Lync for Android Phones Updated

Microsoft on Wednesday delivered a new version of its Lync 2013 mobile app for Android phones, following on the heels of unrelated updates to the Lync mobile app versions for iPhone, iPad and Windows Phone.

"The new Lync for Android update is now available and will enhance the continuity of your communication experience," Microsoft's Barak Manor writes in a new post to the Lync Team Blog. "New features include the ability to quickly rejoin a Lync Meeting that you just left (or were disconnected from) and pick-up your conversations from where you last left them."

Here's what's new.

One-tap meeting rejoin. If you leave a meeting, you can now quickly rejoin using a prominent new Rejoin button. And if you were disconnecting because of a network problem, Lync detects when the connection has been restored and notifies you with an even more obvious Rejoin button on a yellow banner.

Quickly pick up a conversation. In the Conversation history view, you can now continue previous conversations you had on the handset. "[This] saves time explaining the topic of the conversation and looking for the other person/group in the contact tab," Manor notes.

And more. According to Microsoft, the Lync team also improved the media and audio routing for the Android phone app. This was mainly to support new devices and newer Android OS versions, in addition to the audio flow throughout the app (handset, speaker phone and headset).

The new version of Lync 2013 for Android phone is available from the Google Play Store.