The New SharePoint Mobile App (October 2026): What Changes and How to Prepare Your Intranet
TL;DR
Microsoft is redesigning the SharePoint mobile app for iOS and Android around a personalised "Discover" experience, targeting October 2026. It brings files, sites, people and news into one view, plus a refreshed news feed, in-app file previews and dark mode. Intranet teams should get news metadata, targeting and page design ready now.
For many employees, the phone is the intranet. Frontline staff, field teams and people on the move rarely open SharePoint on a laptop. So when Microsoft changes the mobile app, it changes how a large part of your workforce sees your intranet.
Here's what we know, what we don't, and a practical checklist to get ready.
By Yvette Tunguia, Content Unit Manager at ShortPoint • Last Updated: September 2026
What's Changing in the SharePoint Mobile App, and When?
Microsoft added the redesign to the Microsoft 365 roadmap on 16 September 2026 (RM571200). The details so far:
| Item | What we know |
|---|---|
| Target date | October 2026 (general availability) |
| Platforms | iOS and Android |
| Clouds | Worldwide, GCC, GCC High and DoD |
| Home experience | Personalised Discover view with relevant files, sites, people and news |
| New features | Improved site browsing, in-app file previews, refreshed news and search, dark mode, better performance |
| Status | In development |
Today's app is built around separate Find, News and Me tabs. The redesign puts Discover at the centre instead (Windows Forum). Microsoft hasn't announced admin controls; the change is expected to arrive through normal app updates.
Why a Personalised Feed Changes How You Publish News
On the web, your home page decides what people see first. In a personalised feed, the app decides. Your news competes with files, sites and people for a spot on a small screen.
That means mobile reach now depends less on your home page layout and more on how each news post is published: its title, its thumbnail, its description and who it's targeted to. For layout ideas that still matter on the web, see 10 ways to present news in a SharePoint site .
The payoff: Teams that tidy up their publishing habits now get better mobile reach from day one, without redesigning anything.
SharePoint Mobile Readiness Checklist
Work through these before October.
1. Write titles that work alone
In a feed, the title may be all people see. Lead with the point: "New shift swap process starts 1 November", not "Update from Operations".
2. Set a strong thumbnail on every news post
Pick an image that reads well at small sizes, with no important text inside it.
3. Fill in the description
Use it as a one-line summary of why the post matters.
4. Use audience targeting
Target news to the groups it’s for, so a personalised feed has the right signals.
5. Test pages in dark mode
Check logos, custom colours, icons and images with transparent backgrounds. Dark text on a transparent logo can disappear.
6. Review file previews against your security settings
Microsoft hasn't said how previews interact with sensitivity labels or Conditional Access. Test with your security team once the update lands.
7. Update help content and training
Screenshots or guides that mention the Find, News and Me tabs will go out of date.
How ShortPoint Helps
Designing for small screens is much easier when you can see the result. ShortPoint Theme Builder lets you adjust your theme for mobile with mobile-specific settings and preview pages on mobile and tablet before you publish. Intranet teams can build quick-link sections, news layouts and task-focused home pages without code, and check them at phone size in minutes. We recommend testing your ShortPoint pages in the new app once it reaches your tenant, as you would with any SharePoint page.
Explore ShortPoint intranet templates →How to Measure Mobile Reach After Rollout
Once the new app arrives:
- Compare news views before and after, and note which posts perform best on mobile.
- Look at which titles and thumbnails get the most engagement, and share the patterns with your publishers.
- Ask a small group of frontline employees what they see first in Discover. Five short conversations often reveal more than a dashboard.
Want a broader view of what keeps people coming back? Read What Makes a Good Intranet?
Conclusion
The new SharePoint mobile app puts personalisation in charge of what employees see first. You can't control the feed, but you can control what goes into it. Clear titles, strong thumbnails, good targeting and mobile-tested pages will make sure your most important news still reaches people.
Want mobile-friendly SharePoint pages without code? Try ShortPoint free for 15 days, no credit card needed, or browse the template library for ready-made homepage layouts.
Start your free 15-day trialFrequently Asked Questions
Microsoft targets October 2026 for general availability on iOS and Android. It is expected to arrive through regular app updates, and timing may vary by tenant and device.
Discover is a personalised view that brings together relevant files, sites, people and news. In the redesigned app, it becomes the main experience instead of one tab among several.
Global navigation menus for SharePoint sites are currently not supported in the mobile app, and Microsoft hasn't confirmed a change. Add quick links on your home page as a workaround.
Microsoft hasn't announced any admin controls. The redesign is expected to roll out through normal app updates rather than a tenant setting.
Yes. The roadmap lists Worldwide, GCC, GCC High and DoD cloud instances.
Yes. Dark mode is one of the listed features, so test logos, custom colours and images with transparent backgrounds before rollout.
Yvette Tunguia
Content Unit Manager, ShortPoint
Yvette Tunguia is Content Unit Manager at ShortPoint, where she writes about SharePoint intranet design, structure, and adoption. ShortPoint is used to design and brand SharePoint intranets across 350,000+ sites worldwide.
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