Smartphones can be great for helping you to work while on the go, and today Microsoft is launching a new app for mobile workers.
The new Office app is now available for Android and iOS, and it combines Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into a single app. The app itself is a free download, but it does include in-app purchases ranging from $6.99 to $9.99 for Office 365 subscriptions.
Microsoft touts that Office gives you all of the features of its Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps into a single app that takes up less storage on your phone than having three separate apps while offering "virtually" all the features of the existing apps.
The new Office app also includes a Lens feature that can use your phone's camera to do things like convert images into Word and Excel documents that you can edit. You can scan PDFs with it, too, and capture whiteboards with digital enhancements to make them easier to read.
Other notable features of the Office app include support for making quick notes, scanning, QR codes, signing PDFs, and transferring files between devices. There's support for third-party storage services like Box, Dropbox, Google, Drive, and iCloud, and Microsoft has also included templates to help you create new docs, spreadsheets, and presentations on the go.
Looking ahead, Microsoft has teased a few features that it plans to add to the Office app in the coming months. Word Dictation will let convert what you speak into written text and enable you to use voice commands to apply formatting and punctuation.
Also coming is an Excel Cards View that'll help you to view and edit data in an Excel table row in a simple, more digestible card format so that you're not scrolling across columns that go beyond your smartphone's screen.
Microsoft says that another new feature will make it easier to create PowerPoint presentations on the go. You'll be able to write your presentation content as a simple outline and then let the PowerPoint Designer tool turn it into presentable slides, complete with proper styling, formatting, and iconography.
Finally, Microsoft tells The Verge that a fully optimized Office app for iPad and Android tablets will be released soon.
