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MikeCBR

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 5, 2014
39
0
got an ipad air 2 and do not like the subscription fees of ms office. whats the best alternative in the app store where i can read and create word documents and that will also be able to open and edit existing ms word documents with?
 

TWO2SEVEN

macrumors 68040
Jun 27, 2010
3,531
741
Plano, TX
Numbers, Pages and Keynote are all free and come with your Air 2.

I have used Pages, but not the others. It worked fine for my (minimal) word processing needs. If you have other Apple devices your documents will sync across all of the devices as well.
 

FSMBP

macrumors 68030
Jan 22, 2009
2,716
2,733
I second Apple's Pages/Numbers/Keynote. Not only are they free for iPad Air 2, but they are powerful. I mean, if Microsoft Office was available (without subscription) and would be paid for by my office, I would prefer that. However, for the price (free) and the quality, Apple's office suite is hard to beat.
 

Charliebird

macrumors 6502a
Mar 10, 2010
846
105
got an ipad air 2 and do not like the subscription fees of ms office. whats the best alternative in the app store where i can read and create word documents and that will also be able to open and edit existing ms word documents with?

Most of MS Office features can be accessed without paying the subscription fees.
 

newellj

macrumors G3
Oct 15, 2014
8,127
3,030
East of Eden
It really depends on what your needs are. If you need to be able to receive a Word document from a co-worker or client, view track changes, revise with track changes and send it back to someone else, Word is really the only solution. The current version of Pages will display MS Word documents with track changes, but making any edits that others will work with in Word when you send it back to them doesn't work well at all.

On the other hand, if you are working within a group that only uses Pages, or just working on documents for yourself, Pages is fine and it's free.
 

Beelzbub

macrumors 6502
Feb 6, 2012
425
187
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are free. And if you install OneDrive, which is also free, your documents will save to it. There is also a OneDrive app for your PC as well. So if you save any documents to it, they are accessible on your iPad as well and vice versa.

Also if you happen to use OneDrive and have an Outlook.com email account, you end up getting an extra 15 GB free storage, giving you a total of 30 GB. And the OnDrive App can back up your pictures on your iPad and or iPhone as well.

You can also setup 2-step verification with OneDrive and your Outlook.com account to help keep your files and or email safe.

I save documents from my PC to OneDrive all the time and access them on my iPad. I am able to make changes and work on things and save them. Then when I get back into the office, I can access them continue where I left off.

Not bad for free. And the 30 GB of storage is nice compared to Apple's free 5 GB.
 

smallcoffee

macrumors 68000
Oct 15, 2014
1,667
2,208
North America
Yeah but the free versions are limited to the point that you may as well just pay for the subscription.

I would recommend the apple suite myself, f you don't want to spend money. It's fine for basic uses.
 

Toltepeceno

Suspended
Jul 17, 2012
1,807
554
SMT, Edo MX, MX
Yeah but the free versions are limited to the point that you may as well just pay for the subscription.

I would recommend the apple suite myself, f you don't want to spend money. It's fine for basic uses.

That depends on what you want to do really, here are the differences.:

http://www.cnet.com/news/office-for-ios-goes-freemium-what-you-need-to-know/

As a 5 person family I find the subscription well worth it. Unlimited storage for all 5 of use, an hours worth of skype international for me and that really makes it worth it without even using the office apps which 4 of us have installed on computers, one on an ipad and all on phones.

Not to mention the price here is 99.99 a month family version which is about 6.89 us a month. The individual is 74.99 pesos a month which is about 5.17 a month. Not too bad since most stuff is more expensive here, technology especially.
 

MikeCBR

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 5, 2014
39
0
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are free. And if you install OneDrive, which is also free, your documents will save to it. There is also a OneDrive app for your PC as well. So if you save any documents to it, they are accessible on your iPad as well and vice versa.



Also if you happen to use OneDrive and have an Outlook.com email account, you end up getting an extra 15 GB free storage, giving you a total of 30 GB. And the OnDrive App can back up your pictures on your iPad and or iPhone as well.



You can also setup 2-step verification with OneDrive and your Outlook.com account to help keep your files and or email safe.



I save documents from my PC to OneDrive all the time and access them on my iPad. I am able to make changes and work on things and save them. Then when I get back into the office, I can access them continue where I left off.



Not bad for free. And the 30 GB of storage is nice compared to Apple's free 5 GB.


while word is "free" after the trial you cant edit word documents...so its not free because you cant edit documents after the trial period...same goes with excel, powerpoint, etc.
 

MikeCBR

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 5, 2014
39
0
you guys say the apple suite is free but shows as 9.99 in the app store
 

Beelzbub

macrumors 6502
Feb 6, 2012
425
187
while word is "free" after the trial you cant edit word documents...so its not free because you cant edit documents after the trial period...same goes with excel, powerpoint, etc.

It is no trial. It is a limited version of Word & Excel. I am able to open, edit and create documents with the free versions. I have been doing it since Microsoft changed their apps to free.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/6/7163789/microsoft-office-free-for-ipad-iphone-android

If that is all you are needing, it works fine. And in my case, I use it along with OneDrive and get a total of 30 GB of free online storage.
 

Aluminum213

macrumors 68040
Mar 16, 2012
3,597
4,707
Apples suite of productivity apps are terrible, the fact it depends on the joke that is iCloud is why it won't ever be good
 

GerritV

macrumors 68020
May 11, 2012
2,145
2,479
I'm using the free iOS versions of Word and Excel. Even limited, they beat the iWork bundle by a long distance. Running Yosemite and iCloud could make a difference but neither of those is on my wish list.
 

iPadDad

macrumors 6502
Sep 8, 2014
313
156
Pages, Numbers and Keynote are simply incredible when you learn how to use them and they are powerful complex apps too, dont be fooled by the simple dash boards, there is so much more to them!
 

PsykX

macrumors 68020
Sep 16, 2006
2,449
3,268
There's iWork and Google Docs. There's also Open Source projects, but don't lose your time with that, you'll be deceived.

GOOGLE DOCS : Feels like you're opening Office 2003 in your browser. However, it integrates a few Cloud features and a few other "later versions of Office" features. In fact, it probably offers the best collaborative tools out there. But your data is on Google's. And its look and feel is completely from the past.

IWORK : Keynote is better than Powerpoint, but not by a lot. The magic tool to make backgrounds transparent on pictures is probably its killer feature. The interface is also pretty convenient for animations, and speaking of animations, their quality exceeds Powerpoint's by far.
Pages and Numbers though, beware about them if you're a power user. They are too simplistic and do not offer enough advanced user features (i.e. the lack of Pivot Tables after so much time is killing me, especially since I learned it existed on the Mac more than 20 years ago). If you're running a large business, this can't be a choice to consider.

BOTTOM LINE : I'll be completely honest, every time I try something different, I go back to Office. And yes, I am anti-Microsoft. But that Ribbon interface, when you find yourself lost and swimming through all the features these apps contain, is a complete killer that no other app rivals. Plus, it has the most advanced features an Office suite has ever contained.

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Apples suite of productivity apps are terrible, the fact it depends on the joke that is iCloud is why it won't ever be good

Just to make things clear : It doesn't.
 
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