14 DAY TRIAL // iWork for iPad has been described by Apple as the best way to create great-looking presentations, documents, and spreadsheets on the go. According to the Mac maker, Pages, Keynote and Numbers are “the most powerful productivity apps ever built for a mobile device.” But there’s a lot to know about the software, if you’re going to rely on the apps as productivity tools.
Cupertino has posted a set of knowledge base articles on the Support section of its website, trying to answer whatever questions may arise during usage. For example, Apple believes Numbers users may want to know what file formats are supported, or how to bring files into Numbers. Answers are also provided for “How do I share spreadsheets from Numbers?” and “How can I print my Numbers spreadsheets from the iPad?” and so on.
As a standalone app downloaded from the iPad app store, Numbers for iPad costs $9.99, the same as its two iWork siblings that go for $9.99 each, bringing the entire suite of apps at 30 bucks’ worth. Apple doesn’t pre-install the suite on the iPad, since not everyone will be doing office stuff on the go, although it would have been a nice touch.
Moving on to Keynote, the iWork app used to create presentations with, Apple answers questions like, “What file formats does Keynote support?,” “How do I bring files into Keynote?,” “What do I need to know about Keynote builds and transitions?,” “How do I share presentations from Keynote?,” “How can I print my Keynote presentation from iPad?,” and “What do I need to know about fonts?”
Users of Pages, Apple’s standard word-processing app, are also likely to wonder, “What file formats does Pages support?,” or “How do I bring documents into Pages?” Apple believes. Answering the latter question, for example, the Mac maker reveals that, “There are three ways to share Pages documents with others:” via email, the iWork.com public beta, and by doing a regular export by tapping the sharing icon and using the options provided in the drop down menu.
A knowledge base article going deeper into the basics of file-sharing with iWork for iPad is also available. Users can do so with iTunes. Currently at version 9.1 (not for long, though), the application allows customers to copy files created on their iPad (with Keynote, Pages, and Numbers) to their computer. Macs were actually the first to support Apple’s productivity suite, so it’s only natural that it works vice versa as well. Requirements for these tasks include Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later, Windows XP SP3 or later, iTunes 9.1 or later, iPad and any of the iWork for iPad apps (Keynote, Pages, or Numbers).