Apple Updates Numbers, Pages and Keynote for iOS and Mac With New Features

[ArtOfWarfare]

Equations worked in Pages, probably as far back as 2007. I don't remember when they first appeared (I've used Pages since the beginning). You just need to install Mathtype. Nothing to figure out. Install and it works. The new equation editor is LaTeX based and IMHO is not as easy to use, but Mathtype still works.

Yeah. That's what I did. It was ugly, clunky, and had a tendency to crash or corrupt my documents.

Edit: Oh, and the price tag was insane.

 

[idmean]

Wait, we could not add sup and sub characters before? WAIT, it took them 7 years to add that feature!?

No. They have been there since I can remember. The new feature is way more than that.

 

[TheralSadurns]

YES... Keynote finally has an OBJECTS LIST... call it layers if you are into Photoshop... FINALLY...

 

[mr.bee]

That's my main regret as well. For over a decade, I've been using Pages for a monthly newsletter. When text flow was eliminated, it made my tasks a lot more difficult. I don't know why Apple hasn't figured out how to add the feature back.

I don't think it's a matter of figuring it out. iWork is free software which means it fits in a tight budget, foreseen to be covered in the cost margins of your iOS device and mac. So resources are limited even if the iWork team can do everything. I wouldn't even be surprised if a flexed out iWork exists internally.

 

[NervousFish2]

Apple Pages finally has bookmarking...!!!!! OMG, I could cry. A feature I've been wanting for years. Too bad I've fallen in love with Ulysses as my main editor now. But with this feature, I could see really myself using Pages for putting finishing touches on manuscripts, instead of Word... which means I don't need Word anymore!

 

[Yukon Jack]

Pages (new and old versions) continues to be my go-to word processor.

The old version only because linked text boxes are essential for the news layouts I edit. For the life of me, I cannot understand why it was removed in the first place, and why it appears to be relegated to the feature trash heap.
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I don't think it's a matter of figuring it out. iWork is free software which means it fits in a tight budget, foreseen to be covered in the cost margins of your iOS device and mac. So resources are limited even if the iWork team can do everything. I wouldn't even be surprised if a flexed out iWork exists internally.

But linked text boxes were originally integrated into Pages.

 

[lodolfo]

Has anybody found a way to make the numeric keyboard appear on the updated Numbers? I used to have the ability to switch to a different keyboard with just a numeric keypad, some symbols and some navigation buttons, so when I tapped those I would actually go to the cell on the right, instead of adding +D123 to the current cell, the way it happens if I tap directly on the cell. Now I have to tap "Done" then wait for the keyboard to disappear, then tap on the next cell, then double tap it, then wait for the keyboard to appear, then click on the 123 button to bring up the numbers... and I see no option to make entering numbers in a row less unbearable, like it used to be.

Am I missing something obvious?

 

[AllergyDoc]

Oddly, this update for Pages cannot handle .5 fonts. A document I'm working was set in ITC Garamond 11.5 but in Pages it displays as 12.0. Even the font window displays the font as 11.5. If you type 11.5 in the font size box in Pages the app changes it to 12.0. Dumb.

Edit to add: Also broken is hyphenation. Documents I'm working on no longer hyphenate. If I open old documents, I see hyphenation.

I've reported the font size bug, now have to report this one. Sigh. I have the '09 Pages but I hate to go back.

 

[DanielDD]

Equations worked in Pages, probably as far back as 2007. I don't remember when they first appeared (I've used Pages since the beginning). You just need to install Mathtype. Nothing to figure out. Install and it works. The new equation editor is LaTeX based and IMHO is not as easy to use, but Mathtype still works.

It is really easy to use once you know how to code in LaTeX. it is much more reliable than MathType because it is a WYSIWYM, instead of a WYSIWYG. This means that is less prone for errors in formatting, corruption, and the option to automatically export it to a TeX document.

Oddly, this update for Pages cannot handle .5 fonts. A document I'm working was set in ITC Garamond 11.5 but in Pages it displays as 12.0. Even the font window displays the font as 11.5. If you type 11.5 in the font size box in Pages the app changes it to 12.0. Dumb.

This seems to be a bug. I'm going to report it.

Edit: need to wait for Apple to update the bug reporting tool to allow Pages 6.1 feedback

 

[usarioclave]

How about drawing with pencil? Microsoft office supports it, why not iWork?

 

[IJ Reilly]

The problem is that they want the iOS and Mac versions to be compatible. iOS Pages has never had this feature, therefore it's unlikely to reappear on the Mac. Luckily Pages '09 continues to work when you need it if you had the foresight not to delete it.

I had the foresight to not delete it, but fortunately I also had the foresight to make a freestanding copy, since when I migrated from my old iMac to the new one with Time Machine, it was thoughtfully deleted.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Glad to see a nice update.

 

[tubular]

Hooray for LaTeX/MathML support, and ligature support too.

 

[Traverse]

Nice features to add, but THE key feature missing from this version (that iWork 09 has, linked text boxes) continues to be MIA.

That was my first thought. However, they added back RTF support which is something I thought they'd never do.

