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Apple Updates iWork Apps With New iOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 Features

CarAnalogy said:
But if you were going to make a new document of your own on your own computer that has an Excel license, would you choose to use Numbers or Excel?

Genuinely asking and curious as to why.

This is how Microsoft won the desktop in the first place. People wanted the same thing at home as they had at work.
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The majority of the time I will use Numbers. It handles all of the basic data manipulation I need and if I need something specific that requires Excel, I'll go there (generally it's Numbers for personal work, Google Sheets for collaboration, and if I have to, Excel). For presenting my data, Numbers is vastly superior to Excel in terms of layout and presentation.
 
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oink_oink said:
As someone who uses multiple platforms, this walled-garden garbage is one of the first things I delete.
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It's understandable that for cross-platform needs you may choose other software applications. That said, these apps are far from garbage. I prefer using Keynote, Pages, and Numbers to their Microsoft equivalents for UX and the quality of presentation I can provide with minimal fuss.
 
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Cannot find a cogent list of the new functions in Numbers (it isn't in the Help file they reference) nor of the new ability to let calculation results 'spill over' into adjacent cells.

I have discovered that Numbers now supports matrix functions like matrix multiply, matrix inverse, determinate, etc. Unfortunately some of the functions, like matrix inverse, can only work on matrices up to a trivial 9x9!!
 
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Pages, Numbers, and Keynote would completely enough for me. Yes, the lack of ODF supports is annoying. And the the bug when converting Word documents (also true for Excel and PowerPoint) is extremely annoying.
 
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WarmWinterHat said:
In my case, Excel, because Numbers doesn't even come close to parity. I spend 1/2 of every work day in Excel.

So, not only are iWork apps not cross-platform, they just aren't as good. I've heard they keynote is okay, but since it doesn't intergrade with excel, I have no use for it.
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What about google sheets compared to numbers? I agree numbers isn’t as powerful as Excel, but I feel sheets is pretty powerful. I do think Pages is way better than Word, and same for Keynote.
 
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Until these apps can directly edit & save in Microsoft-compatible formats there's just no way anyone can use them for actual work.

I like Numbers for very specific things, since it's nice having free-floating tables in the same sheet, something Excel can't do very effectively.

I do prefer Keynote to Powerpoint but inevitably have to convert to powerpoint for when I give talks.

Pages is pointless and I can't remember the last time I actually used it.
 
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• Make text edits using Writing Tools directly in your document (requiresApple Intelligence and iOS or iPadOS 18.4)

Everyone knows you can’t edit text in Pages on iOS. Editing text is literally one of the important capabilities that are missing from iPadOS according to an article I read on the internet!! /s
 
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magicvash said:
Until these apps can directly edit & save in Microsoft-compatible formats there's just no way anyone can use them for actual work.

I like Numbers for very specific things, since it's nice having free-floating tables in the same sheet, something Excel can't do very effectively.

I do prefer Keynote to Powerpoint but inevitably have to convert to powerpoint for when I give talks.

Pages is pointless and I can't remember the last time I actually used it.
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I’ve always told anyone that if Microsoft-compatible is what they need, Microsoft makes a suite that is the most Microsoft-compatible of any Microsoft compatible solution out there. It wouldn’t even make sense for Apple to try to be more Microsoft than actual Microsoft, so, they make their apps for people that aren’t doing “actual work.” There are tons of science reports, event fliers, home budgets that can be done without ever touching Microsoft Office.
 
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CarAnalogy said:
iWork in general seems a little overlooked these days. Used to be a major feature of the Mac. I guess Microsoft has continued to succeed in making Office indispensable, like it or not.
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It's been a long time since Apple featured it prominently, unfortunately.

In my experience, Keynote is massively superior to PowerPoint, so long as you have a Mac to run the presentation. I find that Pages does everything I need, but I know there are certain workflows that require Word (especially if collaborating with others). As for Numbers, again, works amazingly well for me, but I know Excel is truly a beast and Numbers doesn't even touch its feature set.
 
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magicvash said:
Until these apps can directly edit & save in Microsoft-compatible formats there's just no way anyone can use them for actual work.
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Huh? I've done Keynote decks for events and have been paid to do that work. So I'd consider that "actual work".

