Google is laying QuickOffice to rest after it announced last week at its I/O developer conference that the document editing app will be integrated into Google's own Google Docs.
In a blog post on Google updates, the search company announced that it will be removing QuickOffice from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store "in the coming weeks," although it did not specify exactly when the 12-year-old application will no longer be seen. Google made it clear that users who already have QuickOffice on their mobile devices will still be able to use the apps to edit and view their documents, but they will no longer receive support and future updates.
Here is the exact language Google used to make the announcement:
"With the integration of QuickOffice into Google Docs, Sheets and Slides apps, the QuickOffice app will be unpublished from Google Play and the App Store in the coming weeks. Existing users with the app can continue to use it, but no features will be added and new users will not be able to install the app.
Google acquired Texas-based QuickOffice in June 2012 for an undisclosed sum. At that time, Google said the acquisition was due to the app's ability to convert seamlessly into a range of different file formats. In December of the same year, Google rebranded QuickOffice as Google Apps for Business but decided to bring back QuickOffice, with integration into Google Drive, and make it a free app for everyone in September 2013. The relaunched QuickOffice came with a slew of improvements, including a better interface, a Chrome browser extension and the capability to edit Office apps in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides without having to convert them first.
But with the full integration of QuickOffice into its own editing app, Google no longer sees the need for a redundant app. With the latest version of Docs, Sheets and Slides, users can now edit their Microsoft Office documents on the native Google Apps without converting them from Word, Excel and PowerPoint and back again when users save the files on their computers.
Google seems to be intent on going head to head with Microsoft, whose Office suite of software has been the runaway leader in the document-editing segment for decades. When users consider looking at other apps, one of their major considerations is the app's adaptability and conversion to Microsoft Office. But Google wants to take Microsoft's lead by offering a free suite of apps to compete with Microsoft's fairly expensive product.
