Excel and PowerPoint Mobile Each Net 500 Million Downloads on Android

The mobile app versions of Excel and PowerPoint have both been downloaded over 500 million times on Android via the Google Play Store, a major milestone.

No, that doesn’t equate to 500 million users, of course. Like many, I’ve downloaded each of these apps dozens of times, if not more. There is probably some single- or low double-digit million users of each app, I estimate.

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But let’s not detract from this good news, which is an affirmation, of sorts, of Satya Nadella’s strategy to promote Microsoft over brands like Windows or Surface and, in doing so, to embrace the mobile platforms its customers are actually using. Plus, the Office mobile apps are more functional for those with paid Office 365 and Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

Anyway, news of the 500 million download milestones was first reported by Android Police, which presumably refreshes Google Play Store web pages for a hobby. Not surprisingly, the most popular Office mobile app—and, as it turns out, the most popular Microsoft mobile app overall—Word Mobile, hit this milestone first, back in May.

Microsoft shipped its first Office mobile apps—Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Mobile—on Android in January 2015, starting with versions for tablets. But it followed those up with handset versions of the apps in June 2015. Those releases, of course, trailed the initial Office mobile versions on iPad and iPhone by about a year.

Remember when Microsoft shipping Office on iPad was such a big deal? Right. Me neither.

And those mobile apps—on both platforms—remain very popular. In the Google Play Store, Microsoft Outlook is the most-downloaded app for Android, Word Mobile is the third, Excel is #10, PowerPoint is #17, and OneNote is #29. For iOS, Word Mobile is the 11th most-downloaded free app on iPad, Microsoft Outlook is #21, Excel is #25, and PowerPoint is #29.

 

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Conversation 11 comments

  • markld

    Premium Member
    25 August, 2018 - 1:30 pm

    <p>If it was not for Microsoft’s apps on my Android LG device, I would not have as good as an experience as I do now. </p><p><br></p><p>I appreciated the ranking numbers in the post. </p><p><br></p><p>MSs products actually function well on Android. Outlook, Word, Excel I use regularly, Power Point never. I like their syncing ability, too. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

  • DocPaul

    25 August, 2018 - 2:17 pm

    <p>I remember back when I first got my Windows Phone, bragging to siblings on iOS and Android about how handy it was it have MS Office mobile on my phone.</p><p><br></p><p>Where does the time go?</p>

    • Daniel

      26 August, 2018 - 12:53 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#304310">In reply to DocPaul:</a></em></blockquote><p>Office Mobile and OneDrive are the main reasons I bought my Windows Phone.</p>

  • woodchuck

    26 August, 2018 - 4:07 am

    <p>No wonder Outlook is the most downloaded app on Android – I've downloaded it at least 20 times, and uninstalled it as many times. It remains for me unusable. Pinch to zoom remains broken with area you wanted to zoom in on disappearing off the screen instead of sticking between your fingers like any other app, and certain emails with large images not being resized so that you cannot read any text on the right of the message. Trying to scroll right just takes you to another message. By contrast Excel and Word are excellent apps – downloaded once and in daily use</p>

  • RonV42

    Premium Member
    26 August, 2018 - 3:43 pm

    <p>Let me understand the statistics that Google publishes. Is 500 million for unique devices or for those that factory reset their phones every three months due to android rot and re-install apps counted again?</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      27 August, 2018 - 3:15 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#304440">In reply to RonV42:</a></em></blockquote><p>Or delete and re-install, or have multiple devices or multiple accounts on devices.</p><p>I've had times where I've installed apps. deleted them, then re-installed them a few weeks later.</p>

  • Mark from CO

    26 August, 2018 - 6:00 pm

    <p>Paul:</p><p><br></p><p>Another way to look at this is that Microsoft, with essentially little financial benefit to themselves, have made great apps that support its competitors ecosystems, effectively raising the entry barrier to others (including itself) trying to enter into the mobile market.</p><p><br></p><p>You might also say that the competitive distance between Microsoft and Google, particularly in the mobile market, increases daily. All you have to do is look at the content of your website's articles for antidotal evidence.</p><p><br></p><p>What neither of us can say for certain is how this will play out in the long-term. You are more optimistic concerning Microsoft than me. </p>

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