New Microsoft Planner Web App to Launch Next Month – What to Expect
Published: Sep 11, 2024
Key Takeaways:
- The new Microsoft Planner web app will integrate features from Microsoft To Do, Planner, and Microsoft Project.
- The initial release will lack certain features like Loop task integration and Board view support.
- The new Microsoft Planner app will become generally available in November.
Microsoft is set to launch a new Planner app that will replace the existing web version, aligning it with the Planner experience introduced in Teams earlier this year. The new app is designed to provide a central hub to let users access all their plans, projects, and to do lists.
The new Microsoft Planner app offers various plan views (such as Grid, Board, Charts, Schedule) to help team members manage and coordinate work. It also provides some premium capabilities such as the Copilot AI assistant, Timeline (Gantt) view, sprints, dependencies, task history, team workload, custom fields, and goals management.
“The new Microsoft Planner for the web brings together the simplicity of Microsoft To Do, the collaboration of Planner, the power of Microsoft Project, and the intelligence of Copilot for Microsoft 365 into a simple, scalable solution that spans individual task management to professional project management,” Microsoft explained.
At launch, the new Planner web app will lack several features, including the ability to open plans linked to Loop tasks, undo task deletions, and use the Board view in the “Assigned to me” section. Additionally, users won’t be able to add “Assigned to me” tasks or plans to an external calendar via iCalendar links. Microsoft plans to introduce these capabilities in early 2025.
Deprecated features in Microsoft’s New Planner web app
Microsoft has deprecated several features in the new Planner app due to low usage. These removed features include charts for pinned plans in Planner Hub, custom backgrounds, suggested attachments, and the “Leave plan” option in the menu. Users will also no longer be able to view the activity log for task creation, assignments, and completion dates in task comments.
Microsoft notes that the new Planner app will start rolling out to Microsoft 365 customers in early October, with a general availability expected in November. Keep in mind that the new Copilot capabilities will only be available in preview for customers with a Project Plan 3 license, Project Plan 5 license, or a premium Planner trial license.
Microsoft will host an AMA session on September 17 at 9:00 AM PT to provide customers with information about the latest and upcoming updates to the Planner app. If you’re interested, you can sign up for this event on this page.