iWork for iCloud Updated with Eight New Languages, 50 Fonts and Improved Document Editing

[Traverse]

And it still doesn't have parity anyway.



I paid 20$ each for the 3 pieces of software on OS X. I paid 10$ for Pages on iOS. Not expensive, but not free either.

Exactly. I only mentioned Pages above, but I bought iWork for OS X for $60 and iWork for iOS for $30 years ago. I was disappointed with the iOS version, but happy with OS X Pages and Keynote. That was $90 which is nothing to sneeze at. Then they introduced the new iOS versions which were a much needed upgrade followed by those stripped down OS X versions.

For basic word processing (and even mildly complex), the new Pages is still solid. I've used it a decent amount and what it does it usually does well. It's just that it doesn't do everything it used to.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

MS Office is just better. I'm sorry but the new Office apps on the iPad are great. Look at what Google's been able to do with their office, they built it from scratch and it's a complete piece of software.

Apple just doesn't do great productivity software. From Apple works to modern day iWork, it's all just a half-assed attempt at software, just so that they're able to say that they have their own Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

A case can be made for MS Office being better than iWork - that would be expected, given that it costs quite a bit more and Microsoft has been making Office for over twice as long as Apple has been making iWork. But saying Google Docs is better than iWork is laughable. They're missing far more features than iWork is.

The absolute only thing that Google does better than iWork is handle concurrent edits. I haven't needed to have multiple people edit a document concurrently with me since April 2014, but we initially tried Pages and just kept running into issues with it saying we made conflicting edits, even though the sections we were each working on were several pages apart from each other. Google Docs, on the other hand, is able to handle concurrent edits quite seamlessly.

On iWork vs Office, I find that iWork generally produces nicer looking results with less effort, while Office has more features. So if I need more exotic functions or complicated charts than normal, I go with Office. Otherwise, I go with iWork.

 

[gadgetguy03]

It's just that it doesn't do everything it used to.

That, I feel, is a valid argument. Sadly, we won't get any answers from Apple as to why they changed course.

In all honesty the programs you paid for are still there (except the iOS versions) but they won't ever be updated again because the focus has shifted towards a more "home" rather than a "prosumer" user base.

I do think they will eventually get back to where they were but for now it does what I need it to do and I'm happy. I can definitely understand the frustration though. When someone says "Hey we are this!" and people buy it for that purpose, it's upsetting to say later on "Hey we made it free but now it's this instead!"

 

[MacHiavelli]

But British English still isn't available.

 

[JHankwitz]

MS Office is just better. I'm sorry but the new Office apps on the iPad are great. Look at what Google's been able to do with their office, they built it from scratch and it's a complete piece of software.

Apple just doesn't do great productivity software. From Apple works to modern day iWork, it's all just a half-assed attempt at software, just so that they're able to say that they have their own Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

You get what you pay for, or didn't you know that.

 

[TXCherokee]

A case can be made for MS Office being better than iWork - that would be expected, given that it costs quite a bit more and Microsoft has been making Office for over twice as long as Apple has been making iWork. But saying Google Docs is better than iWork is laughable. They're missing far more features than iWork is.

The absolute only thing that Google does better than iWork is handle concurrent edits. I haven't needed to have multiple people edit a document concurrently with me since April 2014, but we initially tried Pages and just kept running into issues with it saying we made conflicting edits, even though the sections we were each working on were several pages apart from each other. Google Docs, on the other hand, is able to handle concurrent edits quite seamlessly.

On iWork vs Office, I find that iWork generally produces nicer looking results with less effort, while Office has more features. So if I need more exotic functions or complicated charts than normal, I go with Office. Otherwise, I go with iWork.

Yes and Yes. Couldn't agree more.

 

[Lusitano]

Brazilian Portuguese... apple keeps humiliating Portugal.

 

[zedsdead]

I agree. It's absolutely OUTRAGEOUS that you can't get everything you want from software that is completely free and for which you paid nothing.

