Microsoft Teams' update brings new app store, commands and more

Microsoft has announced new updates to its chat and productivity program Teams. Microsoft called the update, which rolls out today, the biggest one since Teams launched last March.

With the newer updates, users can leverage apps in various new ways and command apps to take quick actions directly from the command box. One of the new features introduced is an app store. It is the one-stop shop for searching and discovering apps that integrate with Teams. You can search apps by name, category and integration type.

Furthermore, now you could also have a conversation about content from an app without the need to include a screenshot or a hyperlink to the information. In the same way that you can add an emoji or GIF, you can now bring information from apps into a chat or channel message with a simple click.

There’s a new personal apps space that shows your apps, all the items that you have been assigned to across apps, and items you have recently accessed. Microsoft has even added its own new app called Who, powered by Microsoft Graph. This lets you search across your organization for people by name or topic.

Teams added slash commands with this update, too. The slash command ( / ) lets you perform tasks or navigate Teams. But you can also use slash commands to do things like setting your status to “Away,” adding users to a team or calling a coworker.

Lastly, Teams now includes a couple of new command types. Now you can command apps from the search box with "@" commands. You can get started by typing "@" in the command box, and it will then surface a list of apps that you can query or command.

Microsoft says that these features have been rolled out and will be available for your Teams client shortly.