Last fall, Microsoft launched a new Office for iOS beta with a unified design including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Sticky Notes in one app for a simpler experience. Now the new Office app for iPhone is available for all users.
Microsoft launched the public version of the new iOS Office app today that features “mobile-first features.” Here’s how it describes the major update:
The new Office app simplifies how you work on a phone by combining Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into one app and adds mobile-first features so you can get more done all from one app. This app maintains all the functionality of the existing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint mobile apps but requires far less phone storage than using three separate apps. New features leveraging the camera help you create content in uniquely mobile ways. Additionally, the app includes a new Actions tab so you can accomplish many common mobile tasks without needing to switch between apps.
The new Office app for iPhone also includes Sticky Notes and one of the major changes is a new Actions Pane that lets you:
- Create PDFs with your camera, using photos on your device, or from Office documents.
- Sign PDFs by simply using your finger.
- Scan QR codes to open files and links.
- Easily transfer files between your phone and computer or share instantly with nearby mobile devices.
With the public launch, there’s also now iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box support:
We have made several enhancements since the public preview—such as support for third-party storage services including Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud; templates to help you create new documents, spreadsheets, and presentations; and general performance improvements.
And three new features arriving to the app this spring include:
- Word Dictation – let Word turn your voice into written text and use voice commands and simple toolbars to easily apply the right formatting and punctuation you need.
- Excel Cards View – view and edit data in an Excel table row in a simple, digestible card format so you do not have to span across columns that extend beyond the limits of the screen.
- Outline to PowerPoint – write your presentation content as a simple outline and let PowerPoint Designer turn it into presentable slides with the proper styling, formatting, and iconography of your content.
The new Microsoft Office for iPhone is available as a free download from the App Store (Android too) with Office 365 subscriptions starting from $7/month. For now, the new Office iOS app is only available for iPhone but should hopefully arrive before too long on iPad.
Author: Michael Potuck.
Source: 9TO5Mac
