What you need to know

• Microsoft has announced Loop, a new app for its growing collection of Office apps.
• Loop will make it easier for people who work remotely by giving them access to components, pages, and workspaces that can move between apps.
• Loop will begin appearing in Outlook, OneNote, and Teams this month.

Microsoft has announced its competitor to Notion in the form of Loop, a new app that is designed to help people work remotely as part of the hybrid work world we live in today.

According to a report by The Verge, Loop is a rebrand of the existing Fluid, with people able to take advantage of collaborative Microsoft Office content that can be used across multiple apps.

It all sounds promising, with all Microsoft Loop components also existing in a central hub that Microsoft is calling workspaces. Pages are areas where people can share and collaborate on individual Loop components, too.

Microsoft describes Loop thus:

All of this will begin appearing in Outlook, OneNote, and Teams this month while the Microsoft Loop app proper will arrive at some point in the future. When that will be isn't clear at this point, unfortunately.

What you need to know

• Microsoft has announced Office 2021 and LTSC.
• The consumer and commercial versions of its Office suite will both be available on macOS.

Microsoft has announced a new version of Microsoft Office for both consumers and commercial use coming later this year to macOS.

In a press release the company stated:

'LTCS' is a version of Office built for "regulated devices that cannot accept feature updates for years at a time, process control devices on the manufacturing floor that are not connected to the internet, and specialty systems that must stay locked in time and require a long-term servicing channel."

Alongside this, Office 2021 is coming later this year for both business and personal use. From Microsoft:

Microsoft confirmed that both the commercial and consumer versions of this will be supported on Mac and Windows.

In December Microsoft unveiled universal app support for its Microsoft 365 suite including support for the M1 Mac and macOS Big Sur. It also released a Microsoft Office app for iPad earlier this week.

What you need to know

• You can now download the Microsoft Office app for iPad.
• This is the first time all of the Office apps have been available in a single app.

Microsoft has released its Office app for iPad for the first time, allowing users of Word and other Office apps to do all of their work from within a single app.

Previously, people had to download the Office apps individually while those using iPhones were able to get the unified Office app. This new move means iPad users can enjoy the same thing.

There are additional changes in this update with the full rundown below:

Fans of Microsoft Office – is that a thing? – can download the new unified iPad app from the App Store right now It's free with in-app purchases available for Microsoft 365 in both personal and family variants.

What you need to know

• Microsoft has updated its Office apps with new features for the iPad.
• Word now supports mice and trackpads and Excel now supports Split View.

Microsoft has released some notable updates for its suite of Office apps for the iPad. The new versions of the apps bring some new features that some may have been waiting for for some time now.

The Word app has been updated with mouse or trackpad support for the iPad. Now, you can hook up a wireless or wired mouse or trackpad to your iPad and use it for precision pointing within the Word app.

The Excel app now supports working with multiple spreadsheets at the same time with Split View. Powerpoint has released a new feature called Presenter Coach with lets you get feedback on your presentation.

See all of the release notes below:

Microsoft Word

• Support UI Text Interaction: Use the trackpad from the all new magic keyboard to interact with your document.
• Use a Pointing Device: Connect a trackpad or mouse to your iPad for another way to interact with Word.

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Powerpoint

All of the updates are available now. You can update each app for free on the App Store.

What you need to know

• Microsoft is adding Apple silicon support for Office for Mac.
• The company is releasing a beta version of the software today.
• It is unclear when the new version will be available to the public.

Reported by 9to5Mac, Microsoft has announced that they will be releasing a beta version of Office for Mac that includes support for Apple silicon.

Erik Schwiebert, Microsoft's principal software engineer for Apple products, shared the news today on Twitter. Schwiebert noted that the build was a sneak peek and did not say when support will launch for public users.

As noted in the report, Apple will support x86 apps running on Apple silicon through Rosetta but encourage developers to add native support for Apple silicon.

Apple announced its first Apple-silicon based chip at the company's "One More Thing" event on Tuesday. In addition to the announcement of the new M1 processor, the company also revealed a new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini powered by the chip.

What you need to know

• Microsoft is shutting down Office 365 services for Office 2016 for Mac soon.
• As of October 13, Office 365 services will be unavailable.
• Office 2016 for Mac will no longer be supported.

Mac users who have Office 2016 for Mac installed might want to look at upgrading sooner rather than later, with Microsoft confirming it will not be supported beyond October 13, 2020.

In a support document spied by MacRumors, Microsoft says that Office 365 connectivity may be broken on that date, leaving Office 2016 for Mac users without access to their online data.

Microsoft says that the reason for the move is simple – it won't be able to keep supporting older versions of Office if it wants to be able to continue to invest in its Office 365 infrastructure.

There's a chance that Office 365 may still work for those running Office 2016 for Mac, but Microsoft won't guarantee it. If it breaks, it's on you.

What you need to know

• The new Office app for iOS is now available.
• The app was announced last year and has been in beta testing for a couple of months.
• It combines Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into one seamless experience.

Microsoft has released its new Office app for iOS following a period of beta testing.

As noted by MacRumors, the new Office hub was announced in November of 2019 and is now available to download.

According to Microsoft:

The release notes of the new app further states:

Interesting features include the ability to snap a photo of a document, turning it into an editable Word File, as well as turning a picture of a table into an Excel Spreadsheet. You can also import photos directly into PowerPoint presentations from your camera roll.

For a full rundown on Microsoft's new app, head on over to its website!

What you need to know

• A unified Office Mobile app will come to iOS devices at some point, according to a new report.
• Microsoft already has a unified Office app that is preinstalled on Galaxy Note 10 devices.
• There's a chance that a unified Office app could make its way to more devices in the future.

Microsoft Office is tremendously successful on mobile devices. Several Office applications have over 1 billion installs on Android, and Microsoft's Office suite is also popular on iOS. In the future, there could be an addition to the Office lineup, a unified Office application on iOS. A new report from ZDNet states that a unified Office Mobile app will come to iOS devices in the future.

Microsoft has a similar Office Mobile application that comes preloaded on the Galaxy Note 10. Microsoft Office Mobile is a lightweight application that lets you view, edit, and share files from Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. The description reads,

The Office Mobile app isn't meant to replace the fully-powered dedicated Office apps. Instead, it creates a simple space to make edits and view and share files. Mary Jo Foley has heard that "an Apple-specific Office Mobile app will be coming to iOS devices, as well."

Foley also speculates that the Office Mobile app could ship with the upcoming Surface Duo, or even potentially come to Windows 10.

What you need to know

• Clippy is back, baby.
• A developer has brought Microsoft's infamous Office assistant back to life for macOS.
• All Clippy can do is play through various animations right now, but sounds are on the to-do list.

Do you find yourself pining for the good ol' days of Microsoft Office, when your trusty assistant, Clippy, would interrupt your work with "helpful" suggestions at every turn? Well, now you can have a bit of that experience back — sort of.

Developer Devran Uenal has brought Clippy back from the dead on macOS as a desktop buddy. The project is available on Github, allowing you to add him to your desktop as a little animated reminder of days gone by.

Thankfully, you won't get any annoying interruptions here. Clippy is currently just an animated character that sits on your desktop and stares at you with a longing gaze. You can right click Clippy to and select "Animate" to give the little guy a little more life, but that's about all he can do for now.

Adding sounds to Clippy is on Uenal's to-do list, as is bringing other support agents from the old days back to life. For now, though, you'll have to live with a silent, but animated, Clippy.

While Pages is a great word processor, Microsoft Word and other programs available with Microsoft Office are still widely used. It can be frustrating to pass documents between Apple's applications and Microsoft Office. I have dealt with getting Word documents from friends, only to open them in Pages a realize they aren't formatting correctly, or the spacing is off, etc.

The good news is Microsoft Office for Mac is pretty great. If you've ever used a PC before, you're likely familiar with the interface, and personally, I think the design of the Office programs for Mac is stellar. Of course, Microsoft offers two versions of Office for Mac, Microsoft Office 2016 and Microsoft Office 365, so here's a breakdown of each one so you can choose the right one for you.

Users and devices

When deciding what Microsoft Office package you want, you're going to need to know how you intend to use it. Are you one of those people who want to use Office on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone, or do you only need it on your MacBook Pro you use for work or school every day?

• Office 2016 Home & Student: Installed on one Mac
• Office 2016 Home & Business: Installed on one Mac
• Office 365 Personal: Installed on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad with only one user allowed to access the 1TB One Drive storage.
• Office 365 Personal: Installed on up to five Macs, PCs, iPhones, and iPads with five users allowed to access the 1TB One Drive storage.

Programs

Which programs you need in your Microsoft Office suite will also be a critical deciding factor in which version you buy.

• Office 2016 Home & Student: Comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote
• Office 2016 Home & Business: Comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook
• Office 365 Personal: Comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher (PC only), and Access (PC only).
• Office 365 Home: Comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher (PC only), and Access (PC only).

Cloud storage

Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud storage service that you can use to store files, photos, documents, and other data. If you get either version of Microsoft Office 365, you'll get a free TB of OneDrive storage to access and use.

• Office 365 Personal: 1TB of OneDrive storage for one user, plus 60 minutes per month for Skype calls.
• Office 365 Home: 1TB of OneDrive storage accessible by up to five users, plus 60 minutes per month for Skype calls.