It is absolutely paid for. The price is built into the hardware; Tim Cook said it himself. Great excuse...crap software because its "free" (which it's not of course). Not to mention that I PAID money for iWork many times over the years, and on iOS. Those dollars weren't imaginary. It's only free because Apple's build the price into the hardware costs which is why they are more expensive.

It is WIDELY KNOWN that Apple butchered iWork in the recent redesign of it; just like they did to Final Cut. Final Cut has come along and finally a nice piece of software, but it took two years. I can only hope iWork will do the same. The first year of updates was OK, but there is still a long way to go with all the stuff that was gutted out of it.

As for iWork on iCloud, like most Apple services, it is lackluster. Over a full year in BETA (which it still is), and still lagging behind both Apple's own software and the competitions.

 

[jhfenton]

But British English still isn't available.

You're speaking it wrong.

 

[brianvictor7]

iWork @ iCloud NEEDS to be unified with the other apps. Especially the fact that it doesn't support builds in Keynote which is RIDICULOUS!

The Apps are still not the same, and the Mac versions are ahead of iOS. I thought redesigning them would have made complete feature parity but I guess not. Not to mention the features STILL MISSING.

Agreed. The idea of using these cross platform apps is that you can get important work done on the fly on any device at hand and be confident it won't get screwed up.

I agree. It's absolutely OUTRAGEOUS that you can't get everything you want from software that is completely free and for which you paid nothing.

It is not free. We pay for it through the nose when we purchase our premium priced Apple products. This suite is being billed as being part of that package. So it is not at all unreasonable to expect it to be as refined and functional a product as any other within the company.

 

[MacHiavelli]

There is no way that Word is a professional tool for publishers or for professional writers creating long documents.

Word is a clerical tool for clerical staff writing letters or 2/3 page documents with simple layouts.

Anything else Word tries to do is an amateurish fudge.

 

[brianvictor7]

I don't agree. It all depends on the intended audience. Microsoft is intended for the professional user whereas iWorks is intended for the casual user. At home I do not need or want all of the features in MS-office it complicates the product. If I am a publisher, then iWorks clearly won't do. But if I am at home just writing stuff or a student just writing a paper for class, then Pages can work just fine. Personally I like Keynote better than powerpoint even with its few limitations. The only thing were I really think Apple lacks is in Numbers because they have never provided a pivot table alternative. This is useful even at home for my budget and investment spreadsheets I create.

iWorks for the professional Publisher or Accountant/Statistian will not do. But they were not the intended audience. Maybe the partnership with IBM will yield a version that is more powerful for the workplace.

Thanks for this post. It is about as succinct and fair an assessment of iWork vs MS Office as I've ever found.

I've been using Pages more lately in writing my book. I love it. It is clean and has better vertical space thanks to using a sidebar instead of a ribbon. The problem? I can't use it for all my documents. I want one program to rule them all. I'd do that with MS Word if it weren't for the darn space-gobbing ribbon that I have to constantly open/close and open again if I want something.

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There is no way that Word is a professional tool for publishers or for professional writers creating long documents.

Word is a clerical tool for clerical staff writing letters or 2/3 page documents with simple layouts.

Anything else Word tries to do is an amateurish fudge.

What programs would you recommend? I'm genuinely interested to know because MS Office has been the only program I've ever been allowed to work with at my jobs and I'd love to find something better.

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A case can be made for MS Office being better than iWork - that would be expected, given that it costs quite a bit more and Microsoft has been making Office for over twice as long as Apple has been making iWork. But saying Google Docs is better than iWork is laughable. They're missing far more features than iWork is.

The absolute only thing that Google does better than iWork is handle concurrent edits. I haven't needed to have multiple people edit a document concurrently with me since April 2014, but we initially tried Pages and just kept running into issues with it saying we made conflicting edits, even though the sections we were each working on were several pages apart from each other. Google Docs, on the other hand, is able to handle concurrent edits quite seamlessly.

On iWork vs Office, I find that iWork generally produces nicer looking results with less effort, while Office has more features. So if I need more exotic functions or complicated charts than normal, I go with Office. Otherwise, I go with iWork.

