Microsoft Office for iOS Updated With iCloud Drive Support

Microsoft today released an update for its suite of Office apps on Apple's iPhone and iPad App Store for users running iOS 8. The 1.6 updates bring, along with the usual bug fixes and performance enhancements, full support for saving and syncing documents via Apple's iCloud Drive service (via The Verge).

Microsoft says users of its most popular software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint can now open, edit, and save their work to iCloud as a storage option in the "Places" section of each iOS app.

Microsoft Word
The additional storage method doesn't require users to have an Office 365 subscription and comes as an alternative to Microsoft's own cloud storage option, OneDrive. As pointed out by The Verge, light restrictions on a few file types may hinder iCloud's usage on Microsoft's iOS apps, however.

There’s also restrictions on filetypes, so while you can see a thumbnail preview of text in a document created with TextEdit on a Mac (stored on iCloud), you can’t access the document or edit it. Overall, it’s a fairly basic feature addition, but one that will please (and possibly frustrate) those who use iCloud on a regular basis.

Microsoft most recently added a similar feature to flesh out its iOS offerings with a partnership with Dropbox that let users open, edit, and save their documents using the popular document-saving cloud app. The Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps launched on the iPhone in early November, bringing free document creation and basic editing to the service.

Microsoft Word [Direct Link], Microsoft Excel [Direct Link], and Microsoft PowerPoint [Direct Link] can all be downloaded from the App Store for free.

Popular Stories

Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's 'CarPlay Ultra' Experience Now Available

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:07 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...
CarPlay Ultra Climate Controls

Apple Says These Vehicle Brands Plan to Offer All-New CarPlay Ultra

Thursday May 15, 2025 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. CarPlay Ultra features deep integration with a vehicle's instrument cluster and systems, built-in Radio and Climate apps, customizable widgets, and more. The interface is tailored to each vehicle model and automaker's identity, and drivers can also adjust...
vision pro video recording

WSJ: Some Apple Vision Pro Buyers 'Feel Total Regret'

Friday May 16, 2025 7:43 am PDT by
Apple's Vision Pro headset has left many early adopters expressing dissatisfaction over its weight, limited use cases, and sparse software ecosystem, according to a new article from The Wall Street Journal. In the year following the device's launch, user feedback suggests that it has failed to meet expectations for comfort, software support, and social acceptance. In interviews conducted by T...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Could Debut Advanced Silicon Battery Tech

Friday May 16, 2025 8:00 am PDT by
The upcoming all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air could become the first Apple smartphone to adopt advanced battery technology, with Japanese supplier TDK preparing to ship its new generation of silicon-anode batteries by the end of June. According to DigiTimes, TDK CEO Noboru Saito revealed in a recent interview that the Apple supplier has accelerated its production timeline, moving shipments...
fortnite apple featured

Apple Says Fortnite for iOS Isn't Blocked Worldwide, Just the U.S.

Friday May 16, 2025 9:58 am PDT by
Apple today clarified that it has not blocked Epic Games from updating the iOS Fortnite app in the European Union, but it is not planning to allow Epic Games to offer Fortnite in the United States App Store at the current time. In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple said that Epic Games tied its U.S. App Store submission to the update that was also being submitted to the Epic Games Store for iOS ...

Top Rated Comments

NIKKG Avatar
134 months ago
iWork is much better and free.
MS Office is total abomination of software no one needs it. Won't install even if for free.

You must be stoned, Jack.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Khaaaaaaaaaan Avatar
134 months ago
Good bye iWork...

...hello Office. Seriously, it's painfully obvious that MS has their sights once again on total domination in this space. Apple has done next to nothing for the iWork apps which IMO, were pretty nice on the iOS devices until MS released the current wave of Office for iOS apps. And given their recent actions in lifting restrictions on storage and use, I see iWork fading into oblivion unless Apple pulls a MAJOR rabbit out of their hat.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NIKKG Avatar
134 months ago
M$ ain't playing around anymore, they going after Google big time. Good to see them make a comeback.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
landroverz7 Avatar
134 months ago
Now release Office 2015 for MAC with iCloud drive support and Apple bump up free iCloud storage from 5 to 20GB :D
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
134 months ago
...hello Office. Seriously, it's painfully obvious that MS has their sights once again on total domination in this space. Apple has done next to nothing for the iWork apps which IMO, were pretty nice on the iOS devices until MS released the current wave of Office for iOS apps. And given their recent actions in lifting restrictions on storage and use, I see iWork fading into oblivion unless Apple pulls a MAJOR rabbit out of their hat.

It's probably Apple's plan to fade into oblivion. I feel that a lot of the time when Apple makes free software, it's not because they want to make software, but because they want the other people making software to make better software.

Microsoft won't make a good web browser? Apple makes Safari. Google won't make a better maps app for iOS? Apple makes a maps app. Microsoft won't bring Office to OS X or iOS? Apple makes iWork.

Everytime it yielded the desired results. IE improved dramatically, plus Google made Chrome. Google dramatically improved their iOS maps app. Microsoft brought Office to OS X and iOS.

So I don't think Apple particularly cares about iWork or Apple Maps at this point. Safari... It's interesting that apple keeps updating it. I'm not sure why Apple hasn't just sat back and let Chrome take the lead.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kds1 Avatar
134 months ago
How do you save save a new document you've created in Word for iPad to iCloud? I can't figure it out. Seems that it's not possible.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)