As promised earlier in March, Apple today introduced major updates for all of its iWork for iOS apps, including Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.

Today's update brings enhanced Apple Pencil functionality, coinciding with the addition of ‌Apple Pencil‌ support on the new iPad Air and the fifth-generation iPad mini.

Keynote 2019
The new version of Keynote allows you to draw paths with your finger or with the ‌Apple Pencil‌ to animate an object, and there are options to add action build effects, like new move, rotate, and scale animations.

You can create and share animated GIFs by exporting one or more slides, and there's an option to edit presenter notes while presenting or rehearsing a slide show. With Keynote and the other iWork apps, you can also save custom shapes. Keynote's full release notes are below:

- Draw a path with your finger or Apple Pencil to animate an object across the slide.
- Add emphasis to presentations with action build effects, including move, rotate, and scale animations.
- Create and share an animated GIF by exporting one or more slides.
- Edit presenter notes while presenting or rehearsing a slideshow.
- Save custom shapes for use in other presentations and access them on any device using iCloud.
- Create themes to use as a model for new presentations, and access them on any device using iCloud.
- Slides with custom wider aspect ratios now display better in the slide navigator, light table, and presenter display.
- Create image placeholders to easily replace images without affecting the formatting of your slide.
- Improved performance while collaborating on presentations.
- Edit grouped objects while collaborating.
- Support for vertical text in shapes and text boxes in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages.

In the Numbers app, there's a new feature for making precise changes to table row and column counts with the format pane, the maximum zoom level has been increased to 400 percent, collaboration features have been improved, and there's an option to create templates to use as a model for new spreadsheets. The full Numbers release notes are below:

- Make precise changes to table row and column counts and sizes with the format pane.
- Performance and usability improvements to Smart Categories.
- Save custom shapes for use in other spreadsheets, then access them on any device using iCloud.
- Create templates to use as a model for new spreadsheets, and access them on any device using iCloud.
- Increased maximum zoom level to 400%.
- Enhancements to Excel and comma separated value file import.
- Create image placeholders to easily replace images without affecting the formatting of your spreadsheet.
- Improved performance while collaborating on spreadsheets.
- Edit grouped objects while collaborating.
- Support for vertical text in shapes and text boxes in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages.

Pages features a new table of contents view to navigate through a document or book, and a table of contents can be inserted into a page. Custom shapes can be saved and used in other documents, and image placeholders can be added to replace images without affecting page formatting. Release notes for the Pages update are below:

- Use the new table of contents view to easily navigate your document or book.
- Insert a table of contents onto a page in a word-processing document.
- Save custom shapes for use in other documents and access them on any device using iCloud.
- Create templates to use as a model for new documents, and access them on any device using iCloud.
- Create image placeholders to easily replace images without affecting the formatting of your page.
- Switch your document between word processing and page layout.
- Improved performance while collaborating on documents.
- Edit grouped objects while collaborating.
- In Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages, you can now type vertically in your entire document or in an individual text box.

Apple has also updated its iWork for macOS apps with some of the same features that have been added to its iOS apps. All of Apple's iWork apps for both macOS and iOS are free for you to download.

Apple first announced all of these updates on Monday, March 18, when debuting the new ‌iPad mini‌ and the new ‌iPad Air‌ models. All of Apple's iPads now support either the original ‌Apple Pencil‌ or the ‌Apple Pencil‌ 2 (iPad Pro models), both which can be used in all of the iWork apps.

Tag: iWork

Top Rated Comments

Konigi Avatar
86 months ago
macOS versions received updates today too.
You're right, thanks! The article focused primarily on iOS versions and my AppStore page was not refreshed.

I am a heavy user of these macOS apps, I love seeing updates. I feel like iWorks are much more interesting to use than Microsoft Office versions.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ignatius345 Avatar
86 months ago
You can create and share animated GIFs by exporting one or more slides,
This is a fun little addition, and useful for quick proofing and feedback. I have worked with clients who are mostly on PCs but can be convinced to run a Keynote off a Mac for maximum polish -- but when you're going back and forth with them, it's a bit of a nightmare because they're emailing you from a PC or (maybe) an iPhone if you're lucky. Being able to quickly export a GIF is a cool workaround for this.
[doublepost=1553811536][/doublepost]
Apple has done quite a bit to close the gap, but no, the latest version of iWork still doesn't have all of the functionality that iWork '09 had. (btw, iWork '09 still works on the latest version of mac OS).

For those who are curious, no, this version still doesn't restore the full functionality of linked text boxes.
I just want my g-d control palattes back, at this point. Those sidebars do not cut it at all.

The big thing for me that was lost (and thank god later restored) was the ability to paste vector objects from Illustrator and back again with no pixelization or loss of quality. That means you can build illustrations and icons off to the side in Illustrator and never have to worry about exporting individual assets. It's a massive time saver. But damn, I miss the palattes.