I've also discovered that Keynote's export to .pptx has gotten good enough that I can do 95% of my work in a nice, clean Keynote file, and then when I'm done, export it and do a few final compatibility tweaks in the godforsaken UI hell hole that is PowerPoint.
 
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Use Keynote daily for classroom presentations. Pages works well for small documents; would probably never use it for a large document. Numbers, as someone that used to use Excel 6+ hours/day, is just too weird. I understand how it works. And I can get it to work. But my mind thinks in terms of Excel. (And Google sheets is very similar to it).
 
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magicvash said:
Until these apps can directly edit & save in Microsoft-compatible formats there's just no way anyone can use them for actual work.
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I really tire of the "actual work" or what is "professional" claims. If your workflow requires particular applications or resources, then use those applications and resources.

Final Cut Pro isn't a "pro" application, Macs aren't "pro" computers, Pages, Keynote, Numbers can't be used for "actual work". Whatever. The argument itself is ridiculous and more often than not, I'm told these apps don't do "N" at all, when in fact, they do "N" just fine. Is this true for every "N"? Of course not, but geesh people. Do your work and let others do theirs.
 
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magicvash said:
Until these apps can directly edit & save in Microsoft-compatible formats there's just no way anyone can use them for actual work.

I like Numbers for very specific things, since it's nice having free-floating tables in the same sheet, something Excel can't do very effectively.

I do prefer Keynote to Powerpoint but inevitably have to convert to powerpoint for when I give talks.

Pages is pointless and I can't remember the last time I actually used it.
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Pages is a damn site better than Word. Graphics stay where you put them rather than jumping around. Editing is much easier. I only use Word if I am forced to any more - too much bloat.
 
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CarAnalogy said:
iWork in general seems a little overlooked these days. Used to be a major feature of the Mac. I guess Microsoft has continued to succeed in making Office indispensable, like it or not.
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I disagree - Apple makes regular updates to the platform. It still is a major feature of the Mac as it comes with it and I can use on my iPad and on iCloud. Pages and Keynote are as good as the Microsoft versions. Even Numbers has matured with pivot tables, and growing formula implementation. It doesn't have the high end data plug ins to a Power BI stack -- but the overwhelming majority of users do not need that. I just wrote a professional article in Pages and it had all the footnote, endnote, formatting and collaboration tools I needed.
 
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MacRumors said:


Apple today updated its iWork apps Keynote, Numbers, and Pages with new features that require iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, or macOS 15.4.

iWork-macOS-Trio-Feature.jpg

For example, in the latest version of each app, you can now make text edits using Writing Tools directly in a presentation, spreadsheet, or document. This feature requires Apple Intelligence, which is available on iPhone 15 Pro models, all iPhone 16 models, any Mac or iPad model with an M1 chip or newer, or the iPad mini with the A17 Pro chip.

In addition, Apple says you can now export a presentation, spreadsheet, or document in another format using the Shortcuts app, and all three apps gained improved copy and paste integration with the Freeform app. Each app also received a few other enhancements that are not tied to the latest software updates.

The release notes for version 14.4 of each app on iOS follow.

Keynote:Numbers:pages:iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4 were all released to the general public this week, following more than a month of beta testing.

The updated iWork apps are available in the App Store across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Article Link: Apple Updates iWork Apps With New iOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 Features
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I like Keynote but honestly it’s still light years behind Microsoft PowerPoint. Still no accessibility checker or editor and no Smart graphics to name a few features I really miss. It is definitely showing its age.
 
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Aeronauts said:
Agreed. I think Apple have some deal with Microsoft that they won’t develop a fully fledged competitor to Office in return for Microsoft continued development and support of Office on Mac.

That is a shame as I would happily ditch my Office subscription if iWork had a pro version with a lot more functionality.
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Maybe Apple don't think it is worth it due to Office having the market.

MS knocked a lot of good office suites off the market over the years, Lotus, word perfect and others. Thankfully for home users there are still some choices, including Libre office. That don't mean that people can't use other software in offices, I know someone who run a business and use LibreOffice, got little choice really as he uses linux. I know it is possible to use Office online, but if he wants to run software locally then it has to be what is compatible with Linux
 
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I used to use Libre Office on Windows, but decided to try Number and pages when I changed to Mac and stuck with them. But, I have no interest in the AI stuff.
 
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