Last Thursday Microsoft made its mobile office software free for phones running the Google Android OS and for Apple iPhones. Android and iPhone users now have free access to the complete mobile Office suite, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
The release is so far looking to be a success on the Android platform, with more than 15,000 five star ratings at the time of this writing and an average of 3.9 stars overall.
Taking back from third parties
Until now, Android and IPhone users who wanted to open Microsoft documents had to rely on third party software like Kingsoft Office, Office Suite 7 and Google's own QuickOffice. It will be Microsoft's hope that by releasing this software they'll be able to snatch back these users and regain some good will.
This kind of behavior is very odd from Microsoft, who in the past have been very reticent to distribute their software to platforms they don't own. It may well be a sign that things are changing and the tech giant is taking a more consumer-minded approach to their software.
Key features of Office Mobile
· cloud backups - MS is bringing its cloud infrastructure into play with this latest move. Users will be able to access any documents that is saved on either Onedrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint.
· Recently viewed - This cloud connection also makes it easy for users to use their phone to view any recently opened documents on their computers buy using the 'recent documents' panel.
· View and edit email attachments - The software will allow users to modify any Office documents attached to emails.
· Mobile optimisation - The different Windows applications have all been optimised to work best on the small screen.
· Similar functionality to computer software - Users will be able to use charts, animations, SmartArt Graphics and shapes in their work, just like they would on their home or work computer.
· Pick up where you left off - If you open a word document from the cloud on your phone that you previously had open on your computer or another device, it automatically resumes at the place you left off reading.
· Easy browsing - PowerPoint mobile's 'slide navigator' view lets you move through slides faster. It also has a 'speaker notes' function which helps you to practice your presentation.
· Formatting - Regardless of the device you are working on, the formatting will remain consistent throughout.
Problems
The most obvious problem with Mobile Office is that it requires users to utilize OneDrive instead of local storage. This isn't a problem for those who already use OneDrive regularly or don't mind having multiple places to store files.
But if you're not one of those people then being forced to sign up for yet another account is a very frustrating requirement. Especially when you consider that most of Mobile Office's best features are directly linked to the Cloud.
Furthermore, whilst it's good to see Microsoft making their stuff available to Android users, the fact still stands that Mobile Office is not currently compatible with Android tablets. This is unusual considering the speed at which the Apple iPad got its own version of Office.
And even more confusing when you consider the amount of people using Android tablets (largely thanks to Samsung's dominance in the marketplace.) As long as there isn't a tablet compatible version of Mobile Office for Android, Microsoft is missing out on a serious userbase.
It's good to see Microsoft taking the time to put its software in the hands of users not directly tied to its OS (at least in the mobile sphere), but the company's insistence on the use of OneDrive and the lack of an Android tablet presence may still hinder adoption of Mobile Office. If Microsoft listens to its audience though, and makes the right changes, it could see a huge number of users come on board.
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