But overall, I have to say I'm very happy with iWork, especially since it's free. If Pages alone was a standalone word processor and layout program by another company, I could see it costing $50-75, even $100. (Or, worse, some kind of $5.99/month software rental deal).
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tubular Avatar
86 months ago
Big fan of Keynote.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sracer Avatar
86 months ago
I've never really used iWork, but I'm curious. Has iWork on Mac caught up to where it was beore the "iOS-ification"?
Apple has done quite a bit to close the gap, but no, the latest version of iWork still doesn't have all of the functionality that iWork '09 had. (btw, iWork '09 still works on the latest version of mac OS).

For those who are curious, no, this version still doesn't restore the full functionality of linked text boxes.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unregistered 4U Avatar
86 months ago
Apple should really borrow some functionality from it.
I think it’d be fruitless to compete with Excel when there’s a great product already out there that has 100% of Excel’s features and is 100% compatible with Excel... which is, of course, Excel :) The majority of people using Excel really don’t need all the features, they’re just looking to do some quick totals or, in a LOT of cases, just order some lists. I think it’s reasonable that someone should be expected to graduate out of Numbers knowing a lot of the basics to work in Excel and then do pivot charts!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joniz Avatar
86 months ago
I haven’t cared about iWorks in years until just recently, when I discovered how great Smart Annotation is for editing. No longer need a separate PDF app for redlining. Just export from Ulysses to Word, open with Pages, and redline away.

Now that the iPad Mini has Pencil support, I’m stoked.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone Air

Report: 'Virtually No Demand' for iPhone Air

Wednesday October 22, 2025 3:22 am PDT by
Apple is "drastically" cutting production of the iPhone Air and shifting focus toward the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro models, Nikkei Asia reports. The business publication claims to have learned of a major cut to iPhone Air production motivated by weaker-than-expected consumer interest, nearly to "end of production levels." Despite early reports of the iPhone Air selling out within hours of...
sam sung auction

Former Apple Employee Sam Sung Changed His Name to Avoid Attention

Wednesday October 22, 2025 4:44 pm PDT by
Back in 2012, an Apple retail employee named Sam Sung went viral because his name is similar to Samsung, one of Apple's main competitors. In a recent interview with Business Insider, he detailed that period in his life, how Apple responded, and he explained why he ultimately changed his name. Someone posted an image of Sung's Apple business card on Reddit in 2012, and it spread rapidly....
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
cadillac lyric infotainment

GM to Remove CarPlay from All Future Vehicles, Including Gas Cars [Updated]

Wednesday October 22, 2025 11:34 am PDT by
General Motors began phasing out support for CarPlay in its electric vehicles back in 2023, leading to complaints from iPhone users, but the company has no plans to back down. In fact, GM is going further and plans to remove CarPlay from all future gas vehicles, too. In an interview with The Verge, GM CEO Mary Barra said that the company opted to prioritize its platform for EVs, but the...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple's Plan to Launch Three New iPhone Designs Allegedly Revealed

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:24 am PDT by
Apple plans to launch a new type of iPhone every year for the foreseeable future, according to an Asia-based source. The detailed information was shared by the account "yeux1122" in a blog post on the Korean platform Naver, citing domestic trend and component research companies. Corroborating other reports, Apple will apparently launch its first foldable iPhone in 2026, featuring a...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Report: Apple to Skip 'iPhone 19' Name for 'iPhone 20'

Thursday October 23, 2025 4:28 am PDT by
Apple's new iPhone lineup launched in the fall of 2027 will be called the "iPhone 20" models, rather than the "iPhone 19," according to research firm Omdia. Speaking at a conference in Seoul (via ETNews), Omdia Chief Researcher Heo Moo-yeol corroborated rumors that Apple plans to move the launch of its standard iPhone to the first half of the year and provided some additional clarity about...
maxresdefault

Apple's iPhone Air Experiment Fails as Supply Chain Cuts Production by 80%

Wednesday October 22, 2025 10:48 am PDT by
iPhone Air demand failed to meet Apple's expectations and the company's supply chain is scaling back shipments and production, reports Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Suppliers are expected to reduce capacity by more than 80 percent between now and the first quarter of 2026, and some components with longer lead times will be discontinued ...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's License Feature in Apple Wallet App Launches in Another U.S. State

Thursday October 23, 2025 7:44 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Starting today, the feature is available to residents of West Virginia. To set it up, open the Wallet app and tap on the plus sign in...
trump white house ballroom

Apple Donating to Trump's $350M White House Ballroom Project

Thursday October 23, 2025 3:55 pm PDT by
Apple is one of several tech companies that will contribute to the construction of U.S. President Donald Trump's 90,000-square-foot ballroom, reports CNN. Construction began on the ballroom this week, and the White House's east wing was torn down. Trump claims that the ballroom will cost $350 million, and that it will be privately funded through donations. The cost has already increased $150 ...