Neither tier of Microsoft Office 2016 comes with OneDrive storage.

Pricing

The most significant difference by far is pricing and payment model. Microsoft Office 2016 is a one-time payment, while Office 365 is a monthly subscription model.

• Office 2016 Home & Student: $149.99 and doesn't come with updates.
• Office 2016 Home & Business: $229.99 and doesn't come with updates.
• Office 365 Personal: $69.99 per year (or $6.99 per month), includes updates.
• Office 365 Home: $99.99 per year (or 9.99 per month), includes updates.

The bottom line

Microsoft has already made leaps to bring its apps to competitor platforms in recent years, and it's getting ready to tackle another: macOS. At its WWDC 2018 event today, Apple revealed that Microsoft's Office 365 suite will be headed to the Mac App Store later this year.

The news came alongside a redesigned app store, along with a slew of other third-party apps that will be coming to the Mac App Store along with it.

Of course, Office 365 apps are already available for Mac, and they're continually updated with new features. Microsoft even runs an Insider program for Mac users to test new capabilities before they roll out to everyone else. However, installing the apps through the Mac App Store will give Mac users one place to manage updates and install Office 365 alongside all of their other apps.

There's no word on when Office 365 will hit the Mac App Store, but it will presumably come sometime after the new macOS Mojave lands with the redesigned App Store later this year.

See Office 365 at Microsoft

The announcement came in the form of a video on Microsoft's YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo4WIiAHlhw

The project began as a challenge: Microsoft asked its Vancouver interns to come up with a way to "add value to a person's day" by having them use the Office 365 suite. They began by asking Mac users what they needed to stay organized during a busy day working with Office 365. Then development began. Many responded that they'd like an at-a-glance view of their day as well as easy access to their shared files, so the team began developing My Workspace around those ideas. According to the company, during testing they continued to communicate constantly with their target demographic in order to optimize the quality of the My Workspace experience. Those who worked on this project assured consumers that there is no comparable interface on MacOS for Office 365 apps.

My Workspace is specifically designed to increase the user's day-to-day productivity, giving them easy access to all of their Office 365 apps as well as shared and recently-opened Office 365 files. In addition, users can also quickly launch OneDrive from the menu to see even more of their content, and share it fast for streamlined collaboration.

As for keeping track of a schedule, My Workspace works with iCloud Calendar to show users their upcoming appointments and events, and they can even join prescheduled Skype meetings with a single click. The app also allows for convenient and quick Office 365 account management, so users can make changes to their account if they so desire.

You can download My Workspace for Mac here:

My Workspace a Microsoft Garage project

Thoughts? Questions?

If you're a Mac user, do you think My Workspace will encourage you to be more productive? Let us know in the comments!

You don't have to leave Microsoft Office if you decide to switch from PC to Mac. Microsoft has a perfectly good version of Office 365 for Mac that comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, and more. If you've been thinking about switching away from the Office productivity suite, there are alternatives that offer many of the features you love in Microsoft's programs, plus some features you can't get anywhere else.

• iWork Suite
• OpenOffice 2016
• LibreOffice Vanilla
• Google Docs

iWork Suite

Apple's alternative to Office is iWork. It's the most comparable alternative to Microsoft's productivity suite, only it comes free with every Mac. The interface is different, and will take some time to get used to, but if you're really interested in kicking Office to the curb, the iWork suite is the best alternative on Mac.

If you're ready for change, and Office's user interface, design, and tools aren't burned into your psyche, get Apple's iWork suite of apps. It comes preinstalled on new Macs, but you can also find it in the Mac App Store.

• Pages - Download now
• Numbers- Download now
• Keynote - Download now

OpenOffice

OpenOffice by Apache is probably the most similar to Microsoft Office in look and design. It comes with a word processor, a spreadsheet maker, and a presentation creator, all with many of the same features their Office counterparts have. Files are saved as open document format files, so they can be opened with any document viewer, including Office apps, without needing to be converted first. The best part is that OpenOffice is completely free.

If you're looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office that looks and works pretty much exactly the same, but doesn't cost a dime, OpenOffice is for you.

See at OpenOffice

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is an open source productivity suite very similar to Microsoft Office that comes with a word processor, spreadsheet maker, and presentation creator. It also includes a vector graphics editor, a math formula editor, and a database manager. Files are saved as open document format files, so you can open them with any document viewer, including Office apps, without needing to be converted first, though it does provide tools for saving a document as an Office-specific file. LibreOffice is totally free. It is very similar in design to Microsoft Office, with some minor differences in the design.

LibreOffice is a solid replacement for the Office apps and includes some useful extra programs that Office doesn't even have.

See at LibreOffice

Google Docs

Google Docs is the easiest replacement for Microsoft office because it's so accessible. If you have a Gmail account, or a Google Hangouts account, or a YouTube account, you have Google Docs. Just visit the web-based app from your browser and you can create word processor documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. There is a Google Drive app you can download onto Mac so you can work offline. The changes will be made when your Mac is back online. Google Docs doesn't look at all like Microsoft Office, and has a very different user interface, but it does have many of the same, familiar features you know from Office.

The thing that makes Google Docs so useful, however, is it's real-time collaboration, which works seamlessly with multiple users. I've worked alongside a dozen other people in one document. I am able to see where everyone is within the documents and can see exactly when changes are made.

If you're looking for a very easy to use Office replacement that is ideal for working with others in real-time, you'll be pleased with Google Docs.

See at Google

What's your pick?

Do you use a Microsoft Office alternative you'd recommend to our readers that are new to Mac or just want to switch from Microsoft? Put your suggestion in the comments below and tell us why its the one you chose.

Every Friday, The Network column brings you the perspective and charm of the best and brightest minds in the Apple and tech community. This week we have iMore alumni Peter Cohen. A 30-year Apple industry vet, Peter had careers in tech support and IT before writing for Apple magazines and web sites beginning in the mid-90s. He's currently a technology writer at Backblaze.com and you can find him on Twitter at @flargh.

Developers who can find ways to do it are migrating to a subscription-based publishing model instead of what's become known as a "perpetual license" (pay once and forget about it). Expect this trend to continue. Case in point: Smile Software's newest release of TextExpander, the popular keyboard shortcut utility. Even if you don't welcome this change, it's important to understand what's going on here that's brought us to this point.

TextExpander goes pay-to-play

New versions of TextExpander for OS X, iOS, and now Windows are available for download. Unlike previous releases, the new release requires you to have a new TextExpander.com account. After a free "test drive" period, you'll be asked to pay $4.95 a month for to continue using it (annual discounts and upgrades are available).

The subscription model does more than just enable you to use the app, though. Smile is centralizing online syncing of TextExpander. Owners of the previous release could use iCloud or Dropbox in order to sync text snippets between devices and workgroups. Now that's gone and everything is handled as a service through TextExpander.com, which introduces a web interface to enable you to manage snippets and how they're shared. To help entice businesses to migrate to the new service, Smile's incorporated new team sharing management capabilities.

All told, There's a lot more going on under the hood with the new TextExpander service, which is why Smile wanted to roll its own sync service rather than continue to depend on iCloud or Dropbox.

There's no gun to your head to upgrade, if you're an existing TextExpander user. Your version of TextExpander still works. You got what you paid for. Just don't expect too much more in terms of new features or new operating system support unless you migrate to the new product.

Apps as services

Smile joins some big players at it seeks to reinvent TextExpander as a service instead of as an app you pay for once until the next major upgrade. Take Adobe, for example. The company went all in on the service model a few years ago by focusing development of their creative apps as the Creative Cloud. An ever-growing constellation of new apps and services continue to give creative professionals reasons to subscribe to Creative Cloud products.

Microsoft has done the same with Office, and while Office 2016 is also available with a perpetual license, Microsoft gives users plenty of incentive to subscribe to Office 365 instead, with more flexibility and better features. Office 365 users got the earliest look at Office for Mac 2016 when it made its debut last year.

Even Apple's gotten into the act. Buying an iPhone or a Mac is just the start. If you want to use Apple Music, that's another $10 per month. iCloud is free, unless you need more space. Family plans, added iCloud space and optional services like Apple Music have many of us tithing to Cupertino faithfully every month.

(In the interest of full disclosure: I work for one of those companies I'm talking about: Backblaze.com - we sell cloud-based backup services for Mac and Windows users. Our subscribers pay a flat monthly fee and in turn, we back up their computers to our data center.)

Software as a Service certainly doesn't work for everyone, and Smile is bound to lose some customers as it makes this migration. Other text expansion and shortcut utilities for Mac and iOS are available. Smile's move is likely to spur at least some of those developers to redouble their efforts to win hearts and minds away from Smile.

Likewise, some designers still hold out with their Adobe Creative Suite 6 software or have migrated to other non-Adobe products all together. There are plenty of other productivity apps and suites besides Microsoft Office.

Devil's advocate

As hard as it may be to shift perspective, consider the developer's point. A subscription model offers a regular flow of income, and stops the developer from having to run on what Smile CEO [Greg Scown calls](/e?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shareasale.com%2Fr.cfm%3Fb%3D1215646%26m%3D81274%26U%3D885495%26afftrack%3DUUimUdUnU37197%26urllink%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fsmilesoftware.com%252Fsoftware-releases%252Fentry%252Fthe-new-textexpander&token=yVmevOG- "the upgrade treadmill."

