iWork for iCloud gains collaboration with up to 100 people, support for docs up to 1GB
Apple on Tuesday improved the browser-based versions of its Pages, Numbers and Keynote applications, also known as iWork for iCloud, with support for larger files and more collaborating users.
Those who log onto iCloud.com and access any of the three applications will be greeted with a new splash page announcing the changes. For all three applications, the updates include the ability to:
In addition, Pages specifically has gained the ability to export files to the ePub format, object layering, and to insert and edit inline tables.
For Numbers, users can now have alternating row colors in tables, and files can be exported to the .CSV format. Finally, Keynote has the ability to show and hide slide numbers.
Apple has issued continuous improvements for its iWork for iCloud suite since the software debuted last year. The free service allows users to create and edit documents, then save, sync and share them directly from their browser on Macs, Windows PCs, and iOS devices.
Those who log onto iCloud.com and access any of the three applications will be greeted with a new splash page announcing the changes. For all three applications, the updates include the ability to:
- Edit docs up to 1 gigabyte in size
- Collaborate with up to 100 people
- Create two-dimensional and interactive charts
- Utilize more color options
- Insert images up to 10 megabytes in size
- Chart formatting
In addition, Pages specifically has gained the ability to export files to the ePub format, object layering, and to insert and edit inline tables.
For Numbers, users can now have alternating row colors in tables, and files can be exported to the .CSV format. Finally, Keynote has the ability to show and hide slide numbers.
Apple has issued continuous improvements for its iWork for iCloud suite since the software debuted last year. The free service allows users to create and edit documents, then save, sync and share them directly from their browser on Macs, Windows PCs, and iOS devices.
Comments
Are we limited to who we can collaborate with? Do they all have to have a Mac ID like Google Docs users need a GMail account? A collaborative document processor is essential for me while in college with so many group projects going on at one time and no great time to meet as everyone works. Need more info. Since not everyone buys Apple products and therefore won't get an Apple ID it would be a great solution if just the document owner had one and let others edit with permission of the owner. While Google Docs is great I would switch to iWork to create and edit projects if given the chance.
I mean, just like Google, you can sign up for an Apple ID without owning an Apple product...
Are we limited to who we can collaborate with? Do they all have to have a Mac ID like Google Docs users need a GMail account? A collaborative document processor is essential for me while in college with so many group projects going on at one time and no great time to meet as everyone works. Need more info. Since not everyone buys Apple products and therefore won't get an Apple ID it would be a great solution if just the document owner had one and let others edit with permission of the owner. While Google Docs is great I would switch to iWork to create and edit projects if given the chance.
Only the person who "posts" a shared document needs an Apple ID. Anyone can edit a document once it is shared; without an Apple ID.
Its been a while since I used Google Docs, but the last time I did read/write rights were given out an a per Google Account basis. In contrast,iWorks for iCloud, currently only support read/write access control via a common password. In other words, there is no user access control list like with Google docs; just a common password and thus it could care less about Apple ID for anything other than determining in who's iCloud account the document is stored.
Are we limited to who we can collaborate with? Do they all have to have a Mac ID like Google Docs users need a GMail account? A collaborative document processor is essential for me while in college with so many group projects going on at one time and no great time to meet as everyone works. Need more info. Since not everyone buys Apple products and therefore won't get an Apple ID it would be a great solution if just the document owner had one and let others edit with permission of the owner. While Google Docs is great I would switch to iWork to create and edit projects if given the chance.
Anyone can sign up for an Apple ID at appleid.apple.com. No credit card is necessary, only a valid e-mail address is required.
Interestingly the help pages indicate that you can let someone edit a document even if they don't have an iCloud account.
Source: http://help.apple.com/pages/icloud/1/#/gil785102e55
So how close are we now to the previously more capable feature set of the older, pre-iCloud iWork apps? Are there still some things missing? I won't upgrade until I know there's nothing missing. And I don't need to collaborate that much so I'd rather they worked on the missing stuff than stuff I don't need.
OK, I know others might need this stuff, but with the missing features they can't be going after the enterprise market as that needs more than just collaboration. So, is this being re-positioned as a product for the education sector?
So how close are we now to the previously more capable feature set of the older, pre-iCloud iWork apps? Are there still some things missing? I won't upgrade until I know there's nothing missing. And I don't need to collaborate that much so I'd rather they worked on the missing stuff than stuff I don't need.
OK, I know others might need this stuff, but with the missing features they can't be going after the enterprise market as that needs more than just collaboration. So, is this being re-positioned as a product for the education sector?
You don't need to risk upgrade. Just use iWork for iCloud via a browser to figure out when it has the functionality you want. Pretty safe to say the new iWork won't ever do all the stuff the old one did, just like the old one will never do all the stuff the new one does. So saying that you won't switch until the new one has all the stuff the old one did, will mean you will likely never switch.
Interestingly the help pages indicate that you can let someone edit a document even if they don't have an iCloud account.
No more excuses when you want to share a document with someone. They don't need to sign up for anything to view or edit a document you want to share. What a concept, huh? I know how we are gonna share real-time updated Christmas lists this year.
Apple has already demonstrated Windows users working with Apple users on cloud collaborating with iWorks docs. A feat, for sure since the Windows users cannot run iWorks directly. Users log in using whatever browser they have. The underlying OS type or version is of no concern... at least with regard to Windows, OSX or iOS.
iCloud is not certifiable for medical records, referral documents and other such confidential data. These apps need to support Dropbox and or Box where work teams can get HIPPA- compliant agreements from the cloud vendor.
I don't know why they still offer a measly 5GB of storage still. Most everyone else is significantly higher at no extra cost. This should be their next step.
I just tried out the collaboration using my Gmail account and password protected the document, pretty easy to set it all up and easy to use. Very fast when updating what each user is doing. Definitely going to use this instead of Google Docs from now on.
Not too experienced with Keynote, would love to see how that compares to Prezi. The big perk of Prezi was that everyone could edit at the same time and has a great layout and is a great presentation tool.
Dragged an old Pages file into the cloud window on my wife's computer.
Sent myself a link - edited the file. Signed out and it had already updated the file on my wife's MBA
Very slick and still in beta.
Jon - give keynote a romp around. Very easy to learn - have the inspector showing at all times. I found it was a lot easier than using the menus
That'd be great.
+1
Jon - give keynote a romp around. Very easy to learn - have the inspector showing at all times. I found it was a lot easier than using the menus
Thanks Rob, I'll give it a shot.