Apple Releases Updates for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on iOS and Mac

[MacRumors]

Apple today released updates for its suite of iWork apps on iOS and Mac, introducing new features for Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. All of the apps have access to a new library that includes more than 500 professionally drawn shapes, and there's a new feature that allows users to reply to comments and join threaded conversations.

Apple is also introducing new auto-correction and text replacement options that are designed to save users time when typing, and these new features are available in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers across both iOS and Mac.

Pages for iOS and Mac now support linked text boxes, and there's a feature allowing users to export documents as fixed layout ePub books. When collaborating with other users on a document, there are new options for changing margins, headers, footers, and paper size in both apps, and in Pages for iOS specifically, there's a new page thumbnail view for better navigation.

In Pages for Mac, Stock and Currency functions will now return data from the previous market day's close.

The same Stock and Currency update is coming to Keynote for Mac, and there's also a new option to edit notes while displaying slides in Light Table view. Also new to the Mac version of Keynote are new pan and zoom options. Light Table view is expanding to Keynote for iOS, and there's an option to edit presenter notes when viewing slides.

Both versions of Numbers are being updated with support for print preview when working on collaborative spreadsheets, and the Insert Stock Quote feature and the Stock and Currency functions now use data from the previous market day's close.

All of Apple's iWork apps are available from the iOS App Store and Mac App Store for free. The apps have been fully free for download since April of 2017.

- Pages for Mac - [Mac App Store]
- Keynote for Mac - [Mac App Store]
- Numbers for Mac - [Mac App Store]

- Pages for iOS - [App Store]
- Keynote for iOS - [App Store]
- Numbers for iOS - [App Store]

Article Link: Apple Releases Updates for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on iOS and Mac

 

[tethead]

OMG, they actually added back in linked text boxes!! Their removal of this feature with the "new" iWork suite several years ago caused me to stop using these for work - and now we're happy with another solution - but at least I can finally open and edit my older documents. I wonder if all my feedback submitted on that finally got read??

 

[Mac-lover3]

OMG, they actually added back in linked text boxes!! Their removal of this feature with the "new" iWork suite several years ago caused me to stop using these for work - and now we're happy with another solution - but at least I can finally open and edit my older documents. I wonder if all my feedback submitted on that finally got read??

I never used Pages '09, what are linked text boxes actually?

 

[Brutonus]

I never used Pages '09, what are linked text boxes actually?

They allow you to link two separate text boxes, so when text does not fit in the first, it overflows in the next. It's all explained on this new help document on Apple: https://support.apple.com/nl-be/HT207731

 

[tethead]

I never used Pages '09, what are linked text boxes actually?

Back then, you could not just type text onto a page - it had to be in a text box. If you had a multiple-page document (as most people do), you then had to link the text boxes between the pages so that typing in one would affect the others. Otherwise, each page/text box was treated as an independent item. It is ridiculous that this was ever the case, and even more ridiculous that it would have been removed without explanation when that huge "update" was released.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Wow, the return of linked text boxes! Better late than never. Will be very interested to see how some of my old Pages documents with linked boxes look in the new version.

 

[usarioclave]

Still no pencil support for iWork? Arrgh!

 

[IJ Reilly]

Back then, you could not just type text onto a page - it had to be in a text box. If you had a multiple-page document (as most people do), you then had to link the text boxes between the pages so that typing in one would affect the others. Otherwise, each page/text box was treated as an independent item. It is ridiculous that this was ever the case, and even more ridiculous that it would have been removed without explanation when that huge "update" was released.

Not correct. Text boxes were always an option.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Back then, you could not just type text onto a page - it had to be in a text box.

Wait.... Apple's word processor didn't let you type directly on the page?

 

[Mac-lover3]

They allow you to link two separate text boxes, so when text does not fit in the first, it overflows in the next. It's all explained on this new help document on Apple: https://support.apple.com/nl-be/HT207731

Back then, you could not just type text onto a page - it had to be in a text box. If you had a multiple-page document (as most people do), you then had to link the text boxes between the pages so that typing in one would affect the others. Otherwise, each page/text box was treated as an independent item. It is ridiculous that this was ever the case, and even more ridiculous that it would have been removed without explanation when that huge "update" was released.