That helps to predictably support current and future development efforts, instead of having to plan development cycles on the expectation of a big windfall whenever there's a major new release.

Rather than having to save big ideas for major version releases, new features can be rolled out gradually and incrementally as service improvements, instead of dangling them as enticements to get people to spend money on upgrades. The developer has the incentive to keep service excellent and new features coming, otherwise subscriptions will drop off. When it's done well, it works out better for everyone.

In Smile's case, owning the sync stream makes sense too — it enables them to do more, going forward, with snippet syncing than they could before, as evidenced by the new web-based interface employed by TextExpander, its greatly enhanced workgroup sharing capabilities, and other features (and possibly new products) Smile undoubtedly has planned for the future.

The value of the software has changed for many users, however. There's a big difference between paying once for a utility that you'll use indefinitely and paying every month. Without a discount, you're going to spend $60 a year on TextExpander, a utility whose previous release cost $35, once. Are the new features worth it? What happens if Smile pulls up stakes on the service?

As evidenced by the outcry on social media, some TextExpander customers are not happy with the change. And why should they be? This is getting exhausting.

As I said before, when it's done well, it works out better for everyone. When it's done poorly, customers get screwed. Another case in point: Revolv, a recent Google acquisition that was folded into Nest, the business started around a smart thermostat. Revolv goes dark next month, and anyone with a Revolv hub is going to be stuck with a very expensive doorstop. Televero CEO Arlo Gilbert recently took Tony Fadell and Nest to task for abandoning Revolv.

Death of a thousand cuts

Ever since the personal computer debuted in the 1970s the software business has existed to support it. Personal computer software has gone through multiple iterations and reinventions in that time, just as the computer hardware has.

For years, retailers ruled the roost. Boxed software and heavy bound manuals sat on store shelves. We paid for software when we needed to, and we were done.

As more of us went online, we discovered that we could download shareware. Once the Internet became ubiquitous it became possible to just buy apps through app stores instead. Constant downward pricing pressure in those app stores forced developers to figure out other ways to produce a sustainable income. Once Apple had a mechanism in place, some developers began giving away apps and offering in-app purchases.

To that end, selling software as a service is simply another reinvention. There are already successes, there are already casualties, and there will be more.

The problem, of course, is that all these services add up. And they add up fast. Office 365 costs $10 a month. Adobe Creative Cloud is another $50. $5 for TextExpander.com. Another $5 for Backblaze. Netflix. Hulu. It piles on. Before you know it, you're spending $100 or more on top of whatever your Internet costs.

It feels like the death of a thousand cuts - paper cuts inflicted by small bills. Microtransactions.

Of course, you don't pay your electricity bill or your phone bill just once - you pay it every month, because it's a service you find useful or necessary to your life.

Paying for software in the same way as we pay for electricity may seem odd. Most software isn't as essential as a cell phone or working lights, but the same rule applies for service - you should expect to pay something for its continued maintenance and development.

That is, of course, predicated on the assumption that you find that service worth paying for to begin with. If you don't, you can vote with your wallet. The choice is yours.

Cloud storage provider Box has announced a new set of integrations with Microsoft Office. This includes some new capabilities for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPhone and iPad that make editing documents from Box much easier.

On Microsoft's Office apps for iPhone and iPad, Box can now be chosen as a default storage service, letting you more easily access all of your Box files for editing on the go. There's also deeper integration between Box's iPhone and iPad app and the Microsoft Office apps. Inside the Box app, you can open Office files into their corresponding Microsoft app, edit them, and the changes will automatically be saved right back to Box.

These features are now available in Box for iPhone and iPad, along with the Office mobile apps, and no new update is required.

Source: Box

Microsoft has updated its Office apps for iPhone and iPad, taking advantage of the latest features of the iPhone 6s, iPad Pro, and iOS 9. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint have all received support for 3D Touch and the Apple Pencil, while OneNote has made its iPad multitasking experience even better.

Microsoft's Work, Excel, and PowerPoint apps have all received the following updates:

• Annotate with Ink: With the tools on the new Draw tab, use your pen, finger, or Apple Pencil to write, draw, and highlight. (iPad only)
• 3D Touch: Use 3D Touch from the home screen to quickly create or open a file. (iPhone 6s or 6s Plus only)
• Fonts from the cloud: Download fonts on demand, when you need them.
• Spotlight search: Quickly find recently opened documents in Spotlight. (iOS 9 required)

Additionally, PowerPoint has added the new Morph transition, which moves several objects at once.

Microsoft OneNote, meanwhile, has received a substantial update as well. The app now offers notifications. The app's search feature is faster, and you can now search all of your OneDrive notebooks, even if they're not stored on your device. On the iPad, OneNote now supports searching, sharing, and viewing the title of your open notebook while in Slide Over or Split View multitasking mode.

All four app updates are available now on the App Store.

• Free (Word) - Download Now
• Free (Excel) - Download Now
• Free (PowerPoint) - Download Now
• Free (OneNote) - Download Now

This past weekend, I attended the MIT Mystery Hunt, as I have for the last three years. It's a delightfully dastardly puzzle hunt, packing over 100 logic puzzles, math mysteries, cryptic crosswords, Braille and Morse Code-themed madness, and multi-team-member runarounds into just under three days. There's nothing quite like feeling terribly stupid and horribly clever within a matter of hours, and it's a great mental reset for the year to come.

Unfortunately, as you might be able to spot in the above picture, this weekend also saw the return of my 11-inch MacBook Air. After relying almost exclusively on my iPad Pro for two months, I ended up dual-wielding both the Air and the Pro throughout the weekend—all because of Google Drive.

A compatibility mess

Google's productivity apps are a must-use during the Hunt. We use Google's Sheets to collaborate and record puzzle data amongst our teammates, often opening up multiple tabs to try new theories or indexing formulae. But Sheets barely has a functional iPad app, and it's missing necessary puzzle hunt features like being able to quickly copy a function to the rest of the row, or move rows or columns. On the iPad Pro, it's even worse.

Despite receiving several updates in the last few months, Google's apps haven't been updated for Apple's larger tablet. And there's no hope, as there is with Facebook, of using Google's in-theory-HTML5-and-therefore-iPad-compliant website: Google's standard web view on an iPad flat-out punts you to the apps—if the website even correctly detects you have the app installed. I can't count the number of times I've seen the websites try and send me to the App Store to open a spreadsheet, when I clearly have Sheets already available.

Trying to request the desktop version of the website won't work, either: You won't be able to scroll, or tap on anything that requires a double-click, and any link you do manage to make work will send you right back to the mobile environment.

This would be annoying but manageable if Google's apps provided feature parity with the website. Unfortunately, while they have some good points (like multiple account management), they're largely a huge pain point on mobile.

First off, they're split into three different programs: Drive, Docs, and Sheets. Each displays its own unique "Recent" list; Drive supposedly has the canonical list, but tapping anything in that app boots you out to Docs or Sheets. Worse, Sheets can't find anything you may have in Google Drive but haven't yet opened (like a shared folder) until you find and open it in the Drive app.

When I surveyed Twitter, I found dozens of similar complaints and frustrations. Anger with the overly small touch targets. Bouncing between apps. Requiring a live internet connection.

Now, software development is hard, and Google has chosen the roughest of all worlds: developing for multiple platforms and the web. But its apps go from occasionally incovenient to downright impossible on the iPad Pro.

A pro disappointment

Like iPhone-only apps, apps with no iPad Pro support just upscale their current iPad app to the Pro's screen resolution. This means you're essentially using the 9.7-inch iPad's keyboard upscaled to the 12.9-inch Pro's screen. Worse, they're not configured to properly recognize the Smart Connector—so when you attempt to use any keyboard with that attachment, over half the screen is replaced with a big, grey box that would otherwise be a virtual keyboard. (I won't even get into how poorly Sheets parses Smart Connector accessories, which leads to a frustrating, characters-dropped experience for anyone using a physical iPad Pro keyboard.)

On Sheets, which requires you enter in cell information along the bottom bar, this is nigh-insanity. You're reduced to seeing just five rows of information, and trying to move to a different row is an exercise in tapping futility. Nor do Google's apps support iOS 9's new Split Screen view for iPad; you can either use a brief slide-over to check your data, or remain stuck in the single-app past.

While frustrating, I understand Google not having resources to implement Split View just yet. But it's been two months since the iPad Pro's release, and four since its announcement. To not even update the screen resolution on a Pro-level device—where conceivably users might want to edit spreadsheets with some convenience—it just leaves me shaking my head.

If Google had shown no interest in developing for Apple's platforms due to the Android and Chrome rivalry, that would be one thing. But the company has dozens of apps in the App Store right now, many of them well-made. It clearly cares about its online document-editing platform. But not enough, it seems, to take care of iPad Pro users.

It's possible that Google has talent drain where iOS is concerned, and didn't have the resources to devote to a proper update for iPad Pro users in a timely fashion. That's fair: It's a big company focused on a lot of different projects. But why not have the web team focus on an all-around more touch-friendly site for mobile devices, then? That would benefit every ecosystem without the need for massive custom code for each tablet's app.

