Microsoft's Office apps across various operating systems such as Windows, Android, and iOS are quite heavily used by its customers, which is why the company regularly issues updates to introduce new features and enhance existing ones. It recently rolled out dark mode to its Office for Android app and now, it has announced that it is bringing File Cards this month.
In a nutshell, File Cards is a UI pattern which offers you inline information about your files in a modernized way. You'll get to see contextual data about the file and who shared it with you. Additionally, the Card for each file will also offer you quick actions such as the ability to keep it offline or share it with others. The capability will be present in both the "Recent" and "Shared" tabs of the Office for Android app and you can see it in action in the attached GIF.
As of now, File Cards are only be supported for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files stored on your OneDrive Personal and Business accounts. This means that if a file is only stored locally, you won't be able to preview contextual information about it inline. However, Microsoft has noted that it plans to roll out support for on-device Word and PDF files at a later date.
Microsoft has recommended updating to Office for Android version 16.0.14228.20138 to utilize the new feature. On our Android device, we received this version update on July 16 but still do not appear to have the File Cards UI, which means that it is being made available on a rolling basis. The company's wording suggests that it will be enabling the feature throughout the month so keep your eyes peeled if you're a frequent Office for Android user.
