14 DAY TRIAL // While there are plenty of other productivity suites out there that are supposed to serve as alternatives to Microsoft Office, all of them have no other option than to add support for Microsoft’s product, simply because this is still the number one product in this particular software market.
And Google, who is investing massively in Google Workspace apps, knows this the best, with the search giant now announcing an update that brings Microsoft Office editing capabilities to its own productivity apps on the iPhone.
In other words, users of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides running these apps on their Apple smartphones are now capable of editing Microsoft Office documents too.
Google explains what the new capability is all about:
- Allows you to edit, comment, and collaborate on Microsoft Office files using Google Docs’, Sheets’, and Slides’ powerful real-time collaboration tools.
- Improves sharing options, improves sharing controls, and reduces the need to download and email file attachments.
- Streamlines workflows by reducing the need to convert file types.
Already available for users
The feature is already available today, and Google explains that everybody receives it, both consumers and enterprises. So in addition to users with personal Google Accounts, the new feature is also live in Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits.
Microsoft Office editing support is already available on Android devices and on the web, so with this release, Google finally brings this feature in all versions of its app. The company explains that editing Microsoft Office documents replaces the Office Compatibility Mode, also known as Quickoffice, which was previously part of its productivity suite in an attempt to let customers work with files created in Microsoft’s suite.