Microsoft Retires Teams’ Together Mode Feature
▼ Summary
– Microsoft is retiring Teams’ Together Mode, a pandemic-era feature that placed users in a virtual conference room, to simplify the Teams experience.
– Together Mode used AI to isolate users’ heads and shoulders and place them in a shared virtual space, which limited visual distractions but felt gimmicky.
– The Together Mode toggle will gradually disappear from the view menu, and features like scenes and seat assignments will also be removed.
– Microsoft says the change reduces fragmentation across platforms and streamlines the interface with fewer options and less clicking.
– The retirement allows Microsoft to focus on improving video quality, stability, and performance.
Microsoft is officially retiring Teams’ Together Mode, the feature that once turned remote meetings into a simulated conference room experience. Launched during the pandemic, Together Mode used AI to isolate participants’ heads and shoulders, then placed them into a shared virtual space. While it could feel gimmicky, especially when users “tapped” colleagues on the shoulder or exchanged virtual high fives, the feature did help reduce visual clutter by eliminating distracting backgrounds.
The phase-out is happening gradually. As it proceeds, the Together Mode toggle will vanish from the view menu. Accompanying features, including scenes and seat assignments, are also being removed. Microsoft cites reducing fragmentation across platforms as a primary reason for the change. The company also points to a streamlined interface with fewer options, less clicking, and less confusion. Additionally, Microsoft says retiring Together Mode will allow it to focus on improving video quality, stability, and performance across the entire Teams experience.
(Source: The Verge)