The fact of the matter is, without a proper implementation of Google Drive for the iPad Pro, users who work in a Google environment are hamstrung when it comes to using a tablet. If I had attempted to use the Pro and the Pro alone this weekend at the Mystery Hunt, I wouldn't have been able to collaborate and solve puzzles at the rate I normally do.

That's a shame, because the Pro is so well-suited to the Hunt's other demands: drawing and tracing, scavenger hunts that require puzzle solves on-the-go (clunky with a laptop), lengthy battery, and a portable internet connection.

Living without the laptop

Outside the insanity of Mystery Hunt, the Pro has become my de-facto laptop computer for almost every task. I'm lucky in that I don't have to use Google Sheets in my day to day job all that often. But when I do have to collaborate in Sheets or Docs, I often end up inputting data in Excel or 1Writer and copying it back when I'm finished. Others aren't nearly so lucky: For many, Google's apps are a nigh-requirement for their jobs.

Without supporting the iPad Pro, Google is—intentionally or otherwise—choking off an avenue for people who want a tablet in lieu of a laptop. The company's half-hearted apps prevent tablet and phone users from collaborating effectively on the go. And, in all honesty, they make me question whether iMore and our Mystery Hunt team might be better off using Excel with Microsoft's collaboration service.

I've used Google Docs for almost seven years. Giving it up seems crazy. But if Google's not willing to be a good citizen on mobile platforms, I'm not really sure I want to keep giving the company my business.

If you've either been waiting to update to OS X El Capitan because of issues with Microsoft Office for Mac 2011, or you've simply been suffering through them, good news—Microsoft has just pushed out a compatibility fix.

The Office for Mac 2011 patch brings the version number up to 14.5.6. The description says:

Microsoft has yet to issue a similar patch for Office 2016, which has been causing issues for customers as well. Hopefully that will follow soon.

• Free - Download now

Office 2016 for the Mac launched in July, but only subscribers to Office 365 could access the new version of the productivity software suite. That has changed as Microsoft is allowing Mac owners to purchase and download Office Home & Student 2016 as a stand-alone product for $149.99.

The purchase offers users the rights to install Office 2016 on just one Mac, and it also comes with 15GB of OneDrive cloud storage. Users who sign up for an Office 365 Personal subscrption for $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year can get Office 365 on one Mac or Windows PC and also on one tablet and one smartphone, along with 1TB of OneDrive storage. Office 365 Home, for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, expands the install number to up to five Windows or Macs, along with five tablets and five smartphones.

• Buy Office Home & Student 2016 for Mac for $149.99

Microsoft's surprise appearance at Apple's press event this week showed off how its Office apps will work with the upcoming iPad Pro tablet. Now the company has offered more information on how Office will work with the iPad on iOS 9. It has also revealed some new features that will be coming to its Outlook and Translator apps on the Apple Watch with the release of WatchOS 2.

The biggest feature on Office with the iPad with iOS 9 is the split-screen view, which will allow apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel to run next to each other. In addition, Microsoft says those Office apps can run next to the Outlook email app:

Office apps for the iPad will also support inking via the Apple Pencil:

In addition, iOS 9 will allow Office users on both the iPhone and iPad to see OneNote notes and Outlook email messages in search results. Also, iPad users with a wireless keyboard can tap on the Command key to get an overview of all the Office keyboard shortcuts.

When WatchOS 2 is released for the Apple Watch, the Outlook app for the smartwatch will be updated with some new features;

The Microsoft Translator app will also receive some additional features:

• Free - Download Excel
• Free - Download PowerPoint
• Free - Download Word
• Free - Download Outlook

Source: Microsoft

Outlook users on the iPhone and iPad that also use Microsoft's iOS Office apps (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) will have some tighter integration features from now on. Microsoft has announced that Outlook users can now open Office documents sent as attachments directly in their respective iOS apps, rather than just view them in special readers.

Microsoft stated:

In addition, once changes are made to an Office document after opening them first in Outlook, the user can then tap the Back button to return to Outlook. The newly-edited Office document is then automatically added the Outlook email as a replay attachment. Finally, the Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps now include a "Send with Outlook" option in the "Share" menu.

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft has released new versions of its Word, Excel and PowerPoint Office apps for iPhone and iPad. The updates add a way for those users to view files that have been previously protected, along with some other additional features;

Here's a quick breakdown of what's new in the 1.11 versions of these apps:

• Bi-directional and complex script languages: now supports bi-directional text editing and complex script for Arabic, Hebrew, and Thai.
• View protected documents: open and view documents that have access permissions applied to them.
• Easier sharing: invite people to edit a document and grant them permissions, all from within the app.
• Integration with Outlook: send a document as an attachment in Outlook. Or directly edit a document attached to or linked from an Outlook email message.

Microsoft released a new email app for the iPhone earlier this week called Send that has a number of instant messaging influences.

• Free (Word) - Download now
• Free (Excel) - Download now
• Free (PowerPoint) - Download now

The new versions of the Word, PowerPoint, and Excel iOS apps should make it easier for users to quickly store their documents remotely using iCloud. In addition, each app has their own new additions. The Word app has some new templates to choose from to make creating documents quicker, while the PowerPoint app now allows users to insert images and videos from the iPhone or iPad's camera directly into any presentation. The app also supports a way to quickly change the layout of a presentation slide.

Finally, the Excel app now supports add-in programs that can improve the look of spreadsheets. This particular feature is currently supported only on the iPad and requires iOS 8.2 and higher.

• Free (Word) - Download now
• Free (Excel) - Download now
• Free (PowerPoint) - Download now

Check out our ultimate guide to using iCloud

The new remote will enable you to manage your live presentation on your Apple Watch, progressing through each slide without having to pick up your smartphone, tablet or PC. Some minor details like elapsed time, current slide number (as well as total number of slides) are also present on the wearable app.

PowerPoint Remote for Apple Watch is an ideal companion app for those who have to present using slideshows and require a small remote to control their presentation. You can grab the update (version 1.8) from the App Store today.

• Free - Download Now

Along with a host of bug fixes, Microsoft has rolled out accessibility features such as better VoiceOver integration, with Word getting a bulk of the new functionality. The document editing application now comes with a search feature for finding document templates available online as well as a new Macro recording feature. New proofing tools along with several performance improvements are thrown in as well.

Here's the official changelog detailing the new additions:

• Networking improvements for Exchange accounts
• New "Propose New Time" feature: Meeting attendees can propose a new time for a meeting, and meeting organizers can view and modify meeting proposals and send updates.
• Known bug fixes

• Scrolling performance improvements
• New Macro recording feature
• New search feature for online document templates
• Proofing tools: New "custom dictionary" and "exclude dictionary" support
• New user information settings in program preferences
• Improved keyboard shortcuts: Support for the most popular Windows Word keyboard shortcuts
• Accessibility feature: Improved support for VoiceOver
• Performance improvements
• Known bug fixes

• New Analysis ToolPak
• New "Solver" feature
• Accessibility feature: Improved support for VoiceOver
• Known bug fixes

• Accessibility feature: Improved support for VoiceOver
• Known bug fixes

Office 2016 for Mac preview is available to download on OS X Yosemite 10.10 and higher. Head to the link below to download the most recent updates from the Microsoft Download Center. If you already have the Office preview installed, you can automatically check for updates with Microsoft's AutoUpdate tool by launching an Office program and navigating to Help --> Check for Updates.

Download Office for Mac preview

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft has updated the Office apps for the iPhone and iPad, specifically Word, Excel and PowerPoint, to version 1.5. This update will allow users to read and edit documents in all three apps using the VoiceOver feature in iOS.

This should allow users that are visually impaired to have better access to Office apps, as VoiceOver should give them audio information on what's happening on their screen. In addition, users who sign up for a paid Office 365 subscription from inside any of the Office apps will now get one month free. Microsoft previously allowed iPhone and iPad Office users to edit and create new documents for free but a paid Office 365 subscription offers access to a number of extra features.

• Free (Word) - Download now
• Free (Excel) - Download now
• Free (PowerPoint) - Download now

The Dropbox team have announced a handy new feature inside their official apps for the iPhone and iPad. With Microsoft Office documents open for viewing, it's now possible to hit the edit button to launch the installed Office suite for a more feature-rich editing experience. Once all changes have been saved everything is automatically saved to the cloud, thanks to both parties working on support bridges between the two services.

The new Office integration is perfect for those who rely on Dropbox storage, but require tools available in Microsoft's suite of productivity apps. It's worth noting that, according to the Dropbox support section, attempting to edit files within a Dropbox for Business account requires one of the following Office 365 accounts: Business, Business Premium, ProPlus, E3, or E4.

• Free - Download Now

Source: Dropbox

iPhone and iPad owners have an amazing problem — iOS is the only platform with all major office suites. The good news is: we get to choose between Apple iWork (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote), Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), and Google Docs (Docs, Sheets, and Slides). The bad news is: we have to choose between Apple iWork, Microsoft Office, and Google Docs. And it can be a tough choice! iWork is great for consumers. Microsoft Office is the enterprise standard. Google Docs is increasingly everywhere. So, which one is best? We put them to the test so you can find out!

Word processing: Pages vs Word vs Docs

One of the most common things we do with an Office suite is create documents or PDFs. Whether you need to update your resume, complete an assignment for school, or create a flyer for an event, or something else, you need to be able to get the text in efficiently and format it effectively.

