Microsoft has announced that it’s Microsoft Office will be updated for Apple’s new iPad Pro, iOS 9, and even watchOS 2. The Microsoft suite of apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook and Translator were given new enhancements to compliment Apple’s latest mobile OS.
Microsoft has added the ability to use two apps on the same screen on iPad devices with iOS 9. Users can quickly glance on an app with Apple’s Slide Out multitasking method, where the user can quickly bring an app to the iPad’s right side of the display and then quickly swipe the app away.
The user can also use Apple’s Split View mode, where they can use two full size apps side by side similar to the ‘tablet’ multitasking feature baked into Windows 8 and Windows 10’s. Microsoft has also made it possible to quickly open an Office document from Outlook onto the corresponding Office app’s own screen half just with a single tap.
iPad Pro users can also enjoy inking and drawing on Office documents with the new Apple Pencil thanks in part to Microsoft building support for this feature across its suite of productivity apps. Users can track notations or mark up documents almost as fluently as if they were using pen and paper.
When searching on your iPad or iPhone with Apple Spotlight, OneNote notes and Outlook emails now appear as search items.
Microsoft has also added support for Apple’s Wireless Keyboard commands to the Outlook app. Users can start a new email with the Command key (⌘) plus the N key, or use the Command key plus a number to switch between Email (⌘1), Calendar (⌘2), Files (⌘3), People (⌘4) and Settings (⌘5).
Outlook will now show essential information on the Apple Watch with watchOS 2 thanks to a new feature called Complications, which are important bits of information displayed on the Watch’s face. Time Travel is a feature on the watch that lets the user turn the Digital Crown to check Outlook Calendar appointments for present and future events.
The Microsoft Translator app will receive an update that enables a pinned translation to be played from the phone over to the Watch’s speaker. And when you’re away from your home country, you can have the Watch automatically display common phrases like “Good morning”, “Goodbye”, and “Goodnight” in the country’s language.
The app updates are likely to come shortly after the release of iOS 9 and watch OS 2. Be sure to tell us what you think of these new features in the comments below.
If you want, you can download one of these apps for your iPhone or iPad from one of the links below.
Further reading: Apple Watch, Excel, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Microsoft, Office, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word
