arrival of the productivity suite on Apple’s iPad, Redmond also announced a welcome change. Office Mobile, the solution for iPhone and Android smartphones that was released last year is now free to download for home users. Business users, companies, organizations, institutions and industries will still have to subscribe to Office 365 to make use of these mobile apps, though. This was announced on the official Office blog:
“In addition to Office for iPad, we’ve gone a step further in our mobile first and cloud first approach, and like Windows Phone, we’ve now made Office Mobile for iPhone and Android phones available for free. Just like Office Mobile for Windows Phone, we are making Office Mobile for iPhone and Android phones free for everyone. With Office Mobile, you have the ability to view and edit your Office content on the go.”You can grab your copy of Office Mobile on the App Store or Google Play and take it for a spin. The elimination of the requirement of an Office 365 is a nice adjustment, and should help the productivity suite gain some ground against other competing solutions on these mobile platforms. Office Mobile for Windows Phone, by the way, is already free to download and use. Redmond has also confirmed that full version of Office for these platforms is also in development. In the meantime, it would be great if they can add support for Android tablets for Office Mobile.]]>
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It should’ve been free along in my opinion. It’s good that Microsoft made the change now and I think it’s the right move. More exposure and benefits for Office owners with apple or android products.
I’m guessing they waited so long because they wanted Windows Phone users to have an advantage over the other devices. That all changed with the iPad office news of yesterday though, so it’s not surprising this is the next shoe to drop.
You’re spot on, Jake. I think a lot of this is politics and not wanting to surrender it’s best asset to competitors right away. They’re finally giving in after giving windows phone owners an edge over time.
If you’re paying for office, you should be able to get it on your phone for free regardless of what phone you own. This is the right move to make for Microsoft, even if it’s long overdue.