Microsoft’s new Office app is now available on iPad. Like the one available on iPhone, and Android, the new Office app combines Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in one single app.
Although iPad users could previously access the new Office app built for the iPhone, this native iPadOS-optimized app is expected to enhance user experience while working on documents.
“We’re combining the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps you know into a single, iPadOS-optimized app,” said Sameer Gupta, a Program Manager on the Office team.
“Plus, you’ll see additional tools to keep you more productive than ever. For example, you’ll be able to quickly create and sign PDFs and transform pictures into documents.”
Office on the iPad promises a better experience while working with documents due to some available neat tricks. For instance, you can snap a picture of a document and turn it into an editable Word file with the press of a button.
But this feature won’t work on all types of text. In my experience, Office fails to convert my handwritten words into word format due to the obvious; handwriting. But when it comes to text from books, it does a pretty good job.
You can also transform a picture of a table into an Excel spreadsheet and even design a PowerPoint presentation by selecting locally stored pictures you wish to use.
These features are available in the unified Office app on Android, iOS, and now iPadOS. The iPadOS optimized Office app will, however, only run on iPads with iPadOS 13 or later. Another caveat is you’ll need an Office 365 subscription to create and edit documents on iPadOS.