Microsoft yesterday released an iPad version of popular Office diagramming and graphic app Visio. The iOS incarnation is limited to viewing Visio documents, leaving the editing of files to the desktop application, and instead focuses on bringing a touch-based browsing experience with intuitive pan and zoom features to users on the go.

visio-for-ipad

Visio diagrams often comprise details that customers could miss on smaller screens. Built for iPad Retina display, Visio Viewer for iPad brings high-fidelity viewing of real-world processes and plans on the go. With the new exploration experience, plant managers can zoom in to production line issues from remote facilities, financial advisors can examine detailed workflows of a loan approval process while visiting clients around the world, retail district managers can conduct store management trainings with associates using detailed CAD-based store layouts and much more.

Visio Viewer for iPad can import documents from OneDrive, SharePoint, and email, with a search functionality built in to the interface for finding shape names, text, or data. Users are also granted the ability to adjust the visibility of different layers to reveal more structure in plans and diagrams.

Visio is a free download for iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

beanbaguk Avatar
110 months ago
I really need this on macOS....
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
diggy33 Avatar
110 months ago
I really need this on macOS....
Have you tried OmniGraffle? We get MANY requests for Visio on Mac at my office, and people seem to think that OG Pro works the best as a 3rd party alternative. Hopefully this is a step in that direction for Microsoft, to put Visio and potentially Project on macOS
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
threesixty360 Avatar
109 months ago
Well if writing emails and editing a 4 or 5 page document is pro, then I hope that makes you feel good. It is not uncommon for me to write documents with more than a 1000 pages. I would certainly not use Word for that (even though I was forced to try a couple of times and Word crapped all over itself). I have been required to work on spreadsheets that maxed out excels capabilities in both memory and row columns. So yes someone does this, but they are not pros. If you have never done anything that maxes out Office and shows what a poor program it is, then no you are not a pro. Sorry, don't mean to offend, but reality is reality. I have used Visio to produce 100 linear feet of 4 foot wide documents with minimal paper breaks. Try editing this on 13 inch Apple laptop. You will go crazy in spite of the retina display. And yes I have to both edit and present these documents in remote locations on my own hardware. And yes I ran Visio on my Apple laptop which had unacceptable performance and even with 17 inch display was unacceptable, but required.

Everyone wants to be a pro these days. In reality there are still people to that do Pro work that taxes all hardware today. It is simply a cop out for Apple to say, "hey we no longer need to make the best because the teenagers and college students that are in the in crowed don't need it." Then turn around and call that Pro. Pro used to mean near top of the line hardware. Under Cook it does not even come close.
[doublepost=1481298501][/doublepost]

Sorry did not mean to attack your self-esteem. You really are a good and valued person and I can tell because you are so sensitive about a computer with the word "Pro" in the name whether deserved or not.

BTW, the pro problem is not only about USB C ports.
How did you exist in the days of pentium pc's?
Or even 10 yrs ago?
Pro doesnt mean pushing machines to it's limits. It doesnt mean doing more than the software was designed to cope with either! Pro just means you make money with it. That's all.

I suggest you may need a different methodology to increase your ability to get you work done. How about splitting up your documents so you dont have this 1000 page memory hog? Or breaking down you diagrams into more manageable chunks? Because, that is actually what "pro's" end up doing. Managing expectations and not crying when they reach limits and just getting on with it in the most organized way possible.

I just find it laughable when people expect their edge case to be the norm for everybody.. really?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nt5672 Avatar
110 months ago
Why do they have office (word, excel, PowerPoint, outlook, onenote), but not Visio or projects for iOS or macOS? What's the holdup?
Very simple. Visio is pro software, Apple does not make pro hardware anymore so why should Microsoft care. Neither Apple nor Microsoft want this.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sracer Avatar
110 months ago
Why do they have office (word, excel, PowerPoint, outlook, onenote), but not Visio or projects for iOS or macOS? What's the holdup?
Resources. Microsoft probably doesn't have the manpower to develop those for other platforms.
Target audience. Visio and Project are more specialized so the percentage of people who need those is much smaller which leads back to resources... why expend significant resources on something that will be used by so few people?

Producing a Visio Viewer is a BIG step towards implementing full versions for iOS and macOS.

Microsoft has been dumb about a lot of things, but with regard to Office, they've been brilliant IMO. They rightfully understood that OneNote was the hook.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
superberg Avatar
110 months ago
Now, if only they could make Visio itself less of a dog to work with. I have to use it for work on a semi-regular basis and its UI is maddening.

Having to run it in a Windows VM doesn't help.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iphone 16 display

iPhone 17's Scratch Resistant Anti-Reflective Display Coating Canceled

Monday April 28, 2025 12:48 pm PDT by
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors. Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Reaches Key Milestone Ahead of Mass Production

Monday April 28, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report. iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

20th Anniversary iPhone Likely to Be Made in China Due to 'Extraordinarily Complex' Design

Monday April 28, 2025 4:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold"...
iphone 17 air iphone 16 pro

iPhone 17 Air USB-C Port May Have This Unusual Design Quirk

Wednesday April 30, 2025 3:59 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years. iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack) At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...
apple watch ultra yellow

What's Next for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3

Friday April 25, 2025 2:44 pm PDT by
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too. 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 Apple didn't update the...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iPhone 17 Pro on Desk Feature

All iPhone 17 Models Again Rumored to Feature 12GB of RAM

Tuesday April 29, 2025 3:36 am PDT by
All upcoming iPhone 17 models will come equipped with 12GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, according to the Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station. The claim from the Chinese leaker, who has sources within Apple's supply chain, comes a few days after industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all be equipped with 12GB of RAM. ...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Tuesday April 29, 2025 1:30 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...