14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is working on a major new update for its Office productivity suite on iOS, and users enrolled in the insider program can already give them a try ahead of the public launch.
Included in version 2.6 (17100100), all these changes will be part of the October 2017 feature update for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and will land on both the iPad and the iPhone when testing is complete.
This time, there’s a little something for the three major apps included in the Office suite, namely Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but some of them require an Office 365 subscription.
What’s new in the October update?
First and foremost, all three apps are being updated with a new look for pens. “Choose a personal set of pens and highlighters for inking. Your customized set if available on all of your iOS devices and Windows PCs across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint,” Microsoft explains in the release notes of this month’s update.
Furthermore, this update also brings new ink effects for Office 365 subscribers, including rainbow, galaxy, lava, ocean, gold, silver, and more. Users of any of the three apps are also provided with a new digital pencil texture, which enhances support for supported styluses. This change includes a new gesture that allows users to simply tilt the stylus to do shading, and this certainly comes in handy on the iPad.
PowerPoint users are getting support for picking up from where they left off, which means that they can start working on a presentation and the next time they open the application, the same presentation is open right in the place where they were the last time.
And in the case of Word users, there are now thumbnail previews available while you scroll on both the iPhone and the iPad.
Keep in mind that all these features are still in testing stage as part of the preview program, but everyone should get them later this month when the update ships to iPhones and iPads.