Microsoft releases unified Office Mobile app for Android

by Mark Tyson on 18 February 2020, 13:21

Tags: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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Microsoft has been working on a unified mobile app containing the essential Office tools for some time. In November last year the unified Office app appeared on Android but was only open to Office Insiders in preview form, for testing. Now the Microsoft Office mobile app has hit prime time and is generally available on the Google Play Store for Android.

The headlining feature of the new app is that it combines the charms of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in one app, in your pocket. Microsoft says it has implemented "new capabilities that harness the unique strengths of mobile devices to create a simpler, yet more powerful Office experience for the phone." As well as being able to create and edit documents (including cloud-based docs) from the aforementioned major Office tool, the app can be used for handy related tasks such as:

  • Snap a picture of a document and turn it into an editable Word file with the press of a button.
  • Transform a picture of a table into an Excel spreadsheet so you can work with the data.
  • Let PowerPoint help you design a presentation by simply selecting the pictures you want to use from your phone.
  • Create automatically enhanced digital images of whiteboards and documents with Office Lens features integrated into the app.

Other useful features include the ability to create PDFs from Office files, sign PDFs using your finger or stylus, being able to jot down ideas with the included Sticky Notes functionality, scanning QR codes, plus quickly transferring and sharing files. The app works with OneDrive and third party cloud storage providers.

Last but not least of you are a user with an Office 365 subscription you will get premium features in the app automatically unlocked.

In its initial testing of the new unified Office mobile app for Android, Android Police noted that it wasn't great for use on larger screened devices such as tablets and laptops (Chromebooks). Microsoft's app sticks to portrait mode on these larger format devices and doesn't have a tablet UI. It is hoped that the separate and screen adaptive existing Word, PowerPoint, and Excel apps are not discontinued until the mobile app catches up.



HEXUS Forums :: 8 Comments

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I was going to mock this but, having to recreate a research paper from photos recently using three different apps on my phone, this could make plagiarism a breeze.
philehidiot
I was going to mock this but, having to recreate a research paper from photos recently using three different apps on my phone, this could make plagiarism a breeze.

Copy that…..
For me, the MAJOR issue with cloud-based office and apps is the lack of VBA. 99% of the stuff I deal with has macros, and this makes MS Office so much more powerful then as the stand-alone applications. However, VBA needs the locally installed programs *along with VBA of course)……so for me, the use of these are limited……
Pass ! i have never used programs ( i refuse to call a program a APP ) like this.
Any text i need to do i do with notepad if its on the computer, and only text i do in a phone are a text / text with as few as possible letters in it to be understood.
Dont even RPLY to mails on the phone, only RPLY to calls at once,,, if i am not driving or in public.
Gentle Viking;1338941
Pass ! i have never used programs ( i refuse to call a program a APP ) like this.
Any text i need to do i do with notepad if its on the computer, and only text i do in a phone are a text / text with as few as possible letters in it to be understood.
Dont even RPLY to mails on the phone, only RPLY to calls at once,,, if i am not driving or in public.

It's like looking in the mirror.