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

[numlock]

There are a lot of people who have to use Office for work. This is a value add for all those people because they can have access while on the go. It's not very hard to figure out. Just because you're not the target user doesn't mean it's bad.

which is quite ironic since thats has always been used against office in the perpetual office vs iwork threads. if iwork dosent have some features then you dont need them. yet it seems some are unhappy when ms releases a free office version without some features.

but is it just me or has apple slowed down in the iwork (ilife as well) updates? they seemed quite rapid after the initial release.

 

[Belmont31R]

Even if you don't like MS or Office competition is always a good thing, and forces the products you do like to keep innovating and improving.


Also, just because you don't like Office doesn't mean other people don't, and some people have to use it for work and/or school. These improvements are very good for those people.

 

[EddieT]

Just looking for a cross-platform synced solution that allows me to access and edit all kinds of documents on both my Mac and iOS devices. I'd like it to be iCloud Drive, but that is still unwieldy on iOS.

 

[Candlelight]

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

Word works fine for me.

 

[brianvictor7]

but is it just me or has apple slowed down in the iwork (ilife as well) updates? they seemed quite rapid after the initial release.

They have let it slide for both iWork and iLife. Dedicated, innovative teams elsehwhere are doing better work.

Example: I was really surprised when they showcased the Replay app at their October 2014 event since it is a direct competitor of iMovie. I like what iMovie can do (it is a watered down version of Final Cut Pro), but it is a memory beast at nearly 1 GB and can't smartly pull action scenes for a movie like replay.

Basically, I am finding that Apple still makes a superior quality OS and hardware combo, but native apps are far less competitive. I love the idea of using iWork, but I am increasingly finding that the only advantage it offers is the sidebar to save top-screen space. Being free is not even such an issue since most everyone owns some recent(ish) copy of MS Office now. That, however, is about to change I suspect as MS tries to get everyone to buy into a 365 subscription, so iWork may still have a chance. There is no free lunch.

 

[jonnysods]

They do. And they are going to for the next version too, albeit a little later in the year (next year).

Isn't it only through Office 365?

 

[Steve121178]

This is brilliant news! I can also add Dropbox as a service to Office apps on iPhone & iPad after updating, so this is really, really excellent!

 

[C DM]

I might have overlooked this somewhere, but is there still a use for the single Office app that they had before? Or is it basically going to be removed and just the individual apps will be there in its place (similar to what Google did with Quickoffice)?

 

[brianvictor7]

Isn't it only through Office 365?

You do not need an Office 365 subscription to use this.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

subscribed for a month to premium but can't figure out to created a pivot.
Later in my office I will try win a real world sample how it looks like.

 

[jlc1978]

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.

While that works for very simple stuff compatibility issues arise as a document, presentation or spreadsheet gets more complex. Even something as simple as fonts can cause problems such as weirdly displayed text. In a commercial environment you can't afford such glitches.

 

[brianvictor7]

While that works for very simple stuff compatibility issues arise as a document, presentation or spreadsheet gets more complex. Even something as simple as fonts can cause problems such as weirdly displayed text. In a commercial environment you can't afford such glitches.

Couldn't agree more. For something like your kid's homework, sure, go with iWork. For business, you'll want to think very hard about the pro's and con's of not following the industry standard of MS Office (I feel like vomiting after saying that).

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

While that works for very simple stuff compatibility issues arise as a document, presentation or spreadsheet gets more complex. Even something as simple as fonts can cause problems such as weirdly displayed text. In a commercial environment you can't afford such glitches.

Oh, trust me, I've had those issues. I've had a presentation that for some reason would have the test go off the slide when exported as a Powerpoint (and of course lose some of the fancy animations). I've just started exporting them as either HTML5 and embedding them into a webpage, or exporting as a movie depending on it's propose. Even using iCloud drive to access them on a Windows machine.

 

[RockSpider]

The free version is crippled as bait to get you to buy a 360 subscription. Basic editing only and I would use another product out of spite because I hate being manipulated. The key usage for me on an iPad/ iPhone is track changes, which isn't available on the non subscription option.

So I wont get either. I am happy to pay for apps, Word could be $12 to $20 and I would happily pay it, but I won't buy a subscription for an office app.

I thought Apple people had money and that's why they buy Apple stuff. From what I've read on here it seems to me that they've spent all their money on Apple gear and can't afford a few bucks for decent software.

 

[brianvictor7]

I thought Apple people had money and that's why they buy Apple stuff. From what I've read on here it seems to me that they've spent all their money on Apple gear and can't afford a few bucks for decent software.

Oh sure, just rub it in why don't you?

Honestly though, $100 a year is pretty steep for any software, even one as potentially useful as MS Office. Throwing in 1 TB of cloud storage eases the pain, but still, $100 A YEAR!