Couldn't agree more with this assessment, especially the bold-type. Really, Apple could make iWork into a market-dominating software suite, but it doesn't seem to want to put in the effort (yet).

 

[IJ Reilly]

I don't agree. It all depends on the intended audience. Microsoft is intended for the professional user whereas iWorks is intended for the casual user. At home I do not need or want all of the features in MS-office it complicates the product. If I am a publisher, then iWorks clearly won't do. But if I am at home just writing stuff or a student just writing a paper for class, then Pages can work just fine. Personally I like Keynote better than powerpoint even with its few limitations. The only thing were I really think Apple lacks is in Numbers because they have never provided a pivot table alternative. This is useful even at home for my budget and investment spreadsheets I create.

iWorks for the professional Publisher or Accountant/Statistian will not do. But they were not the intended audience. Maybe the partnership with IBM will yield a version that is more powerful for the workplace.

Baloney. Seriously. I've used iWork professionally for many years. It was excellent for a wide variety of purposes until the massive downgrade it received, particularly to Pages, in the latest iteration.

I wasn't even going to comment on this thread since it seems like this debate goes on forever, but it's impossible to ignore completely specious comments like these from people who presume to define other people's professional needs.

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That, I feel, is a valid argument. Sadly, we won't get any answers from Apple as to why they changed course.

We know why even if Apple doesn't say so explicitly: it was to create feature parity between the desktop and iOS versions. This was a reasonable goal, but they could have reached it without throwing the existing user base overboard.

 

[ssgbryan]

There is no way that Word is a professional tool for publishers or for professional writers creating long documents.

Word is a clerical tool for clerical staff writing letters or 2/3 page documents with simple layouts.

Anything else Word tries to do is an amateurish fudge.

I have created multiple 300+ page documents with it.

Have fun with LaTex......

 

[mdelvecchio]

MS Office is just better. I'm sorry but the new Office apps on the iPad are great. Look at what Google's been able to do with their office, they built it from scratch and it's a complete piece of software.

Apple just doesn't do great productivity software. From Apple works to modern day iWork, it's all just a half-assed attempt at software, just so that they're able to say that they have their own Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

works fine for me.

what you have to understand is that iWork is *not* trying to be MS Office. it's not trying to be "everything to everybody" like Office. no. it's the 80% rule -- simple functionality to cover the needs of 80% of their customers. most of which are non-techies. it's perfect for these people, and costs $0.

mission accomplished.

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And it still doesn't have parity anyway.

I paid 20$ each for the 3 pieces of software on OS X. I paid 10$ for Pages on iOS. Not expensive, but not free either.

that was in the past. it's $0 now and that's how it will be judged.

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You paid more for an entire computer than for software? Please, tell me more.

whoosh, the point went over his head. he said he bought a computer in 2008 (which was much more than your software) that is now outdated and doesn't do the job.

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It is absolutely paid for. The price is built into the hardware; Tim Cook said it himself. Great excuse...crap software because its "free" (which it's not of course). Not to mention that I PAID money for iWork many times over the years, and on iOS. Those dollars weren't imaginary. It's only free because Apple's build the price into the hardware costs which is why they are more expensive.
[...]
As for iWork on iCloud, like most Apple services, it is lackluster. Over a full year in BETA (which it still is), and still lagging behind both Apple's own software and the competitions.

1) iwork isnt "crap" software. its casual software; if you're confusing it as enterprise software thats your shortcoming.

2) how many years was gmail in beta? google glass? etc.. not sure if you were crying about those too

 

[brianvictor7]

Baloney. Seriously. I've used iWork professionally for many years. It was excellent for a wide variety of purposes until the massive downgrade it received, particularly to Pages, in the latest iteration.

I wasn't even going to comment on this thread since it seems like this debate goes on forever, but it's impossible to ignore completely specious comments like these from people who presume to define other people's professional needs.

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We know why even if Apple doesn't say so explicitly: it was to create feature parity between the desktop and iOS versions. This was a reasonable goal, but they could have reached it without throwing the existing user base overboard.

I think we can all agree that many professionals will find that the iWork suite meets their needs, but it does not currently have the features that many power users will require.

