Working much like they already do on iOS devices, Microsoft’s Office applications have been given a full release on Android tablets.
Back in November the tech giant took a major strategic shift in freely releasing Office on iOS, initiating the preview stage of its Android release.
The significance behind the November move was that Microsoft decided to provide these tools to consumers with the ability to create and edit Office content without a subscription.
Now consumers can download the free apps from the Google Play store, then log in with their Microsoft Accounts – accessing premium features will require an Office 365 subscription, however.
Office for Android works on tablets running Android KitKat 4.4, that also have a minimum of 7-inch screens – devices with screen size greater than 10.1 inches will require an Office 365 subscription to create and edit.
Popular move
“While you can use the apps on an Android tablet running Lollipop, it is not supported at this time but will be in a subsequent update,” explains Microsoft’s Kirk Koenigsbauer.
“Microsoft is also committed to supporting Android devices with Intel chips via a native implementation that will be available within a quarter.”
Microsoft Excel on Android. Via office.com
The preview stage on Android saw 250,000 downloads of the popular suite of applications – Word, Excel and PowerPoint – across 33 languages in over 100 countries.
“This customer feedback has been critical to ensuring a high quality and consistent Office experience across the broad Android ecosystem,” said Julia White, GM of the Office product management team.
“With these releases, we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible as we work to reinvent productivity for a mobile-first, cloud-first world — and today, we are making two important announcements that continue this journey.”
The second announcement reflects November’s move, with Microsoft bringing out Outlook on iOS and a preview version on Android. “For our Acompli users, Outlook will be a familiar experience, as we’re developing the apps from this code base,” says White.
Outllook for iOS and Android. Via Microsoft.com
Tablet user image, via Shutterstock
