is no doubt the idea behind Share Nearby is good and the feature is handy. However, Microsoft admits it does not meet the demands of users. So, the company says that Share Nearby will no longer be available on Android from December 31, 2022.
According to the Tech Community post by Microsoft:
“We made this decision as we continue to reassess the value our users derive from the Office app, and we aim to offer experiences that are consistent, reliable and allow our users to be productive across their devices. It is in this pursuit of streamlining our solutions that we have decided to sunset this feature.”
Joe Belfiore Departure
Last month, Microsoft's Office Group chief, Joe Belfiore announced he is leaving the company and retiring.
In terms of the Office Group, the executive structure will remain the same. Belfiore will simply hand off his role to Corporate Vice President Ales Holecek (who has been partnering Belfiore) and Corporate Vice President Sumit Chauhan (previously with Office AI). Belfiore will remain as a senior advisor and coach until next summer.
Tip of the day: It's a good idea to backup your computer on a regular basis, and the most fool-proof way is to manually create a disk image and save it to an external hard drive.
