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

[sracer]

They purposely hamstring that version so, I don't have high expectations and don't include that because its more of a business decision to limit the application then a technical or design issue.

All in all, I've been very happy with MS products of late. I see a company that is swinging for the fences in a lot of areas and is succeeding quite well imo.

I'm not a stockholder in Microsoft so I'm not particularly concerned about their business decisions that negatively impact me as a customer. They HAVE been moving in generally the right direction, but there are still a few irksome things... That's why I'm holding out that last "cylinder".

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

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.

So why 'Xbox One'? Their marketing department trying to send a message? 'Let us OUT OF HERE! It's not our fault the Xbox's suck!'

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

To Microsoft, great job!

But don't you have to use their Office 365 cloud service? Sounds like you 'pay' for the free app...

 

[Michael Goff]

So why 'Xbox One'? Their marketing department trying to send a message? 'Let us OUT OF HERE! It's not our fault the Xbox's suck!'

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But don't you have to use their Office 365 cloud service? Sounds like you 'pay' for the free app...

No, this app is free. If you want to unlock everything, yeah, subscription. But this article is about them adding more to the free part.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Whatever happened to "if you don't like it, don't use it"?

True, but given the ubiquitousness of the Office death grip on software suites, it's pretty much a given that many people will be required to suck it up and get this. It is better that they provide *some* functionality for people that refuse to cough up the cash for their cloud service...

But still, monkeys on the sidelines can still belch out comments, can't we? Or is Microsoft Office so sacrosanct? Pardon me...

Now that there are 128g iPads and iPhones, developers are not under any constraints to write tight and compact code. Tell me I'm not speaking the truth.

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No, this app is free. If you want to unlock everything, yeah, subscription. But this article is about them adding more to the free part.

Sorry, since I'm 'retired', I seem to love mocking the Office obsessed for some reason.

My Ford, there IS life after Powerpoint! Who knew!

 

[Michael Goff]

True, but given the ubiquitousness of the Office death grip on software suites, it's pretty much a given that many people will be required to suck it up and get this. It is better that they provide *some* functionality for people that refuse to cough up the cash for their cloud service...

But still, monkeys on the sidelines can still belch out comments, can't we? Or is Microsoft Office so sacrosanct? Pardon me...

Now that there are 128g iPads and iPhones, developers are not under any constraints to write tight and compact code. Tell me I'm not speaking the truth.

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Sorry, since I'm 'retired', I seem to love mocking the Office obsessed for some reason.

My Ford, there IS life after Powerpoint! Who knew!

Office for the iPad is actually about the same size as iWork. As for the obsessed, you won't find many here.

 

[Rajani Isa]

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.

I'm going to take a peek at these because there are some excel files which do not play nicely with conversions that I wouldn't mind having mobile.

 

[brianvictor7]

Win for Microsoft

And after getting my hands on the Word app for iPhone, I have to say it is everything I have been looking for to help me write my book on the fly and sync to Dropbox. It is a definite win for Microsoft. Now if they would just turn that cursed ribbon into a sidebar on the Mac version they would have a nearly perfect Word processor.

 

[Kavok]

Clearly written by someone who has not used a Microsoft product in a long time. These past few years, Microsoft's products have improved dramatically. As a writer, I couldn't do it without Microsoft Word. Nothing else comes close. Office is by far the best and feature complete Office suite available. And Office 365 is incredible value for money.

No you are wrong. I have to use their products all the time because they are ubiquitous. I deleted Word from my iPad after having installed it within 1 minute because you couldn't do anything without a subscription. You should only have to pay for software once. Renting software it is not worth the hassle because at some point you won't want to subscribe anymore and then you won't be able to use it.

Are you sure you don't work for Microsoft in some capacity? You sure sound like it. I have a friend that works for them and he is always posting stuff on his Facebook page promoting stuff his company is producing. The latest is Microsoft's health band thingy.

 

[Michael Goff]

No you are wrong. I have to use their products all the time because they are ubiquitous. I deleted Word from my iPad after having installed it within 1 minute because you couldn't do anything without a subscription. You should only have to pay for software once. Renting software it is not worth the hassle because at some point you won't want to subscribe anymore and then you won't be able to use it.

Are you sure you don't work for Microsoft in some capacity? You sure sound like it. I have a friend that works for them and he is always posting stuff on his Facebook page promoting stuff his company is producing. The latest is Microsoft's health band thingy.

Mainly for laughs, but how much would you pay in a one time license and how long would you expect support?

 

[redman042]

Played with the new Excel on my 6+ last night. It's extremely well done. I very much like the "vertical ribbon" on the bottom as it incorporates a wide range of functions into a very effective UI on a smartphone that is simple to navigate. Excel also made great use of the screen real estate on my Plus.