Thanks to the both of you

 

[ajspear]

Still waiting for conditional formatting of cells in Numbers on iOS...

 

[chrono1081]

Wait.... Apple's word processor didn't let you type directly on the page?

It did in iWork 09 and still does. I'm not sure why the posters above are saying you couldn't.

I feel like maybe there is some special circumstance they're not mentioning.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Wait.... Apple's word processor didn't let you type directly on the page?

More accurately, Pages '09 was basically 2 programs in one:

• a "skinny" Word Processor
• a "skinny" DTP (Page Layout) Program

The Word Processor side worked pretty similar to how Pages has worked in the last few years (and yes, you could just type into a page).

The DTP side gave people who wanted to make something that looked like magazines, fancy newsletters, etc extraordinarily good control over where text could be placed... and flowed page to page. It seemed to have many of the best features of "fat" DTP software via a relatively easy-to-use Apple UI.

When Apple decided to feature-sync Pages between Macs & iDevices, the DTP side features that separated it from being "just a word processor" were many of the popular features that were dropped. And this one- linked text boxes- was one of the biggies that was dropped. Glad to see it's finally come back again. I hope it works as well as it did 8 years ago.

Many of the gripes about missing Pages '09 revolve around missing the DTP-side features of Pages '09. It was a really good "skinny" DTP program (and still is).

 

[Michael Scrip]

More accurately, Pages '09 was basically 2 programs in one:

• a "skinny" Word Processor
• a "skinny" DTP (Page Layout) Program

The Word Processor side worked pretty similar to how Pages has worked in the last few years (and yes, you could just type into a page).

The DTP side gave people who wanted to make something that looked like magazines, fancy newsletters, etc extraordinarily good control over where text could be placed... and flowed page to page. It seemed to have many of the best features of "fat" DTP software via a relatively easy-to-use Apple UI.

When Apple decided to feature-sync Pages between Macs & iDevices, the DTP side features that separated it from being "just a word processor" were many of the popular features that were dropped. And this one- linked text boxes- was one of the biggies that was dropped. Glad to see it's finally come back again. I hope it works as well as it did 8 years ago.

Thanks for the explanation.

Also... hearing about linked textboxes took me back to high school and Aldus PageMaker.

 

[IJ Reilly]

It did in iWork 09 and still does. I'm not sure why the posters above are saying you couldn't.

I feel like maybe there is some special circumstance they're not mentioning.

Beats me how anyone could get such a wrong idea. The first version of Pages combined word processing and page layout functions into one document type. Beginning with Pages 2.0, the document types were separated and became somewhat more modal. Text boxes (linked or not) have always been an option for Word Processing documents. Only when you start with a Page Layout document type are boxes required for text.
[doublepost=1497380115][/doublepost]

More accurately, Pages '09 was basically 2 programs in one:

FWIW, as I mentioned, it was not always this way. In the first version of Pages all of the page layout and word processing functions were available in one document type. They pulled them apart in the next version. I thought the original approach was better.

 

[epca12]

I still prefer the older version of pages, but it's good to see them updating it

 

[GeneralChang]

More accurately, Pages '09 was basically 2 programs in one:

• a "skinny" Word Processor
• a "skinny" DTP (Page Layout) Program

The Word Processor side worked pretty similar to how Pages has worked in the last few years (and yes, you could just type into a page).

The DTP side gave people who wanted to make something that looked like magazines, fancy newsletters, etc extraordinarily good control over where text could be placed... and flowed page to page. It seemed to have many of the best features of "fat" DTP software via a relatively easy-to-use Apple UI.

When Apple decided to feature-sync Pages between Macs & iDevices, the DTP side features that separated it from being "just a word processor" were many of the popular features that were dropped. And this one- linked text boxes- was one of the biggies that was dropped. Glad to see it's finally come back again. I hope it works as well as it did 8 years ago.

