Microsoft Launches New Office Apps for iPhone, Makes Creating and Basic Editing Free on iOS

[Glassed Silver]

Not really sure what there is to complain about. If you don't download it, how will the app just being available clog/take up space on your devices? It's not like this is the U2 download.

As with everything, some will find it useful and some won't. It's free for those who want it. But to complain about it taking up space on your device when you could, I don't know, not download it seems a little like complaining just to complain.

I won't of course, I'm just trying to make sense of this addition that ends still before some very basic features like pivot tables.

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[Ed217]

Excel works on the iPhone. Powerpoint and Word doesn't from the looks of it...iPad only.

Says iPad only here.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

For some (myself included) this is pretty good!

I create a lot of presentations on my work pc and would love to take them to present via the iPad. The ability to correct last minute spell errors etc are a welcome addition

OK, now that you mention it... Yeah, how many times has each one of us sat through powerpoints from hell that are filled with comments from the presenter like 'Oh, I need to change that', or 'The URL should be...'

I've gotten away from using Office, mainly because the install on my main mac stopped working when I uninstalled a much earlier version. It apparently killed the license authorization, and since it came from TechNet, I don't have access to the codes anymore. Paying for something I used very rarely to begin with is against my religion.

Odd too that the install doesn't even work for viewing Office documents. It's so hammered.

 

[iSee]

Free editing! Yes!

This is a really nice development.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Just hope that Windows 10 is free...

And wonder where Windows 9 went.

Is OSX so great that they had to come out with Windows X?

 

[mdlooker]

When I tried to download each, they all tell me to download it to my iPad.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

And wonder where Windows 9 went.

Is OSX so great that they had to come out with Windows X?

That really is the reason. With the 2nd gen Xbox, they called it the 360 rather than the Xbox 2 as people would see that as being a lesser console than the PS3.

 

[drewcosten]

When I tried to download each, they all tell me to download it to my iPad.

It looks like the update is still propagating. I got the same error at first, but I'm now able to download all three of them (though I did have to go to Updates > Purchased to find them).

 

[Habakuk]

In addition to expanding its Office apps to the iPhone and updating its iPad apps, Microsoft has also decided to offer the core Office experience on the iPhone and iPad to all users for free. That means Office users will no longer be required to have an Office 365 subscription in order to access features like basic editing.

But you need a Microsoft account. Deleted.

 

[Porco]

Just installed Word in my iPhone. Perhaps some of you are still getting the previous versions.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Numbers is not as good as Excel

I remember when they updated it in '09 they were on track to be as good as Excel within a year or two... but of course they instead decided to redo everything instead... I haven't checked it out since their redoing because I haven't needed to use spreadsheets for anything since then.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Oh, shut up and die, Microsoft. No one likes you.

Apparently more than 90% of the world feels differently.

And even in the bubble that is our little Apple RDF, didn't these very apps top the charts for downloads to iDevices? For a bunch of "no ones", apparently an awful lot of MSFT haters downloaded anyway. Or did you miss this part:

The apps have been highly successful, garnering more than 40 million downloads

Just checked the Productivity section of the App Store. Top grossing: #1 Word, #5 Excel and #9 PowerPoint, even though these just came out not long ago. Apparently "no one" is doing a lot of app buying.

 

[MasterChat]

This is good news for those who frequently use MS Office like me.

 

[nfl46]

Says iPad only here.

Excel worked for me.

 

[pietrov]

I know that I have to wait... but what about the OSX version???

 

[69Mustang]

I won't of course, I'm just trying to make sense of this addition that ends still before some very basic features like pivot tables.

Glassed Silver:mac

This, like most things on the iPhone, is geared towards the masses. Basic free functionality. Probably not for mission critical work. I seriously don't think the masses are doing pivot tables on their iPhone. I could be wrong, but...

Besides, you said yourself, you have other avenues for basic and other features.

I just don't see a downside to offering more to consumers for free. Especially since it's just one more step to removing ecosystem barriers. Just makes all my tech a wee bit more compatible. I call it a win/win.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

I remember when they updated it in '09 they were on track to be as good as Excel within a year or two... but of course they instead decided to redo everything instead... I haven't checked it out since their redoing because I haven't needed to use spreadsheets for anything since then.

They ended up removing features and it was too 'simple' for lack of a better word. I myself never need to use a spreadsheet application but when I do, I just use a table into Pages or Keynote depending on what it's for.

 

[dukeblue219]

Just use Pages and Keynote and export as the Office equivalent. The way I see it, Pages is as good as Word but much, much easier to use. Numbers is not as good as Excel and Keynote is considerably better than Powerpoint and still much easier to use.

It works fine if you're a student working on papers, or for personal use. But there are a lot of people who can't get away with multiple import-export cycles between Pages and Word, Numbers and Excel, and Keynote and Powerpoint. It's still a risk that the formatting won't be exactly the same, or a font will change, or something along those lines (and Numbers isn't even close to Excel). That's unacceptable in most lines of business.

Try editing a .DOC from a subordinate in Pages and then re-exporting back to .DOC and turning it in for publishing. It's not worth it. There's a reason people still use Windows overwhelmingly for professional work and that's compatibility and familiarity. Having the options available on iOS get better is good for everyone. If nothing else, it allows you to more easily keep your Apple hardware and still get your work done without annoying everyone else with cross-platform glitches.

 

[Ed217]

Excel worked for me. View attachment 511930

Some are saying the correct update has not yet made it to all App Store accounts or views...

 

[farkingdom]

Great. Another bloated app that won't do much except take up space on my iPhone/iPad, and demand money to work. I'm getting so tired of 'in app purchases'...

Apparently you didn't read the article before commenting that Microsoft made it free.

To Microsoft, great job!

 

[dukeblue219]

They ended up removing features and it was too 'simple' for lack of a better word. I myself never need to use a spreadsheet application but when I do, I just use a table into Pages or Keynote depending on what it's for.

Most people seem to use Excel for just that -- tables. But the real power is far, far greater, and it would be a legitimate challenge to replicate it on iOS alone, much less in a competing and 100% compatible alternative.

I don't blame Apple one bit for keeping Numbers the way it is so long as they target the right audience. But it's also why I laugh when someone suggests that it's an Excel-equivalent.

 

[Traverse]

They tell me after I bought the subscription.

 

[phpmaven]

Word is now available for iPhone

 

[farkingdom]

Oh, shut up and die, Microsoft. No one likes you.

Apparently it's only you who dislikes Microsoft.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

They ended up removing features and it was too 'simple' for lack of a better word. I myself never need to use a spreadsheet application but when I do, I just use a table into Pages or Keynote depending on what it's for.

You're using spreadsheets wrong if all you need is a table... if you're using a spreadsheet, you should have formulas, which the tables in Pages / Keynote don't support.

As I recall, there were a few functions that Numbers lacked that I needed to use Excel for... and Excel was able to handle more complicated graph options (although Numbers certainly produces much better looking graphs, even if it can only handle simpler options.)