In terms of templates, both Pages and Word offer a decent selection to choose from. Everything from reports to resumes to outlines to fliers and more. Google Docs doesn't offer templates and simply launched you right into a blank text document. So if you're looking for templates, you're going to want to use either Pages or Word.

When it comes to feature set and editing tools, Pages uses interactive formatting in order to let you select different elements. Editing tools and the format menu will change depending on what you have selected. When you're typing, a formatting bar will appear over the keyboard so you can easily adjust fonts, alignment, breaks, and more. You can also add tables, charts, graphs, shapes, and photos in just a few taps. Overall, Pages offers a robust feature set that remains easy to use and works great on a touch interface. When it comes time to export your documents, Pages supports .doc and .docx as well. Pair Pages with a Bluetooth keyboard and it's almost comparable to the desktop version of Pages.

Microsoft Word has been completely designed around a touch screen interface, but will be familiar to desktop Office users as well. (This is true across all the Microsoft apps.) There are tabs for creating, formatting, and editing your documents. In just two taps you can insert or format pretty much any object you'd like. Some features such as tracking and reviewing changes, section breaks, and a few others will require an Office 365 Premium subscription. Either way, the free version of Word offers enough features that a good majority of folks will be able to accomplish what they need with zero issues. One thing I do wish Word had was the formatting toolbar similar to what Pages offers.

Google Docs is simpler than either Pages and Word, and the editing tools more basic. Like Word, I do wish Google had placed a formatting bar directly over the keyboard instead of at the top of the screen. Image insertion is also missing, which will be a deal breaker for many. (You can go back to the web version to do it, but that's a terrible work around.)

When it comes to word processing, Pages and Word are equal in terms of feature set. However, certain features such as review tracking, section breaks, and more are free with Pages but require premium subscription with Microsoft Word. So unless you need Word or simply prefer the layout, Pages currently offers the best value for most people.

Spreadsheets: Numbers vs Excel vs Sheets

Numbers proves that doing calculations doesn't have to be painful on an iPad or iPhone. Just plot your data and then choose what kind of table, graph, or chart you'd like to use to represent it. The keyboard also changes dynamically in order suit what you're doing. So if you type an = sign in order to start a formula, Numbers automatically gives you a full number pad and relevant buttons you may want to use. There are also lots of templates to choose from in Numbers including ones to create budgets, calculate net worth, track grades (great for teachers), plan travel, and much more.

There's no disputing that Microsoft Excel has been the king of spreadsheets. The main reason for that is the robust feature set. There's no denying in networked office environments, Excel can't be beat. Microsoft did good job bringing the experience to the iPhone and iPad as well. When using formulas in Excel, the formatting bar automatically brings up suggestions to make handling complex formulas an easier job. The keyboard also is suited for entering numbers and editing formulas, a feature I wish the Word application received as well in terms of a formatting bar. Some features, however, will require a premium subscription.

Google Sheets is a barebones spreadsheet application that allows you to create spreadsheets but without the help of a lot of formatting tools and templates that are offered in competitor apps such as Excel and Numbers. However, if your main purpose is to track data between large groups of people, Google's collaboration tools are some of the best around. Just share sheets with whoever you need to via email and once they accept you can view changes, make comments to each other, and even see who's changing what in real time.

If feature set and advanced tools are your main concern, there's none better than Excel. If you're new to spreadsheets and would appreciate a balance between ease of use and feature set, Numbers is for you. If collaboration tools are what you're after and your feature requirements are minimal, Google Sheets will suit you just fine.

Presentations: Keynote vs PowerPoint vs Slides

Keynote has always been Apple's best office app, and the same holds true on iOS. Aside from offering gorgeous templates to choose from, Keynote's interface feels as it if were made for the touch screen. Adding slides couldn't be easier, and neither could tweaking them to your liking. Just like the other iWork apps, formatting and editing is interactive, so the menus will change depending on what type of content you're working with. The Keynote Remote feature also lets you use one iOS device as a remote to control a presentation on another, or even on a Mac.

PowerPoint is no a slouch when it comes to creating presentations either. You can create animations, transitions, and much more in just a few taps. If you've ever used PowerPoint on the desktop computer, the experience is very much the same on iPad and iPhone. Inserting objects is also easy and includes support not only for tables and pictures, but videos as well.

Unfortunately Google Slides doesn't provide as great of an experience as either Keynote or PowerPoint do. Slides are technically "editable" but not functionally. You can add text into existing text boxes but there isn't a way to add, move, or edit them. Basically, you have to pick from Google's pre-made slides and be happy with text-only slides with no image support, unless, of course, you are okay with finishing things up from a web browser. You can choose themes on the web and then they'll sync down to the mobile version, but again, not very convenient.

Keynote and PowerPoint run neck and neck when it comes to creating presentations. Both support inserting images, videos, and other kinds of objects as well as the option to choose from many great looking templates. Google Slides can't really offer any of that.

Syncing, sharing, and collaborating

All of Apple's iWork apps tie in with iCloud. That means no matter what device you create something on, you'll be able to access it on any other iOS device or Mac that's linked to your account. (You can also use Continuity to Handoff documents between devices as you go.) All of Apple's iWork apps also support the most popular file formats and let you easily share what you create via email or by sharing an iCloud link.

Microsoft Office syncs with Office 365 so you can access all your work on the web from anywhere. You can also link Dropbox and pull files from there into any of the Office apps. Dropbox integration isn't something Google or Apple offer (though that may change in the future thanks to iOS 8's third-party storage provider support), so if you're tied into that ecosystem due to file sharing or some other factor, Office may be the best option for you.

Google uses Google Drive as a hub. There, you can view all your Docs, Sheets, and Slides files in one place, and they'll sync anywhere you can access Google Drive, including any desktop browser. You can easily share documents or export them from the apps and online. And when it comes to collaboration, Google can't be beat. Not only can you share Google Docs files with others so they can view and edit them, you can see what changes they're making live, which makes Google Docs a great option for workgroups and teams that need live collaboration options.

Who should use iWork?

If you're tied into an Apple ecosystem consisting of Macs and multiple iOS devices, and iCloud is your main syncing service of choice, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers will serve you well. All of the iWork apps manage to strike a great balance between feature set and ease of use. If you don't need the most advanced tools on the planet, the iWork apps are a great place to start. Also, if you're new to working with office documents, iWork is a great place to start.

• Pages - $9.99, free for newer iPhones, iPads, and Macs - Download Now
• Numbers, $9.99, free for newer iPhones, iPads, and Macs - Download Now
• Keynote, $9.99, free for newer iPhones, iPads, and Macs - Download Now

Who should use Microsoft Office?

Microsoft Office has always been the most advanced productivity suite on the market. Anyone that's already familiar with Office 365 on the PC will feel right at home with Office for iPad or iPhone. Office is also the only offering that includes Dropbox integration, which is something you'll want to consider if you keep most of your documents there. The more advanced features of Office will require a 365 subscription, however. If you already have an Office subscription, Microsoft Office is hands down the best option for you considering all the premium features you already have access to.

• Word - Free - Download Now
• Excel - Free - Download Now
• PowerPoint - Free - Download Now

Who should use Google Docs?

Google Docs is a barebones productivity suites but it's completely free and offers some of the best collaboration tools you can ask for. If you don't need all the fancy formatting and media capabilities, want to work with multiple people, and like having everything in the cloud, Google Docs is your best option. (If you work with presentations, however, you'd be well advised to pick up Keynote or PowerPoint as well...)

• Docs - Free - Download Now
• Sheets - Free - Download Now
• Slides - Free - Download Now

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that it would be making certain Office features available for free on iOS, including the ability to create and edit documents. Previously, users had to buy an Office 365 subscription to access the functionality. If you bought an Office 365 Personal or Home subscription just to be able to edit documents on your iPad, you are now eligible to receive a refund from Microsoft.

The Office 365 subscription — which costs $6.99 (or $69.99 yearly) for the Personal version and $9.99 ($99 yearly) for the Home edition —allows you to unlock additional features, like 1TB OneDrive space, access to desktop Office applications and more, but if you were using the service to view and edit documents, you can claim a refund. Microsoft has listed out the requirements to be eligible for a refund:

If you bought your subscription directly from the App Store, you'll have to contact iTunes Store Support. If you purchased the subscription from Microsoft or another retailer, you will have to talk to a Microsoft Accounts and Billing agent.

Microsoft also provided information about the refund process:

Back when Office for iPad launched, we asked you if you would be interested in subscribing to Office 365, and a majority of you voted no. It should be interesting to see if there is an increase in the number of users now that the basic features are free. As we mentioned in our review, the standalone apps are quite good.

Source: Office Support; Via: VentureBeat

If you own an iPad Air 2, the first thing you'll want to do is load up on great apps that take advantage of the all new A8X processor, Touch ID sensor, updated camera, and more. While all iPad apps available in the App Store will work perfectly fine on your new iPad Air 2, there are some that stand out from the crowd by taking advantage of the new hardware in some way or another. So if you're only looking for the best iPad apps, these are the ones we think you need to download ASAP!

Pixelmator

Pixelmator, originally available on the Mac, is now available for the iPad, and holy cow is it awesome. Not only can you do many of the same edits you can with software such as Photoshop, it runs smoothly on the iPad Air 2 and provides pretty much a desktop class experience. Shapes, shadows, fills, strokes, masks, retouching, and much more, all built specifically for a great touch screen experience on your iPad.

