Microsoft Loop, a Notion-like hub for managing tasks and projects that sync across Microsoft 365 apps and services, launched in public preview today.
Loop is available to users with a Microsoft Account or Azure Active Directory account. A companion app for iOS and Android is set to arrive soon; Microsoft didn’t provide firm timing.
Unveiled at Ignite 2021, Loop is in some ways Microsoft’s answer to Google Workspace Spaces, which provides dashboards for real-time, digital-first project collaboration. As with most team-based productivity platforms, Loop has progress-tracking tools for projects and two-way sync with services, including Trello.
So what’s unique about it? Well, Loop consists of three main elements — Loop components, Loop pages and Loop workspaces — that together can be used to paste real-time blocks of content into apps like Outlook, Microsoft Teams and Word. (My colleague Frederic Lardinois once compared the experience to the ill-fated Google Wave.) Microsoft says it’s designed to bridge the gaps of working in virtual teams — gaps that became increasingly apparent during the pandemic, when Loop was developed.
Image Credits: Microsoft
Loop components are essentially JavaScript widgets that let users collaborate while in the flow of work, for example in a chat, email, document or online meeting. Components can be as simple as lists, tables and notes or as complex as a customer sales opportunity from Dynamics 365, and they always stay in sync across Microsoft 365 apps.
Thanks to the syncing capabilities, edits to Loop components — for example, tables — will be reflected wherever they’re embedded or shared. In the future, Microsoft says it plans to add Loop components that facilitate business workflows, starting with Dynamics 365 records, and allow developers to build entirely custom Loop components.