Between this release and the Google Maps update, my 6+ display is starting to really shine. It's great to see productivity apps well optimized for the Plus.

 

[Rigby]

I would agree that Office 365 is a good deal *if* you have a use for everything that comes with it. But I don't. I already have perpetual licenses for Office on Mac and PC, and I have no use for 1TB of cloud storage. I also have no interest in Excel on a tablet or phone.

I just want versions of Word and Powerpoint that contain the features necessary to cover the most common use cases for office apps on mobile devices: Reviewing Word documents on the go, and showing Powerpoint presentations (including perhaps making some last-minute changes). Neither is possible with the crippled versions that you get without a subscription. Is $100 per year a fair price just for the two iOS apps? Personally, I don't think so. I'd probably be willing pay that price once for a perpetual license though.

 

[Kavok]

Mainly for laughs, but how much would you pay in a one time license and how long would you expect support?

For anything Microsoft? Actually I refuse to give them any money which is why I deleted it rather than pay for it because I don't believe In supporting Microsoft, Bill Gates, nor anything related to them. So have your laughs, it doesn't matter. I'm not the only one that feels the way I do.

 

[tennisproha]

Tennisproha, I tend to agree that iWork has a lot to offer, especially Keynote, but I've found some vital features missing from Pages that keep me from making it my primary document app. It doesn't flag for review a lot of basic grammar mistakes (two spaces between words in a sentence for example). It also doesn't reflow on my iPhone 5S screen. I need to be able to edit documents on the fly without scrolling left and right (up and down is plenty thanks!) to find the little fragment that needs my attention.

Word for iOS has now provided both of these. Now there is just one thing left before MS Office can claim total victory: getting rid of the stupid, headspace-gobbing ribbon on the Mac version. Sidebars don't eat up prime document-viewing real-estate.

I have not used Word for iOS so I can't compare the two. but Pages has been great for me. I did a test run of all the popular/major doc creators in the App Store last year and Pages def came out on top. there is a bit of a learning curve for particular features as they are somewhat hidden. but that is due to the fact that some controls are designed to be very intuitive and it's just hard to believe it would be that easy. ie: making lists.

as far as grammar issues, the built-in iOS keyboard and dictionary will take care of all that if you have the options turned on.

 

[Traverse]

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.

This is key. I have a serious of personal spreadsheets that are really tables with basic formulas. Numbers could do that. However, I also use excel for data analysis with pivot tables, vlookup, Etc. Numbers can't touch this.

And even some basic table formatting I find annoying in Numbers.

 

[Razeus]

I'm switching to these for my producitivy needs.

Google needs more work and will be my secondary. iWork simply can't be trusted given Apple's issues, stripping of features, and just general compatibility. MS is still the de facto.

 

[PhiLLoW]

You can't really compare these... Google Doc is just a toy compared to Desktop versions and even Page lacks of lot of essential features Word has. I would not do a complex document with complex layout and images or a hundred pages document with Google Doc or even Page...

My experience was very positive so far. I had complex documents that Word totally destroyed after inserting a certain amount of pictures / graphs.

Working on a Doc with several people at the same time is absolutely phenomenal in my opinion.

The most amazing point is that everyone can use it and it's not important whether they own an android phone, an iOs Tablet, a Linux PC or a Mac.

But this is just my experience. At work where I have to use a Corporate Identity design I'm forced to use Office - and I'm sometimes really frustrated while doing complex documents.

 

[brianvictor7]

I have not used Word for iOS so I can't compare the two. but Pages has been great for me. I did a test run of all the popular/major doc creators in the App Store last year and Pages def came out on top. there is a bit of a learning curve for particular features as they are somewhat hidden. but that is due to the fact that some controls are designed to be very intuitive and it's just hard to believe it would be that easy. ie: making lists.

as far as grammar issues, the built-in iOS keyboard and dictionary will take care of all that if you have the options turned on.

I suppose my needs are somewhat unique. I am writing a novel and found I cannot rely on Pages for several reasons.

1) Pages does not offer reflow of the text in iOS. I need this to make quick edits from my small iPhone 5S screen.

2) Pages has no auto-save to Dropbox from my iPhone. This is a must since Dropbox lets me recover every version of my files for up to a month. No such feature in iCloud that I am aware of.

3) Pages does not fully support Voice Dream which I use to read back my drafts to help spot errors. I can export from Pages to Voice Dream, but it isn't as quick as opening up the Voice Dream app and pulling the doc from Dropbox. iCloud, unfortunately, isn't yet accessible to Voice Dream.

