Microsoft Teams ditches Together mode to focus on what really matters — video quality

In July 2020, to better serve the influx of companies moving to remote work, Microsoft added a Collaborative mode feature to Teams. The idea was to do away with the infinite square grid of people’s webcams and instead place people in scenes like a theater or a room. So people will feel together without actually being together.

Well, the world has moved on since then, and Microsoft has announced that it will be getting rid of Together mode just shy of its sixth birthday. Apparently, Microsoft thinks Together mode is just an option and believes Gallery does a better job anyway.

Microsoft Teams’ Together mode is shutting down on June 30

Gallery mode will be its main replacement

As advertised on Microsoft Tech Community websitethe company is canceling the Together mode on June 30. Once the change is made, you will no longer see it in the View menu, and all scenes, custom scenes, and seat assignments will be deleted. Microsoft recommends that anyone who has used Together mode with custom branded scenes use the background instead.

So why is Microsoft getting rid of the Together mode? Well, the company says it already has multiple modes, including Gallery, Grand Gallery, and dynamic views, and wants to help unify people’s preferences to reduce cognitive load and app complexity. Moreover, by focusing on Gallery mode, Microsoft can achieve even better things:

• Simplify the meeting interface and deliver a more consistent experience across devices.

• Deliver higher and more consistent video quality between meetings with a focus on client-optimized presentation.

• Free up service capacity that can be reinvested in key video enhancements you want us to prioritize, such as super resolution, noise reduction and improved color accuracy

So if you or your business rely on Together mode, now would be the best time to switch to Gallery and get used to it before June 30th.