“Apple rolled out a beta version of iWork for iCloud yesterday, which allows registered developers to try out the forthcoming online document editing service at beta.icloud.com,” Joe White reports for AppAdvice.
“iWork for iCloud replicates Apple’s Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, and makes all three applications available to access from within a Web browser, on either a Mac or PC,” White reports. “With iCloud enabled on your personal desktop computer and your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, any changes made at iWork for iCloud will sync between your Mac and iDevices.”
White reports, “In our latest hands-on video, we take a closer look at iWork for iCloud, and conclude that the online suite is indeed as impressive as it looked during Apple’s recent WWDC 2013 keynote.”
Read more in the full article here.
Is anyone shocked that Microsoft is now offering their crap to the iPhone users. Hello Steve Ballmer, you are too late. They own Apple products, devices and software. We don’t need you anymore. Really never did! It is time for the Microsoft Titanic to set sale.
Microsoft Titanic to set “sale” — 365 days a year with a paid subscription or else: “poof”. Get iWork for iCloud and goodspeed. Good job, Ballmer — I like your strategy a lot!
We also disagree with subscription computing — from MS, Google, or Apple. iWork for the Cloud requires subscription to access your data too.
Hard to believe that people will sign up for subscription computing and hand 3rd parties their data when securely hosting one’s own data to the internet has never been cheaper or easier.
Just a wild guess you work in IT?
Actually I believe that iCloud is a FREE service – unless you add more storage.. No subscription needed.
http://www.apple.com/legal/iworkcom/en/terms.html
It’s beta now, but you might want to read section 2, paragraph 2:
“Changing the Service
Apple reserves the right to modify, suspend or stop the Service (or any part thereof), either temporarily or permanently, at any time or from time to time, with or without prior notice to you. Without limiting the foregoing, Apple may provide notice of any such changes to the Service by posting them on its websites and/or via the Service. You agree that Apple shall not be liable to you or any third party for any modification or cessation of the Service. You acknowledge that Apple has no express or implied obligation to provide, or continue to provide, the Service, or any part thereof, now or in the future; and in addition, Apple may at any time, upon prior notice as required by applicable law, institute charges or fees for the Service.”
Come on people, it’s subscription-based computing. Just because Apple is doing it doesn’t make it a better bargain. You will have to pay to access your data — the holy grail of all business models, and usually the worst possible value for consumers.
Subscription? Phuck it. Apple and Microsoft can suck it.
… while it IS “free”, it does require a “subscription”. Same thing with our local weekly paper … it may be free, but you have to sign up to get it delivered.
Is this what “Mike” meant? Or did he mean a sort of “rental” subscription like that offered by MSFT. As for the link to iCloud, that’s optional. So far. Just because it’s to most folks’ advantage does not mean the software is broken without it.
… my bad. iWork (for iCloud) DOES require not only a free subscription but continual ACCESS TO THE WEB!
Use it from your Personal Computer with your Web Browser.
Anyone know if iWork (SANS iCloud) will continue to be offered?
This is everybody’s opportunity to help reduce the cost of government. The more you do in the cloud, the easier it is for the NSA to keep tabs on what you are thinking. And if you pay to do it who’s to say your payment isn’t used to subsidize your surveillance. It’s a win win. Cheaper government and less of that pesky privacy.
I think this will be huge for large corporations or agencies.
In my line of work we need to share and develop over groups of people and present on the fly from anywhere an over multiple devices. This will be a huge saving for us and it will make buying programs or the PC irrelavant, let alone Powerpoint for those who don’t have Mac’s or can’t use them.
A lot of the time it’s management is who presents or gives a pitch and some are “techology challenged”. With this there is no emailing of files, carrying of laptops, putting things on flash drive to transfter or to a PC already hooked up someplace. Let alone having to sit on the phone explaining how to get something saved or reloaded into a program.
For me, this was something at the WWDC presentation that I immediately understood the importance and can see the benefit but I expect very few took notice or understood.
Awesome job by those working on this at Apple!
This will not make PC software irrelevant. There are many limits to what you can do in a browser, and Apple rightfully said during the Keynote that Native Apps still give the best experience when talking about Cloud iWork.
You can’t drag and drop things like videos or larger files into these online versions. They’re slightly slower in their performance. They’re struggling to get Retina going: none of this is Retina by the way so everything is pixelated. On and on…
“I think this will be huge for large corporations or agencies.”
Like the NSA? 🙂
Sorry I couldn’t resist. Actually I do agree with you about Cloud storage being a benefit for large corporations and agencies. For folks who mainly create documents on their home Mac, iWork for iCloud, Office 365, and Google Docs is not necessary. My recommendation for them is to use the standalone version of iWork (internet connection not required) and store their documents on their local hard drive(s) and back up their drive(s) regularly.
I do NOT see personal computer software going away anytime soon as standalone software generally offers more functionality than Cloud based services.
Have a nice weekend iGads.
Tim,
Haha! Did you forget about the IRS? Too funny.
I agree, for personal use it’s not a big difference and by no means do I think it would compare to a program running on the machine. But what I was really referring to was those who create content of some sort and others use it to pitch, sale or travel. Many times these might be several people and they need minor changes depending on where they are at. They/we can make minor changes or we can on the fly and not worry about what their device, computer, software or version, etc. Let alone their own skills and that usually screws the whole thing up and makes everything bad.
Thanks for the laugh Tim.
Looks impressive as far as it goes, but it will need collaboration to be successful. Just my $0.02.
I’ve seen collaboration in the real world and most of it just doesn’t work.
If there is a way for a single person at-a-time to edit while multiple people can view and comment, that makes sense.
But Microsoft’s idea of having multiple people edit a document simultaneously just doesn’t work well in the real world. A document is not architected like a database.
Love it!!
OK, I get it. If i’m at the office working on my employer-mandated wintel machine, I have a way to get at the data locked up in iWork docs.
Thanks, Apple, I appreciate that. Now can we talk about improving the Mac applications we use to actually generate those docs? The ones you haven’t done anything about in FOUR YEARS? No, put down that iPad, I am talking about the MAC version.
Here is where iWork for iCloud matters:
Schools – many are switching to Google docs which is a poor excuse for productivity apps. iWork is way more polished and smoothly integrates with Macs, PC’s and iPads.
Small businesses – another way to eliminate the Microsoft subscription tax. It won’t eliminate power Excel users but those are the tiny minority.
Individual buyers – another reason to consider the Mac over a PC.
Funny thing is in our IT department which is all PC and users have PC’s at home, the iWork for iCloud got more discussion than Office 365 ever has.
Apple has developed an in-house version of Xcode which made iWork for ICloud possible. It also enables virtually any application that compiles with Xcode to run on ICloud too, with a simple flip of a switch. Apple would NEVER do this however, as it would lead to the premature death of the Mac.
Nice indeed.
I shan’t be using it before is not beta anymore.