Microsoft has released a version of its Office software for the Apple iPhone for users of its cloud suite, Office 365. It was the first time Microsoft had developed the Office suite for an operating system outside of Windows.
Office Mobile for iPhone was first sold through Apple’s app store in the US and was made available late last month for Australian users. A subscription to Office 365 was required to use the Office apps on the iPhone.
Office Mobile for iPhone included Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and could open and store files in Microsoft’s cloud storage service SkyDrive. Microsoft developed several new features for the iPhone apps. ‘Slide navigator’ and ‘speaker notes’ for PowerPoint allowed users to flick through and practice presentations; ‘resume reading’ opened a Word document at the same point it was left on a PC.
No iPad or Android versions of Office are planned, Microsoft said.
The Office 365 subscription supports five devices, not including the iPhone, for an annual fee. Office for iPhone will be free for current Office 365 Home Premium and ProPlus customers.