 

[2499723]

Add bookmarks to easily link from one part of your document to another

This! I've probably sent half a dozen feedback requests for this feature ever since the 'new' iWork was released. Trying to write up a massive thesis was a pain in Pages, as I couldn't link from the table of contents to the relevant area in the text. Still, I muddled through, because Office 2011 took about 30 years to scroll through even a moderately sized document. The new Office is a big improvement, but loading times are still annoying.

 

[Loge]

Equations worked in Pages, probably as far back as 2007. I don't remember when they first appeared (I've used Pages since the beginning). You just need to install Mathtype. Nothing to figure out. Install and it works. The new equation editor is LaTeX based and IMHO is not as easy to use, but Mathtype still works.

Mathtype isn't free though; it's good to now have the equation support built in.

 

[sudo1996]

I'm 99% certain that those was available prior to the rewrite of iWork.

Yes, I used them all the time in chemistry class. Edit: There was a button too, which I guess is the new feature, but I actually bound keyboard shortcuts to them anyway.
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Mathtype isn't free though; it's good to now have the equation support built in.

Well, I pretty much don't use Pages or MS Word anymore as I've replaced them mostly with LaTeX. It was worth the investment because of all the math notation I have to type, plus BibTex was great for my essay on the Syrian Civil War back in freshman year.

 

[DanielDD]

Mathtype isn't free though; it's good to now have the equation support built in.

Actually, you can download MathType for a 30 day demo and then decide to run the Lite version. It lacks some of the nice features, but it supports all features of Microsoft Word equation editor + a nice library of fonts.
Either way, I prefer to use LaTeX notation from now on but I can see people that don't want to fiddle with the semantic structure of LaTeX and MathML

 

[TheralSadurns]

This! I've probably sent half a dozen feedback requests for this feature ever since the 'new' iWork was released. Trying to write up a massive thesis was a pain in Pages, as I couldn't link from the table of contents to the relevant area in the text. Still, I muddled through, because Office 2011 took about 30 years to scroll through even a moderately sized document. The new Office is a big improvement, but loading times are still annoying.

I'm sorry to say this... but... your workflow is simply wrong here. Neither in Pages NOR in Word should you EVER create a table of contents... and from THERE link to the chapters. Simply use the corresponding styles and have the ToC created FOR YOU... and then format the ToC to your liking.

 

[zohaali146]

I have always preferred pages over word...Great app

 

[hugoniot]

Has anybody found a way to make the numeric keyboard appear on the updated Numbers? I used to have the ability to switch to a different keyboard with just a numeric keypad, some symbols and some navigation buttons, so when I tapped those I would actually go to the cell on the right, instead of adding +D123 to the current cell, the way it happens if I tap directly on the cell. Now I have to tap "Done" then wait for the keyboard to disappear, then tap on the next cell, then double tap it, then wait for the keyboard to appear, then click on the 123 button to bring up the numbers... and I see no option to make entering numbers in a row less unbearable, like it used to be.

Am I missing something obvious?

I have the same question. It is now a lot more difficult and time consuming to enter data!

 

[Chrissy1608]

Has anybody found a way to make the numeric keyboard appear on the updated Numbers? I used to have the ability to switch to a different keyboard with just a numeric keypad, some symbols and some navigation buttons, so when I tapped those I would actually go to the cell on the right, instead of adding +D123 to the current cell, the way it happens if I tap directly on the cell. Now I have to tap "Done" then wait for the keyboard to disappear, then tap on the next cell, then double tap it, then wait for the keyboard to appear, then click on the 123 button to bring up the numbers... and I see no option to make entering numbers in a row less unbearable, like it used to be.

Am I missing something obvious?

I'm also having this issue. It's extremely frustrating to enter numbers in Numbers now..

There does seem to be a numeric keyboard available as seen in the App Store listing:

Just have no idea how to access it or if it's only available when entering formulae. Hopefully not!

 

[dysamoria]

Holy cow. It took almost FOUR FREAKING YEARS to get RTF file support put back in Pages. How many other features are still missing from the "new" retrograde iWork suite that were in iWork '09?

 

[IJ Reilly]

Holy cow. It took almost FOUR FREAKING YEARS to get RTF file support put back in Pages. How many other features are still missing from the "new" retrograde iWork suite that were in iWork '09?

Don't get me started.

 

[Chrissy1608]

Has anybody found a way to make the numeric keyboard appear on the updated Numbers? I used to have the ability to switch to a different keyboard with just a numeric keypad, some symbols and some navigation buttons, so when I tapped those I would actually go to the cell on the right, instead of adding +D123 to the current cell, the way it happens if I tap directly on the cell. Now I have to tap "Done" then wait for the keyboard to disappear, then tap on the next cell, then double tap it, then wait for the keyboard to appear, then click on the 123 button to bring up the numbers... and I see no option to make entering numbers in a row less unbearable, like it used to be.

Am I missing something obvious?

I actually just downloaded the iPhone version to try it out and there is a button above the keyboard which reveals the keypad option:

It looks like this button is missing on the iPad version or at least I can't find it.