Microsoft has officially released a suite of Office apps for Android, a little over a month after the company began rolling out an Office preview for Android.
The release includes three apps, namely Word, PowerPoint and Excel, with all three apps already available on Windows Phone and iOS.
"We are so grateful to our preview users, and with their help we were able to test the apps on over 1,900 different Android phone models in 83 countries," said Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president for the Office Client Applications and Services team. "During the preview, we heard from thousands of these users, and over the last few weeks we were able to incorporate a lot of their feedback into the apps we're launching today."
Using the apps, users can view and edit their documents on the move, as well as present PowerPoint presentations straight from their smartphone. Not only that, but users can also easily pull documents from their cloud storage method of choice, even competing services like Dropbox or, thankfully for Android users, Google Drive.
The new apps will replace the older Office Mobile apps and will require a device with at least 1 GB of RAM and Android KitKat 4.4 or above. For those running KitKat, remember that it was designed to work on devices with as little as 512 MB of RAM, so be sure to check that you have at least 1 GB of RAM before installing. It's also important to note that Android M is not yet supported, so those with developer previews of Android M should probably hold off on installing the new Office apps until a later date.
While the apps are free to those with a Microsoft account, users who have Office 365 subscriptions will have access to a number of extra features aimed at power users.
The apps highlight Microsoft's strategy of making waves in the mobile market in areas other than Windows Phone. The company seems to have realized that Windows Phone isn't anywhere near as popular as it would like to think and is thinking up new ways of being a part of a user's mobile experience. In fact, the company has made deals with over 30 OEMs to have the new Office apps pre-installed. These companies include the likes of Samsung and LG.
The company also recently announced that Cortana would be making her way to Android and iOS in the future despite the fact that both of these operating systems already have their own personal assistants in Siri and Google Now.
