Microsoft Office for iPhone, iPad Adds Editing Features, Drops 365 Subscription

Microsoft is full of surprises recently, and the latest is an update for the iPhone and iPad versions of its Office suite that add in loads of editing features while dropping the requirement for an Office 365 subscription. The tech giant also rolled out a cross-platform fitness tracker and added Dropbox cloud storage support to its products in the past week.

Microsoft Office for iOS and Android doesn't require an Office 365 subscription anymoreMicrosoft Office for iOS and Android doesn't require an Office 365 subscription anymore

Word, Excel and PowerPoint for iOS are available now as free downloads through Apple's App Store with support for document editing instead of just viewing sans Office 365 subscription. The new versions include version tracking, support for building tables, and more. With an Office 365 subscription, users get unlimited Microsoft OneDrive storage, better chart and table tools, unlimited paragraph styles, better collaboration tools, and several other improvements.

Since the new iOS suite doesn't require an Office 365 subscription, it supports opening, editing and saving documents through Dropbox.

This marks a big change for Microsoft, is a sign it wants a big piece of the mobile market, and shows CEO Satya Nadella is putting his own mark on the company. Contrast that with Microsoft under Steve Ballmer's leadership where Office was available only on the Surface in the mobile market, and only later did it come to iOS, but as a paid product.

You can pick up Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for the iPhone and iPad at Apple's iTunes-based App Store.