If you want a powerful image editor to take with you on the go, Pixelmator should be one of your first purchases on your new iPad Air 2.

• $4.99 - Download Now

iMovie

iMovie is Apple's own take on editing video, and it's a pretty powerful tool. Not only that, it's pretty simple to use but can become as advanced and as intricate as you want. You can add titles, transitions, and much more to create HD movie without ever having to touch a desktop computer. Once you're done, you can instantly share your creations on YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and more.

If you plan on taking or editing video on your iPad often, you'll definitely want to have iMovie at your disposal.

• $4.99, Free with newer iOS devices - Download Now

Storehouse

Storehouse is one of my favorite platforms for turning photos and videos into amazing stories. Although it's now available for iPhone as well, it's still obvious that it was made for the iPad. And with the iPad Air 2's improved screen, your photos and videos really pop. With Storehouse you can add as many photos and videos as you'd like to a project, add text, and share your adventures in just a tap. You can also browse other people's projects for inspiration, or just because.

For a unique and creative way to share your memories, Storehouse is a must have.

• Free - Download Now

Photoshop Mix

Photoshop Mix brings some of Adobe's most popular Photoshop tools right to your iPad. With the ability to enhance, combine, cut out, and much more, there aren't very many limits with what you can do with Photoshop Mix. All the edits you make are also non-destructive too so you can revert back to the original any time you'd like. If you have a Creative Cloud subscription, you can hook right into your account to pull documents from the cloud in an instant.

If you want a lighter version of Photoshop that offers easy to use tools with endless possibilities, check out Photoshop Mix.

• Free - Download Now

1Password

1Password is a password management suite that stores all your logins, credit card information, and much more. You can also generate random strong password for more sensitive logins such as bank accounts or credit cards. And since 1Password is supported on pretty much any platform and has web browser extensions for desktop, you only need to remember one password, to unlock them all. Even better yet, 1Password supports Touch ID for instant access to all your passwords.

For a great password management experience that takes full advantage of Touch ID on the iPad Air 2, you can't go wrong with 1Password.

• Free with IAP - Download Now

Fantastical 2

Fantastical 2 is an amazing little productivity app that bundles your calendar and reminders into one beautifully put together package. The iPad version took a while to become a reality but it really looks stunning. Flexibits managed to get a week, month, and list view on a single screen without causing chaos. Even further, pull down on the week view to reveal a day ticker that shows hourly events. Swipe from the left side of your iPad to reveal your reminders. The layout was made for iPad and features all the same great features of its iPhone counterpart. It really is the calendar app Apple should have made.

For one of the best calendar and reminders apps the App Store has to offer, look no further than Fantastical 2.

• $9.99 $7.99 on sale - Download Now

PDF Expert 5

PDF Expert 5 by Readdle is one of the best PDF management apps available. When it comes to the iPad Air 2, documents look crisp, clear, and better than ever. Not only can you view PDFs, you can fill forms, annotate, mark up, and much more. My favorite feature of PDF Expert 5, and what I think sets it apart from the others, is a feature called Review Mode. While in Review Mode, you can mark up a PDF document like it's a normal text editor. Your changes automagically show up in a different color so the recipient can easily see changes without actually changing the original document.

If you plan to work with a lot of forms and PDFs on your iPad, you need PDF Expert 5 in your workflow.

• $9.99 - Download Now

iWork

Apple's iWork suite of apps include Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. All of which have been updated with iCloud Drive support and more. They also look great on the new iPad Air 2. More importantly, they're completely designed around providing a great touch screen experience that takes full advantage of the iPad's screen real estate. So whether you're working on a school project in Pages, putting together a presentation in Keynote, or creating charts for your next board meeting in Numbers, iWork lets you do it all on the go.

For a productivity suite that works great with every iOS device and Mac in your workflow, zero subscription fees required, iWork is a necessity.

• Pages - $9.99, Free for newer iOS devices - Download Now
• Keynote - $9.99, Free for newer iOS devices - Download Now
• Numbers - $9.99, Free for newer iOS devices - Download Now

Microsoft Office

Some folks just prefer the workflow and tools that Microsoft office offers. Nowadays, you can have that same experience on your iPad. Microsoft may have taken a while to bring Office to iOS, but as they say, sometimes a great product is worth the wait. In this case, that definitely holds true. If you use Microsoft Office on your desktop, you'll feel right at home on the iPad versions. The layout is almost a mirror image of its desktop sibling, but designed completely around a touch experience. Just keep in mind you'll need an Office 365 subscription to edit and create documents in any of the Office apps. Subscriptions currently start at $7 a month, or $69 a year.

If you're an MS Office fan and want the same experience on your iPad, Microsoft Office can give it to you.

• Word - Free with subscription - Download Now
• Excel - Free with subscription - Download Now
• PowerPoint - Free with subscription - Download Now

Your vote for best iPad Air 2 apps?

If you already have your iPad Air 2 in your hands, what apps have you found to offer an exceptionally great user experience? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

Office for iPad is here. That means you can now download touch-optimized, tablet-specific versions of Microsoft's Word, Excel, and PowerPoint from the App Store and view or present Office documents for free. If you want to do anything more than that, if you want to edit them, you'll need an Office 365 subscription. That can run you anywhere from a few to quite a few dollars per month, depending on the type of account you get. If you're a business user who already has a subscription, you've no doubt been waiting for Office for iPad for a long time and either had to or wanted to get it the minute it became available. If you're not a business user, however, the question isn't just whether Office for iPad is good or not, but whether it's good enough to warrant the recurring price. So, is it?

Office for iPad: Office 365 subscription pricing

You'll need an Office 365 subscription in order to actually edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations on the iPad. The free versions do allow you to open and view documents at no charge. If you've already got an Office 365 subscription, you're good to go and need only log in. Your iPad shouldn't even count towards your 5 allowed devices either. There are several price points depending on where your needs fall but most subscriptions come in right around $100 a year. The personal plan, when launched later in the spring, will cost a little less than $8 a month. If you're a student using the University version of Office online, you can get a four year subscription for around $80 — not a bad deal at all.

Office for iPad: OneDrive and SharePoint

You can work on Office for iPad files locally on your device, with SharePoint links, or from a OneDrive account. There are numerous ways to get OneDrive space, including an Office 365 account. Since Office is Microsoft software it makes sense Microsoft would tie it to their own services. Part of me was still secretly hoping I'd have a way to access my Dropbox or Google Drive files without it being such a hassle. Sadly, that isn't the case.

Office for iPad: Microsoft Word

To get a feel for how Microsoft Word really flowed, I typed most of this review using it. While it's not your typical use, it gave me a good chance to play around with settings and test different features. I expected to run into issues with embedding images and manipulating them like I typically do with other document editing apps — but I was pleasantly surprised. Text wrapping is often a funny thing on the iPad when images are mixed in but Word handles the touch screen interface well. Dragging and dropping images anywhere on the document leads to the text guessing where it should be. If it falls somewhere you don't want it, you can adjust the alignment fairly easily.

One oddity I did find in the Word app was that auto correct didn't work nearly as well as I'd expected. I'm not sure if this is more of an issue with iOS 7.1 or the Office app itself. Either way, I felt blatant errors in typing just sat on the screen staring at me. It's something I'd like to see corrected in an update.

Typing weirdness aside, I found Microsoft Word for iPad extremely easy to acclimate to and start using. I've never found the iPhone variant appealing mainly because I resent editing text on the iPhone. The screen real estate is just too small. The iPad is a natural at text editing and Microsoft did a really nice job using screen real estate in a way that makes the most sense. Parts of me somewhat preferred it over the Office Online version. Paired with a good keyboard case, you can get some serious work done with Microsoft Word for iPad.

Office for iPad: Microsoft Excel

Anyone who uses spreadsheets extensively understands that formulas can be a tricky beast. Using one program and then opening a spreadsheet in another can easily break shared sheets or in-depth formulas. The great thing about Excel for iPad is that it should eliminate that problem for businesses and individuals.

When it comes to data entry in Excel for iPad, it couldn't be any easier. You can also just highlight a cell and the formula bar magically appears at the top. Some apps require you to double tap to bring up a keyboard, but Excel for iPad lets it stay up as long as you're using it and the bar appearing minimizes reaches and taps you have to make. Anyone entering digits fast will appreciate this subtlety.

One feature I would have really liked to see make an appearance in Excel for iPad is an easier way to paste formulas. Sometimes adding more data requires you applying a formula through several rows or columns at once. Most Excel apps up until this point don't handle pasting formulas in many cells at once very easily, and unfortunately I haven't found a way to do the same in Excel. Some of the smart features do guess when it thinks you'll need a formula based on your current data and formatting — but we all know it isn't always 100% accurate. Every time I have to paste a formula by tapping several times over several cells, I long for my desktop computer and the drag method. Perhaps I'm just missing something but I can't find an easier way.

Overall I had an easier time manipulating cells and editing formulas than I've ever had on any other Excel editing app for iPad. The top ribbon menus change based on what you're doing and that's incredibly convenient. Less taps equals more efficiency and from that aspect, Microsoft has managed to nail it.

