Running Office 365 on an iPad is not straightforward

Last week Microsoft quietly released its Office 365 iPhone app.

The Office 365 app lets users edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from Apple iPhones.

It has limited functionality — users need a full Office 365 subscription to use all the Office features. Prices for a subscription start at NZ$165.

In effect this means you need to run Office 365 on a PC or Mac as well as on your phone to get the full value from using the iPhone app.

iPhone only

Microsoft’s app is designed for the iPhone only. While you can run it on newer iPads, the display either stays at the size of an iPhone screen or it shows the same thing scaled up. Microsoft says this is because its free web versions of Office apps are the way to go for devices other than the iPhone.

Some commentators dismiss this idea. Matt Burns at TechCrunch goes further. He says: “If Office hits the iPad, even fewer people would buy a Surface”.

Burns has a point about a full-fledged iPad Office app hurting Surface sales. Microsoft’s nice, but expensive, tablet hasn’t been a widespread hit but it is popular with people who want or need desktop-class Office on a tablet.

Web is the way to go

I’ve used Microsoft’s Word and Excel Web Apps on my iPad for the last nine months along with SkyDrive. Word Web App is not my first choice of iPad word processor – I prefer the $1.99 iA Writer which has everything I need. But the Word Web App is functional and is a way of keeping files compatible if you also use Office on a PC or Mac.

The Excel Web App on the iPad is perfect for my limited spreadsheet needs. Admittedly my Office software requirements are minimal – I mainly use Word to write news stories when I’m away from home and rarely use Excel for anything other than looking at tables of data.

Microsoft’s statement about the iPhone Office app is correct: if you want Office on an iPad, the web apps are a better way to go. And they have another advantage over a iTunes-store Office app, they are free.