Microsoft announced today that Office apps, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, for Android phones are no longer in preview and are now general available for anyone to download from the Google Play store.
As WinBeta previously reported, Office Apps made their way to Android tablets back in January and became available in beta form on phones in May. Microsoft decided a five week beta was long enough as in that short period of time the apps were tested on over 1,900 different Android phone models across 83 countries. As an outcome of the beta, the Office team says they were able to make it easier for user to connect to third-party storage, such as Google Drive and Box, as well as tweak the user interface.
The announcement today by the Office team highlights the following features of the Office apps.
- On the go reviews and edits—I often need to squeeze in quick reviews in between appointments during the day. I can review documents in full fidelity, read comments and then easily add my own.
- Presenting from my phone—I love just bringing my phone to a meeting to present wirelessly. PowerPoint for Android phone gives me the same transitions, animations and design that I would have from my desktop, and I can even use inking to highlight important points while presenting.
- Quick access to my documents—I can quickly find the document I was working on in the office from my phone. It even shows me where I was last working. Additionally, while I am a faithful OneDrive user, I can also access documents stored in Dropbox, Google Drive or Box with our support for third-party cloud storage providers.
- Easy to get—We’ve partnered with over 30 global, regional and local OEMs such as Samsung, Sony, LG and many more, to pre-load these apps on Android devices. Many of these devices will be landing in retail stores later this year.
The announcement also included a 90 second video demonstrating Office Apps on Android Phones:
The apps are available to download Word for Android, Excel for Android and PowerPoint for Android on the Google Play store. Each app requires Kitkat 4.4.X or above and at least 1 GB of RAM.
While Office apps have been getting a lot of attention on other platforms, it was also spotted today by WMPoweruser.com that the Outlook Mail and Calendar apps for Windows 10 Mobile have received updates, but no changelog was posted, leaving no explanation of what improvements have been made. But expect more attention on Windows 10 Mobile and the Office apps in the coming months, as WinBeta reported earlier this week, Microsoft is set to focus more on their mobile OS’s development in July as the desktop counterpart closes in on the July 29th RTM date.