Office for iPad: Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint has always been a pain point for me simply due to the clunky interface on the desktop and the outdated slides and options it carried with it. That's all changed in recent years and the iPad version now rivals the likes of Keynote for iPad. For those that are tied into the PowerPoint ecosystem and need to either work on presentations with others or share them with other PowerPoint users, the iPad is a joy to create them on. Choose a project and begin working, it really is that simple.

A cool feature that I could see a lot of people digging in the iPad version of Keynote is the laser pointer in presentation mode. If you're using an Apple TV or other mirroring device from your iPad, just hold your finger down on the screen in order to point to things. Long gone are the days of needing an external pointing device. Just carry around your iPad and use it to point with the most natural pointer on earth, your finger.

Like Word for iPad, images are easy to embed and can be imported right from your Camera Roll, Photo Stream, or any other album. You can then change the size, move it around, and manipulate it inside PowerPoint. Text wrapping is receptive and works around images rather well. And like always, use the wrapping tools if it does something you don't like. Sometimes the touch screen interface even cooperates better than a traditional mouse and pointer when positioning text and images.

Keynote and PowerPoint are about neck and neck when it comes to functionality and user experience. Microsoft has done a wonderful job brining PowerPoint into this decade — finally. For people who are tied into the Office ecosystem, you won't dread using PowerPoint on your iPad, you'll actually enjoy it. If you're tied into iCloud however, Keynote is still going to be a better option just due to convenience.

Office for iPad: The good

• Microsoft really has managed to nail the user interface and experience on the iPad
• Editing options are up front, easy to access, and well thought out throughout all three programs
• Excel format editing requires less taps than many other office editing apps
• Image and shape insertion and manipulation works well, even where text wrapping comes into play

Office for iPad: The bad

• No support for Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud — any service that isn't owned by Microsoft
• Office 365 subscription required in order to edit documents

Office for iPad: The bottom line

The Microsoft Office suite of apps for iPad may of been late to the party but at least it comes out of the gate swinging. Anyone familiar with Office Online will be right at home with the Office for iPad. If you've used the iPhone versions, you'll notice some similarities but overall, the iPad version is light years ahead of the anemic iPhone versions. Not only are Word, Excel, and PowerPoint functional, they're quite possibly the best available, particularly if you're already using Office 365 and the online versions of Office. If you're tied into iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive then moving over to Office for iPad is a bit of a hassle. However, depending on how much time you spend editing documents and spreadsheets, it may very well be worth it.

• Word for iPad - Free - Download Now
• Excel for iPad - Free - Download Now
• Keynote for iPad - Free - Download Now

Anyone who lives and breathes Microsoft Office on the desktop or online will feel instantly at home in Office for iPad. Not only is each app thoughtfully designed, it's made to work with other Office clients and services. With OneDrive personal and business built right in, all the sharing and collaborative tools you already use are built right in. And if you already subscribe to Office 365, it's a no brainer.

If you don't already have an Office 365 account then there are alternatives that are not only free but are arguably better on the iPad.

If you only need to create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations here and there, the cost of the subscription isn't (yet) worth it. There are lots of other great apps that can get the job done, no money required. Apple's iWork for iPad is just as good if not slightly better for most common document tasks at this point. Microsoft simply waited so long Apple filled the void and filled it well.

If you're tied to Google services, Google Drive is an okay alternative as well. It doesn't offer as many features as either Office or iWork but it'll be enough for most Google users most of the time.

• Best document editing apps for iPad
• Best spreadsheet apps for iPad

What do you think of Office for iPad?

If you've downloaded and starting using any of the Microsoft Office apps for iPad, what are your initial thoughts? Is it enough to make you migrate your documents over? Let me know in the comments!

As promised, the iPad versions of the Microsoft Office suite — Word, Excel, and PowerPoint — all are now available in the App Store. All three apps are free to download, but require a $120-a-year subscription to Office 365 to get the most out of them.

All three apps offer the same set of features as the desktop versions and sync through the cloud to your desktop via the aforementioned Office 365 subscription.

Download:

• Microsoft Excel for iPad — Free
• Microsoft PowerPoint for iPad — Free
• Microsoft Word for iPad — Free

The big Microsoft Office for iPad news is that it's here – today – and that it's completely free to download. But to use the full featureset you'll be required to have an Office 365 subscription which at present costs upto $120 a year, $80 if you're a student or $69.99 on the personal tier.

For free, you'll be able to use Word, Excel and Powerpoint on your iPad to view documents and for delivering presentations. The Office 365 subscription unlocks everything else, giving you access to the full power and featureset of the applications.

Of course, Office 365 doesn't just give you full access to Office for iPad. The Home Premium version for example gives you desktop copies of Office for Mac or Windows for up to 5 different computers, access to the Office web apps, 20GB of SkyDrive and some inclusive Skype calling. Office for iPad is another of the value added propositions to the package.

Microsoft talked a lot about Office 365 and exposing it to developers, as well as each and every different platform. It's hard to look past the need for a subscription, but it looks as though this model plays an important role in Microsoft's future.

More: Office 365 pricing

Rumor has it that Microsoft is on the cusp of releasing a new version of Office for Mac. It's been more than three years since the last version of Office came out. Things have changed a lot. Is Microsoft Office still important?

Since Office's last major release on the Mac, Apple made a major strategic move to trump Microsoft: It began to include productivity apps as part of the standard suite of software applications included on all new Macs and iOS devices. You used to have to buy iWork apps — Pages, Keynote and Numbers — separately, but now you get them for free.

Those three apps fill in the gaps for some users who need word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software capabilities. There are certainly some benefits, too, such as iCloud support and binary compatibility for documents, making it simple to edit files on your Mac and use them on your iPad, or vice versa.

Other options have emerged, too. Free software alternatives to Office like LibreOffice may still raise eyebrows, but Google has normalized many people to using Google Docs for their productivity software and collaboration needs, for example.

iWork is good, but it's not that good. As I said back in February, 'Almost' isn't good enough. Despite the advances that Apple has made, Microsoft Office still reigns supreme in corporate environments and elsewhere. Many businesses and institutions continue to rely on Office as their standard.

Like most alternative productivity suites, iWork apps try to be good corporate citizens, offering Office file compatibility for import and export, but there's a difference between file compatibility and native file support, and many users of iWork apps and other tools have run into issues with documents just not looking right when they're translated into Office formats.

As I said at the outset, Apple has changed, but so has Microsoft. Much of their focus has been to make Office a subscription-based service rather than a monolithic software suite that gets updated once every few years.

You can still buy Office in a single user version. But Microsoft is following Adobe's Creative Cloud lead, offering an annual subscription with the promise of regular updates, along with other benefits, such as the ability to share one subscription with multiple devices, a free OneDrive cloud service account with 20 GB of storage, free Skype world minutes and more.

Of course, a new version of Office for Mac is only one tantalizing piece of the puzzle. The other is a version of Office that will run on iPads. Microsoft expert Mary Jo Foley suggested in February that an iPad version is coming sooner than people think, perhaps some time in the first half of 2014. A well-integrated Mac and iPad Microsoft Office ecosystem would certainly be fierce competition for Apple, which is still in a rebuilding year after gutting the iWork apps to get them to work more seamlessly across iOS and OS X.

Another piece of the puzzle: Microsoft may bring OneNote to the Mac in the next few weeks. Microsoft's note-taking app is a decade old, but it's not available in Mac native form, leaving the market wide open for competitors like Evernote to dominate.

Office remains one of the best selling software packages for the Mac. Lots of Mac users depend on Office to get their work done, and that's unlikely to change. Office is still front and center for many in the corporate and institutional worlds.

The combination of a new version of Microsoft Office for Mac, Office for iPad and OneNote for Mac suggests that Microsoft still thinks that Apple's platforms are still fertile ground. Even if you don't like Microsoft's products, you have to admit that the company's continued support is a net positive: It makes it easier to justify using Macs and iOS devices in enterprise and reduces friction for users who want to effortlessly produce documents that their non-Apple using colleagues can work.

To answer my initial question, Microsoft Office's role has changed. It's no longer irreplaceable - fact is, there are a lot of options people can use if they want to produce word processing docs, spreadsheets and attractive presentations. But Office is still a vital and important tool for many of us, and that won't change.

Are you looking forward to a new version of Office for the Mac? Will you migrate to new Office apps for OS X and iOS? Let me know what you think in the comments.

On their surface Apple's iWork apps — now included with the purchase of new Macs or iOS devices — provide customers with Microsoft Office-like capabilities. Are they a substitute for Office? Maybe for some, but Office's absence on iPad is still a glaring void that needs to be filled. For many of Apple's customers, there's simply no adequate substitute for Microsoft's productivity software.

The gold standard

Office is, and long has been, the gold standard for compatibility and interoperability in both enterprise and academic environments. Very rarely is anyone going to be asked to resubmit a document they've sent in .doc or .docx format (or .xlsx or .pptx formats, for that matter).

While Office document formats are hardly a lingua franca, they do represent a baseline of compatibility that most users are comfortable with and that most IT departments can support. And while Apple product users can be reluctant to admit it, Microsoft remains the de facto standard just about everywhere.

Compatibility

Many other apps are capable of importing and exporting Microsoft Office documents. In fact, it can be argued that the kiss of death for any productivity software is not to include some sort of Office file format interoperability. All non-Office apps do so with varying degrees of success. Problems become more likely to arise as layouts and calculations get more complicated.

