One of Satya Nadella’s first acts as CEO at Microsoft was to announce Microsoft Office apps for the iPad. Today, they announced they were expanding office on mobile to include Office on the iPhone and iPod Touch and to Android. They also announced the apps would be free to use.
Previously Office had been available on the iPad as separate Apps and on the iPhone as a single all in one app. Microsoft has discontinued that and Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are now universal apps for both iPhone and iPad. They join OneNote which has been on the iPhone and iPad, but as separate apps. Unlike their desktop counterparts, the mobile versions of Office, as of today, do not require subscription to Office 365.
iOS wasn’t the only platform to receive a change. Microsoft also announced they bringing Office to Android soon with a preview build for tablets. Android owners with a tablet between 7.0 and 10.1 inches and running Android 4.4 KitKat can sign up for the preview. For those not chosen for the preview, the apps should be available on Google Play in early 2015. There is no word on availability of a version for Android phones. For Windows fans, there will also be a touch-friendly version of Office for Windows 10 coming later.
Now that Microsoft Office is coming to everyones’s touch based platform of choice and free to use, we want to hear what you have to say. Leave us a comment below or on social media.
Source: Microsoft
