Microsoft is offering standalone versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint for iPhone, giving users a much better productivity suite for the mobile devices.
Prior to the new mobile apps, users who wanted to use Office on an iPhone had to use "Microsoft Office Mobile," which really only allowed users to view documents and input text.
"Starting today, iPhone and Android tablet customers can tap into the same experience that people with Office for iPad have enjoyed," said the company in a statement. "Now, nearly everyone will be able to get more done, more quickly."
The apps will bring much the same functionality available on the iPad, but the company has updated both the iPad and iPhone versions to offer a number of different features. The app is free and is universal, meaning one download will work on both the iPhone and the iPad.
All three of the apps can be downloaded for free and all offer basic editing features. For more advanced features, however, users will have upgrade to Office 365. The features that require an upgrade will likely not impact the everyday user in a big way, but the limitations could get a little annoying. For example, free app users can edit documents in landscape mode, but they won't be able to switch to portrait mode unless they have an Office 365 subscription.
In the Excel app, users can edit cells with new data or test. But to create tables with colored rows and columns, users will need a subscription. If a user receives a document with colored rows and columns then they will appear, but the user will not be able to edit them.
Limitations exist across all three of the apps, but even the limited versions of the apps are better than the previous Office for iOS, giving users at least the ability to edit documents. Previously, users could only view documents if they did not have a subscription.
The decision to upgrade will be personal for each user, but people who use Office all the time will likely be very willing to upgrade. Those who already have an active subscription will be able to take advantage of the fully functional apps right away.
Microsoft also announced it has starting testing apps for Android tablets and that those apps will be available to users in early 2015. A version for Android phones will be available shortly afterward.