Many of the gripes about missing Pages '09 revolve around missing the DTP-side features of Pages '09. It was a really good "skinny" DTP program (and still is).

With the addition of linked text boxes, it's actually back to being fully useable for me, which is pretty cool.

 

[CrystalQuest76]

I never used Pages for much more than basic documents and notes. But my friends used it for PTA newsletters. I do remember that Pages used to have many features and thought it was wrong to pull those features. I think apple developers pulled those features because they wanted (or were told by upper management) that the features needed to have parity between Mac, iOS and web versions of iWorks applications. It will be nice when apple developers bring back all the features that used to be in Mac iWorks for all the various platforms. Having the new additional built-in symbols into Pages is nice.

It would also be nice if they added back all the cool and fun special effects that existed in iMovie from ten years ago.

As a person that used Apple Works on a Mac Classic I for undergrad school, I have been feeling oddly nostalgic and amazed at how things have changed. I created some really great papers with embedded images (even printed in color) and impressed my profs. For physics intro class I was able to use MS Equation Editor and type up nice looking lab notes that no one else knew how to do. Now it can all be created on a phone. Now those equations can be created in a free app like MathPad on the iPhone or iPad and imported into Pages.

 

[JGIGS]

Is there actually an advantage to using this applications when Office seems so much more superior?

I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything I'm sincerely curious as to what the benefit would be to using them vs office.

 

[BWhaler]

I love iWork, and for me and my company to move to iPad as a laptop replacement, it needs to be desktop quality.

Moments ago in iOS Numbers, I just noticed there is no way to remove a border. Or customize it. Separately, there is no way to customize master slides in iOS Keynote outside of adding standard titles and body copy. Want to add a company logo to master slide? You are out of luck.

With that said, this is the second update to iWork in the past few months. This looks like a significant update, as was the last one. Hopefully Apple is committed to this and understands that Microsoft Office and Google Apps are real threTs to the Apple ecosystem and they can't be dependent on competitors to provide the tools so criticL to so many of apple's customers' workflow. iWork is about control and pressure.

I love iWork, faults and all. Thank you Apple for the updates, and keep me coming.

 

[Janichsan]

Pages for iOS and Mac now support linked text boxes, …

It took them four years to re-implement this. Four. Years.

 

[BMcCoy]

Is there actually an advantage to using this applications when Office seems so much more superior?

I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything I'm sincerely curious as to what the benefit would be to using them vs office.

The iWork apps are free.
They have an Apple-style about them, and familiarity is important in productivity apps.

Ummm, not sure if there are specific features that keep users loyal..?

Otherwise, yes, Office is superior, ubiquitous and integrated into many systems, workflows, work environments, universities and quite simply more widely liked and used.

I think there's a reason there is zero mention of iWork in any Apple keynotes/releases..

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Many of the gripes about missing Pages '09 revolve around missing the DTP-side features of Pages '09. It was a really good "skinny" DTP program (and still is).

It is certainly miles better than Word, but it is also still miles worse than Pages '09 in that aspect. The skinny DTP part of Pages '09 is what made is so amazing.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I've said it before: if Apple wants Pages to be a unified (featureset) Word Processor across Mac, iDevices and the Web, I sure wish they would go back and isolate the DTP-side of Pages 09 and roll out a Mac-only "Apple Simple Publisher" or something like that. That side of Page 09 still mostly works but you know it's only a matter of time when some macOS update is going to make crucial parts fail. What would be wrong with having an extra iWork program exclusively for full (real) computers? At least in my case, I'd pay pretty well for an updated version of that with some confidence it will continue to get some attention going forward for the next few years.

 

[69Mustang]

Otherwise, yes, Office is superior, ubiquitous and integrated into many systems, workflows, work environments, universities and quite simply more widely liked and used.

I think there's a reason there is zero mention of iWork in any Apple keynotes/releases..

IIRC they actually highlighted MS' Office suite in the keynote for the intro of the Mac Pro and highlighted it in another keynote as well. Always seemed odd to me.