That said, I think many companies would do just fine if they did switch exclusively to iWork.

 

[mdelvecchio]

It is not free. We pay for it through the nose when we purchase our premium priced Apple products. This suite is being billed as being part of that package. So it is not at all unreasonable to expect it to be as refined and functional a product as any other within the company.

say what! your "premium priced" apple products no longer exist. mac mini: $499. MacBook Air: $899. iMac: $1099. these are inexpensive computers that feature best in class design, build quality, OS, etc... even the Pro is cheaper than Dell equivalent workstation class machines.

that macs aren't expensive anymore is old, old news.

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There is no way that Word is a professional tool for publishers or for professional writers creating long documents.

Word is a clerical tool for clerical staff writing letters or 2/3 page documents with simple layouts.

Anything else Word tries to do is an amateurish fudge.

clearly you don't work in the publishing world. Word is indeed used for manuscript formatting and edit tracking. look it up.

 

[brianvictor7]

say what! your "premium priced" apple products no longer exist. mac mini: $499. MacBook Air: $899. iMac: $1099. these are inexpensive computers that feature best in class design, build quality, OS, etc... even the Pro is cheaper than Dell equivalent workstation class machines.

that macs aren't expensive anymore is old, old news.

Even the low end Macs, iPads and iPhones are still priced up from what you could get for a similarly spec'd machine. They are premium products. The Mac Pro and iMac Retina are about the only machines I can think of which match or beat the specs of other similar devices for the price and they are still high end machines. High end, in most folks' lexicons, is synonymous with premium. This is why I say Macs are priced like premium products.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I think we can all agree that many professionals will find that the iWork suite meets their needs, but it does not currently have the features that many power users will require.

That said, I think many companies would do just fine if they did switch exclusively to iWork.

Power user is another vague and meaningless term, so I don't see what light it sheds on the situation as it exists for legacy iWork users. Apple destroyed our workflow and our documents.

 

[brianvictor7]

Power user is another vague and meaningless term, so I don't see what light it sheds on the situation as it exists for legacy iWork users. Apple destroyed our workflow and our documents.

I completely agree that Apple screwed the pooch on the backwards compatibility in the 2013 update. They stripped features and didn't even warn us.

Also, I suppose "power user" is a rather vague term at that: I think of it as those who use most or all the powerful features that the casual user does not.

Either way, I've been pinging Apple regularly this past year to fix iWork. So far, no success.

 

[dansix]

It would be nice if you could just highlight some text though... Jesus... Pages can't even do simple tasks yet. The person responsible for Pages should be fired.

 

[numlock]

Power user is another vague and meaningless term, so I don't see what light it sheds on the situation as it exists for legacy iWork users. Apple destroyed our workflow and our documents.

and what do you think of those posts that defend it because its free (ie included in the price of expensive computers and ios devices) or that every feature it dosent have is something that only power users require?

 

[Kaibelf]

Even the low end Macs, iPads and iPhones are still priced up from what you could get for a similarly spec'd machine. They are premium products. The Mac Pro and iMac Retina are about the only machines I can think of which match or beat the specs of other similar devices for the price and they are still high end machines. High end, in most folks' lexicons, is synonymous with premium. This is why I say Macs are priced like premium products.

Then BUY SOMETHING ELSE if you are going to complain about it so much.

 

[cjake]

Wrong thread.

 

[kcmac]

Actually, no, it's not about saying any fault is okay, it's about saying that you're really not entitled to anything, and you're more than welcome to use Office 365 if you have an issue.

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Did your copy of '09 stop working, or did you choose (or were you forced) to install the new version?

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I paid far more than that for a 2008 iMac years ago, yet recently bought a new one because it couldn't handle new tasks that I wanted it to do. *shrug* Go figure.

Do you work on the iWork team or something? Chill dude. A lot of us have paid a considerable amount of money over time to use the iWork suite. To be able to have a shot at using desktop and web based versions we now have to either take a drastic step down or continue using a version that has been left behind and is worsening in compatibility with office etc. So take it easy. Just cause you love it doesn't mean everyone has to and vice versa.