You can now use apps in Teams meetings with external users

Microsoft Teams has a new feature that lets you use apps within meetings with people from outside of your organization. The feature can be used to enhance meetings and improve interactivity from participants. Support for apps within meetings with external users is rolling out now, according to the Microsoft 365 roadmap (via OnMSFT).

The description in the Microsoft 365 roadmap is short and to the point:

We will now support apps added by native users (hosts) in meeting chats with external users (users from other domains).

Microsoft Teams has almost 1,000 apps that allow you to integrate additional features and other services with Teams. Many of those apps can be used within meetings, such as polling apps, scheduling apps, and Microsoft Forms.

Within a meeting that has people from outside of an organization, hosts can install, delete, or update shared apps that can be used. External users can interact with the apps but cannot manage which apps are available within the meeting.

A support page from Microsoft breaks down how to manage external access in Teams meetings.

It appears that people are asking Microsoft to make it easier to communicate with external users. Microsoft rolled out the option to add people from outside of an organization to group chats earlier this month.