These apps have been around for a while. Why has literally no one succeeded in making an app that converts these formats to something more common? I remember the olden days when to "read" a Pages doc on a Windows computer you had to dig into the .zip folder and extract a PDF of the Quick Look preview. I haven't tried that in a while but presumably it still works. At any rate, how has no one figured out how to convert these proprietary formats into something else?
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[iWork] Why is it so hard for anyone else to create a Pages/Numbers/Keynote reader?
- Thread starter izzy0242mr
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bogdanw
macrumors G3
LibreOffice
https://books.libreoffice.org/en/GS262/GS26210-FileFormatsSecurityExporting.html
Apple Pages (.pages)
Apple Numbers 2 (.numbers)
Apple Keynote 5 (.key)
https://books.libreoffice.org/en/GS262/GS26210-FileFormatsSecurityExporting.html
Apple Pages (.pages)
Apple Numbers 2 (.numbers)
Apple Keynote 5 (.key)
Whoa! Is this a newer development?
Interestingly, the official LibreOffice viewer app on mobile (Android) does NOT support opening these documents.
Fishrrman
macrumors Nehalem
Thanks for the info about LibreOffice being able to open newer Pages/Numbers documents.
I realized it could open -older- files (such as AppleWorks), but not "the latest".
I tried launching LibreOffice and then opening a Pages WP doc and a Numbers Spreadsheet. It opened both, but the fonts were "off". For the Numbers spreadsheet, all the data and formulas came through, but again, some formatting was off (for instance, numbers needed commas at the "thousands", etc.).
But it DOES get "most of the job" done...
I realized it could open -older- files (such as AppleWorks), but not "the latest".
I tried launching LibreOffice and then opening a Pages WP doc and a Numbers Spreadsheet. It opened both, but the fonts were "off". For the Numbers spreadsheet, all the data and formulas came through, but again, some formatting was off (for instance, numbers needed commas at the "thousands", etc.).
But it DOES get "most of the job" done...
bogdanw
macrumors G3
It's not new, but it had issues.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/batch-covert-numbers-to-pdf.2400482/
Since Feb 2025, ONLYOFFICE has support for "Apple iWork formats: Pages, Keynote, Numbers"
https://community.onlyoffice.com/t/...es-keynote-numbers-hwp-formats-and-more/12837
There are some new websites
"iWorkViewer - Open Apple iWork Files Online" https://iworkviewer.com/
Pages Reader https://pages-reader.vercel.app/
https://github.com/AeonReon/pages-reader
I have never used Apple's apps, I've installed them occasionally for tests like the one above.
You can also do it right at iCloud.com. Open the document there and save it as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint (among other file formats). You do need an Apple account though.
Back when I was building a lot of Keynote decks in a corporate environment, I wished sorely for a Windows-based viewer so people without Macs could see what I was building without my having to export a PPT file that would inevitably look worse. People loved the quality of the decks, but not the inability to open them natively.
I haven't used Pages for a while but if you go to the 'Export' command in the 'File' menu you should have the option to save it as a word document, pdf etc. That's from inside pages.
The 'Share' command lets you do this too- you must choose 'Export and send' and then it gives you a wide range of formats to send it in. (Share being the weird piece of paper with an arrow through it icon)
The 'Share' command lets you do this too- you must choose 'Export and send' and then it gives you a wide range of formats to send it in. (Share being the weird piece of paper with an arrow through it icon)
I know. I've used iWork for like 15 years. That's not my question.
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p33t3r
macrumors regular
As the apps are free to use, why would there be interest in creating a separate converter for their formats? As others have stated, you can download them for free and export to whichever compatible format you like, however maybe without all the bells and whistles.
When MS used proprietary formats there was a genuine case for converters (I seem to remember quite an expensive product that you had to use back in the 90s and that didn't always work), as MS Office was not a free product so it was not a case of just download the app and export, but even that point is no longer valid with MS changing to open xml-based formats.
When MS used proprietary formats there was a genuine case for converters (I seem to remember quite an expensive product that you had to use back in the 90s and that didn't always work), as MS Office was not a free product so it was not a case of just download the app and export, but even that point is no longer valid with MS changing to open xml-based formats.
By “bells and whistles” what you really mean are “design details” -- and yes, they’re important. Also, the OP was positing the need for a viewer, not yet another converter.
I can export a carefully built Keynote out to PPT, but it looks like ass when my builds and animations are replaced with PPT’s versions. A Windows-based viewer would mean the end user could see the same exact deck with the exact same details.
p33t3r
macrumors regular
I see what you mean, and I agree that Apple should work on its export formats to also be able to export the design details properly, or release Windows versions of the suite, but that will of course never happen. I fail to see that there would be a market for a third party viewer app big enough to offset the costs for reverse-engineering Apple's entire document formats.
I think what’s being proposed (wished for) is that Apple would make iWork more of a first-class citizen on Windows -- at least as a viewer. Agree, probably no third-party developer would find it worth doing.