Microsoft’s Unified Office App for Android Now Available to Everyone

Microsoft has been working on a new Office experience on mobile devices for a little while. Back in November of last year, the company introduced a brand-new Office app for mobile devices that brought together the best of Office into a simple, unified application.

At the time, the app was only available to Office Insiders as a preview, and Microsoft had only started testing it with a small group of users.

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This week, the company is releasing the app for everyone. Microsoft’s new Office app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store here, and it gives users a much more unified Office experience on a single app.

The app lets users create and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents and the users are also able to scan documents, QR codes, sign PDFs, etc. There are a lot of useful features on the app, and it even lets you take Sticky Notes (which are synced via your Microsoft account and accessible from Windows 10 as well).

Unfortunately, as Android Police notes, the new Office app does not work too well with tablet devices yet. Although Microsoft has built a fantastic tablet experience across the standalone Office apps in the past, the new Office app doesn’t yet have a UI optimised for tablet devices. That could likely change in the future as Microsoft keeps improving the app, though.

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Conversation 21 comments

  • tomker

    Premium Member
    17 February, 2020 - 7:16 pm

    <p>Any word on the iOS version?</p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      18 February, 2020 - 10:58 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#521328">In reply to TomKer:</a></em></blockquote><p>Good question; the iOS preview was announced alongside the Android preview in November 2019 so maybe we'll hear something soon. I wonder if there is some kind of cap on the number of iOS testers that is slowing the release, or if perhaps there is an iPad branch in the works as well. </p>

      • tomker

        Premium Member
        18 February, 2020 - 2:31 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#521500">In reply to Chris_Kez:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>There is a cap and it's full. I tried to get in on the testing on my iPad, but was too late.</p>

  • slbailey1

    17 February, 2020 - 8:09 pm

    <p>Does the app still carry the BETA tag? </p>

  • awsquared

    18 February, 2020 - 2:43 am

    <p>I've had Microsoft Office on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e since I bought it. However, it was preloaded by Samsung. It works fine, just like the app on my phone. Maybe there is an exclusive for Samsung for a certain period. I have uninstalled the mobile Word, Excel and Powerpoint apps from both tablet and phone and the Office app is even better than the single apps. From OneDrive, when you touch an Office file you can see it in read-only, but with the icon of the appropriate Office app in the bottom right-hand corner. If you then touch that icon, the file opens in the mobile app and can be modified. The combination of OneDrive and Office is powerful.</p>

  • PeterC

    18 February, 2020 - 4:06 am

    <p>This looks the business. I can see this working really well on the upcoming Duo using the expanded screen real estate.</p>

    • Dan1986ist

      Premium Member
      19 February, 2020 - 4:27 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#521414">In reply to PeterC:</a></em></blockquote><p>Has anyone sideloaded this new Office app onto the Surface Duo Emulator, if it is possible to do so?</p>

  • ngc224

    18 February, 2020 - 8:12 am

    <p>Available to everyone, usable for some.</p>

  • solomonrex

    18 February, 2020 - 9:50 am

    <p>This makes so much sense for mobile, it's really the right direction. I do wonder what the strategy for their 'secondary tier' apps – project, visio, etc – will look like going forward. Will they move to all-new 'paradigms' aka mobile apps or try to stick with mobile viewers and online editors? A lot of these apps fundamentally don't make sense in the future as they are presented – though I suppose I would lump most of MS Word in with those, too, revolving as it does so much around printing.</p>

  • Dan1986ist

    Premium Member
    18 February, 2020 - 10:55 am

    <p>Hoping that tablet support will come soon, and if does I may use the combined Office app instead of the seperate ones. I am able to sideload it onto my Acer Iconia One 7, and it does run even though it can't installed from the google play store to this tablet.</p>

  • kb9gxk

    Premium Member
    18 February, 2020 - 12:13 pm

    <p>Not available for tablets….At least the Alcatel Joy Tab by Metro</p>

  • docpaul

    18 February, 2020 - 12:21 pm

    <p>So should I uninstall the standalone Word and Excel apps now? </p>

    • thejoefin

      Premium Member
      19 February, 2020 - 9:32 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#521520">In reply to DocPaul:</a></em></blockquote><p>If you mostly work in Work and Excel on bigger screen device and use your phone to review documents then yeah, just use this app.</p>

  • roykirk

    18 February, 2020 - 12:42 pm

    <p>Was hoping it would integrate with OneNote, but looks like it doesn't.</p>

    • thejoefin

      Premium Member
      19 February, 2020 - 9:32 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#521525">In reply to roykirk:</a></em></blockquote><p>Having sticky notes in there is probably the closest thing</p>

  • Informed

    18 February, 2020 - 12:53 pm

    <p>The problem with a centralized app like this is when it comes to multitasking and split screen. With the standalone apps we've had you can switch between Word and Excel etc., or have 2 different Office apps open in split screen. Until multiple instances of this unified Office app can be simultaneously opened, this new app should not replace its standalone counterparts.</p>

    • awsquared

      18 February, 2020 - 5:01 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#521527"><em>In reply to Informed:</em></a><em>I can open multiple Office apps on split screen. I have uninstalled Word, Excel and PowerPoint with no problems so far.<span class="ql-cursor"></span></em></blockquote><p><br></p>

  • rkuefnerjr

    18 February, 2020 - 4:43 pm

    <p>Just curious, short of multitasking and split screen, which I don't often do on my phone, is there a need to keep the standalone apps on the device anymore, or can Word, Powerpoint and Excel be deleted from the device. I know it's not a big deal to reinstall if I have to, but thought I'd ask before uninstalling them. Thanks</p>

  • slbailey1

    18 February, 2020 - 9:24 pm

    <p>I cannot delete a document in the Office Mobile app. I can delete a document in the standalone Word app. </p><p><br></p><p>Edit: I am a Microsoft 365 Personal subscriber. </p>

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