 

[slwiser]

More 'patch a day' downloads coming.... I bought their Mac verizon after moving from a Windows platform to Apple. Opened it three or four times, each time I had to download a 300 to 400 mbp update. This was one big reason for me moving to the Mac. After those updates I have not had to do that once since I removed it from my Mac. Do I want to start patching again I ask? Does one even have to ask!

 

[Michael Goff]

For anything Microsoft? Actually I refuse to give them any money which is why I deleted it rather than pay for it because I don't believe In supporting Microsoft, Bill Gates, nor anything related to them. So have your laughs, it doesn't matter. I'm not the only one that feels the way I do.

Wow, that makes you come across as an entitled individual.

 

[Urban Joe]

One Big Problem unless I missed something

I just dont like having to sign in to use these apps and what that implies for personal privacy. Just think about it. I guarantee there is no way in hell that Microsoft execs would use the same version of these apps that they are shipping to the masses. There's no reasonable assurance of privacy here. Period. In fact it seems to be specifically designed to eliminate privacy and condition people not care about it. All the while giving MS and God knows who else extraordinary powers to monitor what people are creating.

 

[brianvictor7]

For anything Microsoft? Actually I refuse to give them any money which is why I deleted it rather than pay for it because I don't believe In supporting Microsoft, Bill Gates, nor anything related to them. So have your laughs, it doesn't matter. I'm not the only one that feels the way I do.

Bill Gates may have blatantly stolen the Mac GUI, he may have launched the cluttered mess of Windows and its spawn, but he is a great philanthropist. Also, have you looked at Windows lately? It got better beginning with Windows 7 and while Windows 8 gets a lot wrong it also gets a lot right. Windows is catching up and Apple will do well to mind their complacency. The more I examine Office 365 the more I see that its only real failure is its baffling insistance on hogging horizontal screen space with the ribbon. Certainly its mobile app is excellent for my uses. It is fine to be loyal to Apple, but not at the expense of quality.

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I just dont like having to sign in to use these apps and what that implies for personal privacy. Just think about it. I guarantee there is no way in hell that Microsoft execs would use the same version of these apps that they are shipping to the masses. There's no reasonable assurance of privacy here. Period. In fact it seems to be specifically designed to eliminate privacy and condition people not care about it. All the while giving MS and God knows who else extraordinary powers to monitor what people are creating.

What specifically is eliminating privacy? I'm seriously interested in knowing. Also, how would they be able to get away with stealing creative work that the origianl author could easily prove was plagerized? Do you have any examples where this crime was committed by MS in that last decade?

 

[brianvictor7]

I'm switching to these for my producitivy needs.

Google needs more work and will be my secondary. iWork simply can't be trusted given Apple's issues, stripping of features, and just general compatibility. MS is still the de facto.

I am forced to agree. Reluctantly.

 

[roadbloc]

Are you sure you don't work for Microsoft in some capacity? You sure sound like it.

Pffft. Seriously!?

My website is in my signature. I do not work for Microsoft, I write books. And Office 365 is incredible value for money. Believe me.

If you don't need it or just don't like it then that's fine. Nobody is forcing you to use it. But for me (and the rest of the industry it seems since Office is the most used) Office is a godsend and Microsoft have put some real effort into the most recent versions.

 

[Rigby]

What specifically is eliminating privacy? I'm seriously interested in knowing. Also, how would they be able to get away with stealing creative work that the origianl author could easily prove was plagerized?

How about industrial espionage? You would never know if someone had stolen your company documents. I work for a Fortune 500 company. Our security guidelines explicitly prohibit the use of 3rd party cloud services like Onedrive, which essentially prevents me from using any cloud-connected apps for work.

I can certainly understand the previous poster's concerns. The tighter the application is integrated with the cloud, the more difficult it gets to control where your information resides. If you are logged into an MS account, it takes just one wrong tap and your documents end up in Microsoft's data centers where they are potentially accessible not only by Microsoft, but also governments and perhaps hackers.

 

[brianvictor7]

How about industrial espionage? You would never know if someone had stolen your company documents. I work for a Fortune 500 company. Our security guidelines explicitly prohibit the use of 3rd party cloud services like Onedrive, which essentially prevents me from using any cloud-connected apps for work.

I can certainly understand the previous poster's concerns. The tighter the application is integrated with the cloud, the more difficult it gets to control where your information resides. If you are logged into an MS account, it takes just one wrong tap and your documents end up in Microsoft's data centers where they are potentially accessible not only by Microsoft, but also governments and perhaps hackers.

Thanks. I should probably look more deeply into the privacy concerns of these systems.