Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint for iOS Gaining Real-Time Co-Authoring, Drag and Drop Support

Tuesday January 30, 2018 12:44 PM PST by Juli Clover
Microsoft today announced a major update for its Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps, which will see the introduction of real-time co-authoring, drag and drop support on the iPad, universal link support for shared files, and more.

With support for real-time co-authoring, multiple people can contribute to and edit documents in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on iOS devices. Changes made by each user will sync within seconds, plus you'll be able to see everyone that's working on a document and what they're working on.


Real-time co-authoring support on iOS devices follows the introduction of the feature in Microsoft's Mac apps earlier this month.

Microsoft is also adding drag and drop support for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the iPad, which means you'll be able to drag files between Microsoft apps and quickly add links, text, photos, graphs, and more.

The three apps will also support universal links, which means anytime you're sent a shared Word, PowerPoint, or Excel file, it'll open right in the app rather than requiring you to authenticate in a browser, and there are new Accessibility features like improved VoiceOver support for better navigation.

Microsoft today also announced major changes for the OneDrive app, which includes an overhauled interface, support for the Files app, drag and drop support, and several other new features.

Microsoft says the new functionality in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will be available "in the coming days" through updates available in the iOS App Store.

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

Tag: Microsoft
44 comments

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chscag
26 months ago
Hey Microsoft... instead, how about a full functioning version of Office for iOS that can be used on the iPad Pro 10.5 and 12.5" models without having to subscribe to Office 365?

So the features that already exist in iOS Pages/Numbers/Keynote.


That too. :D
Rating: 7 Votes
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GfPQqmcRKUvP
26 months ago

So the features that already exist in iOS Pages/Numbers/Keynote.


Sorry, but Apple’s productivity apps are not standard/widely used for a reason.
Rating: 7 Votes
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pat500000
26 months ago
The real update is when they stop subscription method....
Rating: 6 Votes
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ZachBeo
26 months ago
The iOS version has the basic features to do alot of work. What is really missing is the ability to open two or more documents, spreadsheets etc. People who prepare presentations, proposals or other similar work, need this ability. Otherwise devices like the ipad pro will never be a true laptop replacement
Rating: 5 Votes
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engbren
26 months ago
As a corporate user of MS Office and OneDrive, I’ve been waiting for these updates. Can’t wait to test them out.
Rating: 5 Votes
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robjulo
26 months ago
Go apply for a job in corporate America touting your knowledge and experience with Pages/Numbers/Keynote and see how far it gets you.


So the features that already exist in iOS Pages/Numbers/Keynote.

Rating: 3 Votes
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itsmilo
26 months ago
Those screenshots show exactly why an iPad could never replace a laptop for me. Writing a paper on it would drive me bonkers
Rating: 3 Votes
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BornAgainMac
26 months ago
So the features that already exist in iOS Pages/Numbers/Keynote.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Delgibbons
26 months ago

Well, PDF is my friend.

Um... surely pdf was invented by Adobe not Apple? Apple, in true Apple style, took it and riffed on it for the osx screen rendering in 2d Quartz which was kind of pdf-ish.

https://www.prepressure.com/pdf/basics/osx-quartz
Rating: 2 Votes
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Breaking Good
26 months ago

Hey Microsoft... instead, how about a full functioning version of Office for iOS that can be used on the iPad Pro 10.5 and 12.5" models without having to subscribe to Office 365?


I am pretty much anti-subscription for just about everything, but this is place where I think a subscription model makes sense. It encourages Microsoft to continuously make incremental updates to Office across all platform versions instead of just updating once every three to five years.
Rating: 2 Votes
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