The iPad has become one of the most popular business tools, and earlier this year it became even more useful when Microsoft released iPad optimized versions of their popular Office apps. Office 365 subscribers can now access, edit, create, and share PowerPoint, Excel, and Word docs from their device. In an effort to improve the apps even further, Microsoft has updated them.
Excel Updates
There are three major updates that have been introduced to the iPad version of Excel:
- Increased pivot table interaction – These tables are among the most useful for business users working with data. With the new update you can now filter, sort, collapse, and expand details. You can now also refresh pivot tables whereby data is pulled from the workbook. Beyond this, you can also change the visual style and layout of the tables.
- Flick to select large amounts of data – Working with large amounts of data, or spreadsheets with a large number of rows and columns can be tough on the touch screen. So, to make things easier, you can now select large amounts of data by flicking. For example, if you want to select all the rows in one column, you can simply tap on the selection handle of the top row and flick down to select the whole column.
- Easier manipulation of data – While touch screens are great, and useful, there are times when working with spreadsheets using a keyboard is much better. In the latest update, Microsoft has added increased support for keyboards. This includes support of many familiar keyboard shortcuts, like CTRL+2 which allows users to switch between cell entry modes.
PowerPoint Updates
As with Excel, there are three updates that have been introduced to the iPad version of PowerPoint:
- Presenter View – Many people had taken to using their iPad to run presentations while connected to a projector. In the previous version, your iPad would just show what was actually on the screen, but now you can enable Presenter View. This view shows your slide notes on your iPad’s screen, as well as the slides that are coming up next while your presentation runs via the projector.
- Easier inclusion of visuals – With the new update, all embedded videos and sound recordings now play natively over your iPad; meaning they will play directly from a presentation. You can also add media directly to a presentation from your iPad’s Camera Roll, which means you can record and add content all from your iPad.
- Better annotation tools – There are a number of new annotation tools, including an improved pen and eraser which are designed to make annotations on the iPad’s touch screen show up on presentations more easily.
Updates Across All Apps
Microsoft has been listening to the feedback from Pad app users, and has introduced the three most requested features that apply to all three main apps: Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
- Send the file as a PDF – PDFs are one of the most versatile document formats for businesses. Because most systems have software to open these document, it’s great for users who don’t use Office. Now, you can send the document you are working on as a PDF directly from your iPad. You can find this option under the Share menu.
- Better image editing – With the update, you can now tap on an image in any Office app to either crop or resize it. If you make any edits, and find they aren’t to your liking, there is also the ability to revert to the original image by pressing Reset.
- Support for third-party fonts – Some businesses prefer to use fonts that aren’t included in Office. Up until now, only Office supported fonts could be used on the iPad, but the recent update implements support for third-party fonts (fonts not made by Microsoft) installed on your iPad.
If you are looking to learn more about Office 365 and iPad apps, contact us today to see how we can help.
Published on 3rd June 2014 by Jeanne DeWitt.
