Apple's iWork for iCloud.com beta now available to all users
Any user who logs in to iCloud.com will find browser-based beta versions of Pages, Numbers and Keynote ??Apple's iWork suite ? are now available to test.
Apple has been gradually rolling out iWork availability, first to developers and then to some select users. But now, as of Friday, any user with an Apple ID who logs into the iCloud.com website should have access to Pages, Numbers and Keynote.
The iWork apps join Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, and Find My iPhone as free cloud-based offerings from Apple. All three iWork apps are clearly labeled as "beta" with a yellow banner in the icons' upper left corners.
The service was first announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and works with Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer. It allows users to quickly access, edit and save their documents from the Internet.
Not yet available to all users is the new look for iCloud.com in line with iOS 7, matching the redesigned icons that are found in beta versions of Apple's iPhone and iPad software. iOS 7 is expected to launch to the public next month, but no timeframe for the new iCloud.com site has been given.
Apple has been gradually rolling out iWork availability, first to developers and then to some select users. But now, as of Friday, any user with an Apple ID who logs into the iCloud.com website should have access to Pages, Numbers and Keynote.
The iWork apps join Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, and Find My iPhone as free cloud-based offerings from Apple. All three iWork apps are clearly labeled as "beta" with a yellow banner in the icons' upper left corners.
The service was first announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and works with Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer. It allows users to quickly access, edit and save their documents from the Internet.
Not yet available to all users is the new look for iCloud.com in line with iOS 7, matching the redesigned icons that are found in beta versions of Apple's iPhone and iPad software. iOS 7 is expected to launch to the public next month, but no timeframe for the new iCloud.com site has been given.
Comments
Either way the wide release announcement this early is exciting.
Of course iWork in the Cloud doesn't bring much to the table that Goggle Docs doesn't already have but it does seem like a far better option than Office 365 subscription service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikilok
Looks pretty sexy. Cant still get over the fact, that this is an HTML 5 web app. The web's come a long way
It's bloody amazing! But I'm still confused as to what the pricing strategy is gonna be come the autumn...Rosner announced new versions for both OSX and iOS, but would they really make them free?
@Ombra2105 :
Well I think the web version would continue to remain free. It has always been that way.
Why public release is still in BETA? Like siri?
Nice. Almost unusable from here though; all of Apple's web apps are so damn slow, whatever browser I use, whether I'm at home, work, or other. Wish they'd sort that out, it's been the same story through dot Mac, MobileMe, and now iCloud; great aesthetic, good functionality, lousy performance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crowley
Nice. Almost unusable from here though; all of Apple's web apps are so damn slow, whatever browser I use, whether I'm at home, work, or other. Wish they'd sort that out, it's been the same story through dot Mac, MobileMe, and now iCloud; great aesthetic, good functionality, lousy performance.
I never felt that about iCloud.. Thought it was snapy fast. Dont know what your talking about.. What in ur opinion in the application is slow ?
The old iCloud vs the new one..
The new one looks a lot more clean and fresh.
So much for being special.....
Yes it does just as iOS 7 will look far brighter cleaner and fresher than iOS 6.
It's a new day at the Infinite Loop and I'm kinda digging the new fresh look Apple has now. Far different from Google and Microsoft products even though both have flat looks and even transparency effects.
Something about Apples new color pallete truly stands out from the competition and is still distinctly Apple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackbook
Yes it does just as iOS 7 will look far brighter cleaner and fresher than iOS 6.
It's a new day at the Infinite Loop and I'm kinda digging the new fresh look Apple has now. Far different from Google and Microsoft products even though both have flat looks and even transparency effects.
Something about Apples new color pallete truly stands out from the competition and is still distinctly Apple.
Even the Transparency effect that Apple's pulled out's kinda different, in the sense it blur's everything behind it with some color tone masking. Genius designers!
The rest of them think about transparency as just dropping opacity by a percentage.
Yes and this will be far more convenient and possibly more user friendly if the iOS and Mac versions are free downloads as well.
But I still find it funny that when this was being unveiled at WWDC the guy talking it up was acting like Doc editing in the cloud was revolutionary. Maybe he didnt know that Microsoft and Google have been doing it for years. Even so I think iWork in the cloud is nice and will suit most people's needs.
It's still pretty beta though. No changes since the last time I used it. Filed about a half dozen bug reports and a similar amount of missing feature notifications.
It already works a lot smoother than Google docs though, albeit terrible slowly.
I sure hope the rumours of "free" are not true. The whole iWork suite is already kind of crappy in many ways on both platforms. I'd rather pay for it and see it evolve into something more professional and complete than see it languish in the free bin as just another "good enough" Apple placeholder product.
2) I find it easier to use the first 5 apps in a Safari window than having 5 separate apps open. This can't possibly mean I long for the days of Outlook, can it ¿
iCloud has been hit or miss for me honestly. But most of my problems come when I'm trying to access iCloud.com from a PC. Not an ideal environment obviously but icloud is advertised to work on PCs as well so that as a real issue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
Well it's an option for people who prefer not to use Google stuff if they don't have to.
I think the point is more to increase the portability of Apple documents. If even one person at your office has iCloud then getting a Pages document in the mail is no longer a problem. You no longer have to purchase Apple's programs to work with iWork documents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chandra69
Why public release is still in BETA? Like siri?
Cause it's still buggy and incomplete? Like Siri?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
It's still pretty beta though. No changes since the last time I used it. Filed about a half dozen bug reports and a similar amount of missing feature notifications.
It already works a lot smoother than Google docs though, albeit terrible slowly.
I sure hope the rumours of "free" are not true. The sole iWork suite is already kind of crappy in many ways on both platforms. I'd rather pay for it and see it evolve into something more professional and complete than see it languish in the free bin as just another "good enough" Apple placeholder product.
Problem with making iWorks on iCloud a charged application is the competition's giving away there Web based suites for free. Kind of beats the purpose of charging for it, coz people have free alternatives out there, why would anyone pay for it ?
This isn't the Walled Garden, its the Web we are talking about
In my opinion Apple can use there new iCloud as a way to give non Apple users a feel of what iOS is like and attract them over to iOS.
Its gotta stay free for that.
I am still with the old one.
… And yes! The iWork suite apps. are slow.