Microsoft Teams: Mobile version to prompt for new default programs in February

On Android and iOS, Teams Mobile is to bother users in February with a prompt to set default programs for opening certain file formats. Admins can adjust the TeamsMobility policy using PowerShell to turn off the prompts.

Microsoft announced this in the MS365 Admin Center in ticket MC1216263 (copy at merill.net). Starting in February, Teams Mobile on Android and iOS will prompt users when they tap on non-Office and PDF file links, asking which app they want to open them with. By default, Teams suggests Microsoft Edge, with “Single Sign-On (SSO), Copilot, and enhanced security.”

If users tap on a non-Office or PDF link, the change will cause a pop-up dialog to appear at the bottom of the screen, where they can choose a browser. If they select Microsoft Edge and the browser is not installed on the smartphone, they will be asked to install it. Microsoft states that this is intended to improve security and the user experience. Microsoft plans to start the process in February and complete it by the end of February. “During the rollout, we will monitor user satisfaction, Microsoft Edge installation rates, and retention rates,” the company further states.

Admins can intervene

Microsoft intends to enable the feature by default on all tenants. However, admins can use PowerShell to influence the TeamsMobilityPolicy and set the LinksInTeams attribute. The value OfferBrowserOptions activates the prompt, while UseSystemDefaults disables it. The Microsoft reference for the Teams cmdlet provides general assistance on available settings.

At the end of November, Microsoft's plans to accelerate Teams made the rounds. By outsourcing the code responsible for telephony to a separate process, Teams is intended to start faster and achieve better performance. For admins, this means they may need to add another executable file to their whitelists, ms-teams_modulehost.exe.

(dmk)