Sign in
Microsoft.com
 
Microsoft
 
 
 

locked
Is a OneNote Mobile app available for Android OS 2.x and 3.x? RRS feed

 > 

  • Question

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    I have new phones running Android OS older than 4.x.  My problem is when I search for OneNote mobile for Android, the only Msft app that I can find is the recent update which requires Android OS 4.0 and newer.  I cannot find the Msft OneNote app compatible with older versions of Android phones.

    I'm very surprised by this as many Android phones still being sold as new do not run Android 4.x and newer.  Is the Msft OneNote mobile app for Android 2.x and 3.x available anywhere?  Did Msft decide to abandon the majority of the Android community?

    I love OneNote and would be very disappointed if Msft cut off such a large portion of its customers.

    • Moved by Max Meng Monday, July 29, 2013 3:44 AM
    Friday, July 26, 2013 3:32 PM

Answers

All replies

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote

    Yes, as you know the OneNote for Android requires Android 4.0 or later version.

    http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/mobile/onenote-for-android-system-requirements-HA104050286.aspx

    To workaround this, try upgrade your phone to Android 4.0 or later version.

    For more OneNote mobile topics, we'd recommend you to visit the answers forum:

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_mobile-onenote

    Max Meng
    TechNet Community Support

    • Proposed as answer by Dave PatrickMVP Tuesday, July 30, 2013 12:44 AM
    • Unproposed as answer by cdiggs Thursday, August 1, 2013 6:13 PM
    • Proposed as answer by Just Karl Monday, August 5, 2013 4:19 PM
    • Marked as answer by Just Karl Friday, August 16, 2013 3:28 PM
    Monday, July 29, 2013 3:44 AM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Hi Max, thank you for responding.  It is only the recent version of OneNote for Android that requires Android 4.0 or later.  I have the previous version on another Android phone and it still works well!  Many phones cannot be upgraded to a newer Android OS.  For many users in the Android community the only way to do that is to buy a new phone.  Even so, many new phone models sold by many big carriers run Android OS 2.x and 3.x.  Here's estimated information on the percentage of devices running different versions of Android:  http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html.  Over a third of the community is running 2.x and 3.x.  That's a lot of people for Msft to abandon.

    I've tried using play.google.com to find the version compatible with Android 2.3+ that is installed on my other phone.  Unfortunately even though the app shows up on play.google.com, when selected it just links to the latest version which requires Android 4.x and a message letting me know it is incompatible with all my devices.  I also tried opening up Play Store on the phone where I want to install OneNote, selecting My Apps > All, and clicking on OneNote there.  In that scenario it also ends up linking to the latest OneNote version which is incompatible with the device.  I also tried opening a browser on the new phone, logging into skydrive.live.com, and opening my OneNote notebooks from there (a supported method from any PC).  That method also fails; it just gets stuck with the message, "Opening [notebook_name] in OneNote." 

    Thursday, August 1, 2013 7:20 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    I'm curious where you get new phones with outdated software?

    Even free phones on AT&T and Verizon are at least running Ice Cream Sandwich.

    You could probably find the .apk on you old phone, and copy it to SkyDrive, then install it on the new outdated phone...

    Karl

    When you see answers and helpful posts, please click Vote As Helpful, Propose As Answer, and/or Mark As Answer


    My Blog: http://unlockpowershell.wordpress.com
    My Book: Windows PowerShell 2.0 Bible
    My E-mail: -join ("6B61726C6D69747363686B65406D742E6E6574"-split"(?<=\G.{2})",19|%{[char][int]"0x$_"})

    Thursday, August 1, 2013 7:31 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote
    I've been happy with OneNote in my Samsung Galaxy S+ for several months. Few day ago I had to reset my phone and reinstall all the apps. I store a lot of data in OneNote that I use on every day basis in my phone. Can you imagine my surprise when I couldn't find the app in Google Play? Finally I determined that there was a new version released recently that requires 4.x OS. Is it so hard to leave the old version of OneNote for 2.x androids? Now I have two ways out: buy a new device or change the software to EverNote. It's ridiculous and I'm very frustrated about it. If Microsoft forces me to change software to EverNote, I will never return to OneNote.
    Thursday, August 1, 2013 8:28 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote

    Hi Karl, thank you for the response.  I don't know about AT&T or Verizon, but the first page of results for Android phones on Sprint's site shows 10 models running Android 2.x, some were new and some refurbished.  Some of the MVNO's also sell phones with 2.x.  Even if this wasn't the case, I would still think cutting off a third of the Android community to be bad for business.  I understand the need to not provide endless support to legacy software, but in this case we are only talking about the previous release of OneNote Mobile.  Even if Msft only made that prior version available for download with a disclaimer that it will not receive future updates, support, etc., I would be fine with that.

    Since Msft does not currently do this, it means people like myself and Are_k must either look for the apk on a non-MS sanctioned site and hope it isn't compromised, hope to be able to pull the apk off of another phone (which requires rooting), or switch to different app.  None of those scenarios are good for customer relationships.

    Monday, August 5, 2013 2:52 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote

    Hello;

    I face the same issue with the Microsoft Lync client for my tablet - Microsoft no longer provide a client for non phone devices.

    However, as max points out in post 2, you are asking in the wrong forum:

    For more OneNote mobile topics, we'd recommend you to visit the answers forum:

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_mobile-onenote

    When you see answers and helpful posts, please click Vote As Helpful, Propose As Answer, and/or Mark As Answer


    My Blog: http://unlockpowershell.wordpress.com
    My Book: Windows PowerShell 2.0 Bible
    My E-mail: -join ("6B61726C6D69747363686B65406D742E6E6574"-split"(?<=\G.{2})",19|%{[char][int]"0x$_"})

    Monday, August 5, 2013 4:22 PM