Microsoft today announced Visio on iPad, including its own Insider Program where users can sign up to try out the app before it launches. The company is looking for 2,000 Insiders, and in case you"ve been frustrated by some of the English-only beta programs, this is for people who will use it in any of the following languages: English, Chinese, French, German, Russian and Spanish.
The firm lists the following as "key functionalities and features of the Visio Insider Program":
View files from OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint, or files received as email attachments
The Pan and Zoom experience is optimized for a small touch screen
Turn the visibility of layers on or off
Copy the current view of a Visio diagram as an image and paste it in another app
Share a file as a link or attachment
Find text in a shape
AirPrint a Visio file
If the naming seems a bit odd to you, that"s because it is. When Microsoft launched Office for iPad back in 2014, the applications had a similar naming scheme (Word for iPad, etc.). Visio on iPad doesn"t sound quite the same.
The company wouldn"t go any further than to say that the app will be generally available in the "near future", but it did confirm that the first preview will be available in August or September.
Microsoft also stated that when the app launches, it will be available to everyone for free, which doesn"t provide much clarity. After all, all Office apps are free to download, but they aren"t always free to use.
If you want to sign up for the Visio on iPad Insider Program, head over to the sign-up page.