Android users who subscribe to Office 365 now have a smartphone application for the productivity suite, as Microsoft has released Office for Android, though only smartphones are supported at the moment.
The app, which is largely unchanged from the Office for iPhone app released by Microsoft in June, allows users to edit and create Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on the go. Tablet support isn"t yet available, and a blog post by Julia White, general manager of the Office Division, doesn"t mention when, or if an Android tablet version will be released. The release brings Office to the three major smartphone operating systems, as now iOS, Android and Windows Phone all feature the software. Notably, however, the Windows Phone version doesn"t require an Office 365 subscription like its counterparts.
Office for Android users can edit and view files, with most major editing features supported.
Most major features of the productivity suite are available in the app, including the ability to insert charts, animations, graphics and shapes. More intricate editing features remain unsupported, and font editing is primarily limited to adding bold, italics, font colors and highlighting, the same features available on the other Office smartphone apps.
As with the Windows Phone and iPhone versions, the Office for Android app syncs with SkyDrive and SkyDrive Pro to store documents in the cloud. Additionally, sharing options are built into the app, allowing users to send documents through either SkyDrive or email.
The Office for Android app is currently available through the Google Play Store for free, though only U.S. users can download the app at the moment, and they will have to log into an Office 365 account to begin editing or viewing documents. More countries are scheduled to receive the app in the coming weeks.
Source: Microsoft | Image via Microsoft