NEW DELHI: On Thursday, not only did
Microsoft unveil three new Office apps for
the iPad, it also made its Office apps for
iPhone and Android, completely free to use.
The Redmond giant updated the apps on
respective app marketplaces to implement
the same.
The Office apps for the two smartphone
platforms were made available last year,
and although these were free to download,
using the apps required an Office 365
subscription. The two apps can now be
downloaded and used without the need to
pay any additional charge.
Microsoft mentions in the apps' update
notes that the apps are intended for home
use which means it still expects business
users to subscribe to the Office 365 plan.
However, it would be difficult to restrict
business users to use the free apps on their
personal devices.
Unlike the Office suite for iPad which comes
with three separate apps - Word,
PowerPoint and Excel, Office for iPhone and
Android comprises of a single app that lets
users open, view and edit documents,
spreadsheets and presentations. The
smartphone apps offer basic functionality
and are not a replacement for desktop or
iPad clients.
With the mobile push, Microsoft aims to
boost usage of its OneDrive cloud solution
as users can save and sync files through the
company's virtual storage service. It will
also enable it to promote Office 365 and
get more people to sign-up for the service.
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