 

[brianvictor7]

Oh, trust me, I've had those issues. I've had a presentation that for some reason would have the test go off the slide when exported as a Powerpoint (and of course lose some of the fancy animations). I've just started exporting them as either HTML5 and embedding them into a webpage, or exporting as a movie depending on it's propose. Even using iCloud drive to access them on a Windows machine.

Of course, this is only good if the computer you are using will let you. I am forced to use government and company computers and they are so locked down that you can't download much more than the daily news from them, let alone iCloud documents from a web browser.

 

[Robotti]

Oh sure, just rub it in why don't you?

Honestly though, $100 a year is pretty steep for any software, even one as potentially useful as MS Office. Throwing in 1 TB of cloud storage eases the pain, but still, $100 A YEAR!

Pretty soon the cloud storage space will be unlimited, so that's going to help. But I just tried to work with the OneDrive for Business application on Windows, and boy, it's so limited. It's really difficult, if not impossible, to selectively sync and manage locations.

Office apps for iPad seem surprisingly good though. Still, I only tried them today, so let's see what happens on the road...

 

[RockSpider]

Oh sure, just rub it in why don't you?

Honestly though, $100 a year is pretty steep for any software, even one as potentially useful as MS Office. Throwing in 1 TB of cloud storage eases the pain, but still, $100 A YEAR!

I thought $8 per month or $2 per week was pretty cheap and I'm not even a millionaire like Apple lovers. All I can afford are iPads not pricy items like a MacBook.

Or less than a cup of coffee per week.

 

[brianvictor7]

I thought $8 per month or $2 per week was pretty cheap and I'm not even a millionaire like Apple lovers. All I can afford are iPads not pricy items like a MacBook.

Or less than a cup of coffee per week.

When you break it down like that it sounds nicer, but you could do the same math with say the Macbook Pro Retina that I bought this year for $1500. I plan to keep it for 5 years. So with tax, discounts and apple care, the real device cost came to $1700. That makes $28 per month or $6.52 a week. Doesn't sound like all that much when put that way, but little subscriptions for $8/mo like Netflix, Crunchyroll or MS Office start to add up real fast.

 

[noiceT]

A very welcome addition to my iphone.

 

[brianvictor7]

Pretty soon the cloud storage space will be unlimited, so that's going to help. But I just tried to work with the OneDrive for Business application on Windows, and boy, it's so limited. It's really difficult, if not impossible, to selectively sync and manage locations.

Office apps for iPad seem surprisingly good though. Still, I only tried them today, so let's see what happens on the road...

While I am sure someone will try to market unlimited storage, there is no such thing as a free lunch. We'll pay for it somewhere. The thing is, in Apple we like to think we paid for a decent iWork suite through our purchase of the hardware it was made to run on. iWork isn't bad, but it needs to be better in some critical ways.

 

[Michael Goff]

When you break it down like that it sounds nicer, but you could do the same math with say the Macbook Pro Retina that I bought this year for $1500. I plan to keep it for 5 years. So with tax, discounts and apple care, the real device cost came to $1700. That makes $28 per month or $6.52 a week. Doesn't sound like all that much when put that way, but little subscriptions for $8/mo like Netflix, Crunchyroll or MS Office start to add up real fast.

Except you're paying 1700$ upfront for three Mac. Bad comparison.

 

[ssspinball]

Perhaps when you are a bit older, your ego won't make you mouth off to 6 billion people all at once, calling them "slow".

Wait what? 6 billion people? There's only 7 billion in the world and I'd W.A.G less than 50% of them have used a computer, ever.

Also, I didn't call anyone slow, I said older people tend to slow down changes brought on by younger people. And often for good reason, but "because that's the way it has been done before" is definitely not a good reason!

 

[brianvictor7]

Except you're paying $1700 upfront for the Mac. Bad comparison.

I was merely pointing out that large numbers don't sound so bad when spread out over time, but that they still add up.

Come to think of it, I'm paying my Mac over 12 months at 0% interest so it isn't so bad of a comparison.

P.S. I like your cat in your Avatar. Looks like one I used to own. Ornery critter. I miss him.

 

[RockSpider]

When you break it down like that it sounds nicer, but you could do the same math with say the Macbook Pro Retina that I bought this year for $1500. I plan to keep it for 5 years. So with tax, discounts and apple care, the real device cost came to $1700. That makes $28 per month or $6.52 a week. Doesn't sound like all that much when put that way, but little subscriptions for $8/mo like Netflix, Crunchyroll or MS Office start to add up real fast.

People make money using Office, you don't earn money on Netflix and Flappy Bird or whatever.
You might plan to keep your Macbook for 5 years, that doesn't mean it's going to happen, look at the number of people planning to sue Apple over the Macbook problems.