I'll readily admit that even between Microsoft Offices, things aren't perfect. Exchanging documents between Office for Mac and Windows can sometimes lead to problems with formatting and more. But generally Office-to-Office exchange is a less painful process than converting between different productivity suites.

What's more, it represents fewer steps, too — you don't have to export instead of just save a document. You don't have to import, either.

Familiarity

For many of us, Office may be the first or only productivity suite we've ever learned to use. We're accustomed to the shortcuts we've memorized, along with the placement of menus, the location of tools, palettes and other interface elements.

You can argue that iWork and other productivity software offer interface improvements, more intuitive elements and better shortcuts, but the fact is that many of us are hard-wired to remember what we first learned, and simply aren't comfortable learning a new way, even if it is better.

And to my mind, we shouldn't have to. I think most people have a very reasonable expectation to assume that software — especially software that performs a function they're accustomed to — should work the way they want it to work.

Witness the revamping of iWork apps for OS X and see what I mean. Long-time users of Pages and Numbers, especially, were really upset by the changes made to Apple's newest versions precisely because they were such a change in both interface and functionality.

Because brand matters

There certainly are substitutes for Microsoft Office available for iPad, and I'm not just talking about iWork apps. QuickOffice comes to mind, along with Documents to Go, OfficeReader and others.

But none of them are Microsoft Office. It's a brand people recognize and, as I've stated before, it's a product people are comfortable with. Giving them something like Office isn't the same as giving them Office.

Still waiting

Four years after the debut of the iPad, we're still waiting for a version of Office that runs on the iPad. And despite rumors to the contrary, I think we still might be waiting a while — Office is one of the few things that really make Surface a compelling choice for business users looking for a tablet. It seems crazy to think that Microsoft would want to kill that just for a chance to garner some revenue from iOS users.

Having said that, Office is available for iOS, at least in some way. Office Mobile has been available for download from the App Store for a while — it provides iPhone users specifically with access to cloud-connected documents. The limiting factor is that you have to have an Office 365 subscription. I have very little doubt that if and when Office connectivity comes to the iPad, we'll face the same sort of limitations.

My weekend job is to sell Macs and iPads at a local Apple retailer. The availability of Office is one of the first question out of the mouths of many of our iPad-buying customers. While we can often assuage them by letting them know they get similar functionality out of Pages, Numbers and Keynote, I have to admit that it's very hit-or-miss when I talk to them post-sale.

Many of these same people with no find Apple's iWork apps to be confusing or more trouble than they're worth to get working in their workflow specifically, and they lack the time and patience to figure out how to make it work.

For them and many other customers like them, a native Office experience on the iPad would be a good thing and would be the path of least resistance.

How about you? Do you pine for Microsoft Office on your iPad, or have you made do with alternatives? Sound off in the comments, I want to hear from you.

In the early days of the iPhone and later the iPad, pundits and consumers alike questioned how useful the devices could be without Microsoft's Office productivity suite. For many, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook are synonymous with business and getting things done. The iPhone launched over five years ago, and the iPad is coming up on three years, but in all that time they've yet to have an official Microsoft Office app suite, and with more than 100 million units sold each, sales have clearly suffered tremendously.

That's not to say that a solid word processor, spreadsheet cruncher, and presentation building app aren't essential for the platform - they are, and that's exactly why Apple built Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for iOS. Apple also sells the three iWork apps for $29.97 combined. That's ninety dollars less than the lowest available tier of Microsoft Office for PC or Mac, and that tier is intended for "home and student" use. It's another eighty bucks if you want a version meant for use in your business. The iOS iWork trifecta, however, continues to be less than thirty dollars, no matter what you intend to use it for.

To be fair, there's a fairly large and vocal contingent that insists they need Office. Numbers still isn't as robust as Excel (as any accountant will tell you), for one. But there's also a large institutional memory barrier to be overcome. Business believe that in order to conduct business, they need Office. That barrier is slowly coming down, one business at a time, with more and more picking up iPads in lieu of PCs.

With the iPad approaching its third birthday after completely turning the idea of what a tablet could be on its head while simultaneously and singlehandedly obliterating the netbook market, Microsoft finds themselves in an interesting predicament. Millions upon millions of iPad users have gotten by without Office, and they've flourished without Office. More and more, people are beginning to realize that they don't need Office to crunch numbers or draft documents or create presentations. With their email and contacts and calendar already in the cloud, they don't need Outlook.

Microsoft let a golden opportunity pass with iOS. For years and years they've managed to convince the overwhelming majority of Windows users that they need to have Office, and those customers have overwhelmingly ponied up for a license. Microsoft has profited mightily from this impression, with even Mac switchers being willing to plop down the extra cash to purchase a copy of Office for their new OS X machines.

But on iOS they have yet to have that opportunity. Hundreds of millions of iOS devices are out there, with not a single installation of Office in the public. Now, with Microsoft finally ready to roll out Office onto iOS, they've run into loggerheads with Apple over how much of a cut Apple should be able to take for sales made through the app. Specifically, Apple is keen to take a 30% cut of the sale price of any app sold through the App Store and 30% of any purchase made in that app using Apple's App Store backend - subscriptions included. The rules are the rules.

Microsoft's much-rumored Office for iOS is likely to take the form of an Office 365 subscription, which if purchased through Apple would result in a 30% commission for Apple into perpetuity, even if the subscriber switches to another platform (unless they opt to shut down their account and start from scratch - unlikely to say the least). Unsurprisingly, Apple's not budging on this. Not only have they made a lot of money off this model and stand to make even more off of Microsoft's work, but they don't need it.

In the early days of iOS, those questions of how well the platform could succeed without Office support were loud and ongoing. Had Microsoft launched Office on the iPhone and iPad early on, they could have furthered the impression that Office was a must-have for anybody serious about anything, even on iOS. But they let years pass, and now Microsoft's flagship applications aren't so must-have anymore and Apple isn't overly eager to accommodate them. It's easy to imagine that four years ago when preparing to launch the iPhone App Store Apple may have been more willing to negotiate with Microsoft to get flagship apps like Word and Excel on the smartphone. But today? Apple's doing just fine without them.

Apple doesn't need Office, and if they can't get past the issue of Apple's cut of revenue, then Apple will happily move on without Office. Apple is a "my way or the highway" company, and that shouldn't surprise anybody. Would Apple get additional App Store income and sell even more iPhones and iPads with Office available? Sure. But that's not going to happen if Microsoft isn't willing to accept Apple's terms.

One could argue, on the other hand, that Microsoft needs iOS. While the "Maybe I don't need Office…" effect is one that is obviously of great concern to Microsoft's cash cow software, the potential of that realization for potential customers leads to further realizations: "Maybe I don't need a PC at all."

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is betting the entire company on Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows Phone. They've finally recognized that mobility is the future and they've built two-and-a-half operating systems that embrace that future. Windows RT and Windows Phone both come out of the box with Microsoft Office, an implicit admission that Office is a selling point for customers.

Office is synonymous with Windows in the minds of many, and once they realize that they don't necessarily need Office, then they don't need Windows either. By letting the world's most popular smartphone and tablet go for all these years without Office and giving Apple long enough to cement the stronger negotiating position, Microsoft's sacrificed the opportunity to breed another generation of users who absolutely, unequivocally, must have Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook. And that could very well be Microsoft's undoing.

CloudOn, a free iPad app that offered Microsoft Office functionality with Dropbox support, appeared briefly in the App Store yesterday before going up in a puff of smoke a short time later.

CloudOn has responded saying their app has "sold out", but we think this may have had something to do with server overload.

The fact that CloudOn came with full Dropbox support for storing and managing office files on-the-go was a great idea for power users, and the overall offering is unique in respect to beating Microsoft to the punch at their own game. This could be another reason the app is no longer available, as Microsoft could have called shenanigans if CloudOn didn't go through the appropriate channels before release.

I gave it a quick whirl when it was actually up and running, and noticed the app was somewhat sluggish from the get-go (probably due to how much it relies on the cloud backend to get things done paired with the influx of users hammering their servers).

We'll let you know as soon as CloudOn is back in the App Store. In the meantime, here's its description:

• Use Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint on your iPad to create or edit documents.
• Rename, delete and manage documents with your Dropbox account
• Display, edit or create charts, change formatting, spell check, insert comments, into any Word, Excel or PowerPoint files
• Track changes while reviewing Word documents
• Use pivot tables and insert formulas in Excel workbooks
• Display and edit animation or transitions in PowerPoint presentations
• Present in full PowerPoint mode (not in PDF)
• Open files directly from your iPad email accounts or Dropbox account
• Automatically save documents to avoid losing changes

Source: CloudOn

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

The App Store already plays host to several mobile apps that allow users to view and edit documents and spreadsheets, but how about an official MS Office app for iOS that you can natively edit and view all MS Office formats in? Hints persist that it may be coming.  We'll have to call this one a rumor for now, but considering Bing is already available for the iPhone, it's plausible.  Apple and Microsoft seem to be playing nice lately, so we won't rule it out.

It seems a job posting for Microsoft may indicate this is the case.  The following is an excerpt from the posting:

iOS is definitely a leading smartphone platform, but there's also others, so we'll just have to wait and see on this one. What do you guys think?

[WMPowerUser via WMExperts]