Microsoft has started rolling out redesigned versions of its Word, Excel, and Powerpoint apps on the Apple App Store. The update bears version number 2.34 and brings a minimal three-tabbed layout to the app’s home screen.
The three tabs present at the bottom are Home, New, and Open. You will be able to sign in to your Microsoft account, view recently opened documents in the ‘Home’ tab. The option to create a new document or choose existing templates is available in the ‘New’ tab while the Open tab lets you quickly access documents present on your iPhone.
Apart from the design overhaul, the update brings an updated Alt text pane where you can add captions or mark elements as decorative. The Alt text pane is available in all three apps.
Microsoft Excel-specific features include “Read and Reply on the Fly”, and XLOOKUP. With Read and Reply on the Fly feature, you can now respond to comments and mentions from your email without having to open the document.
XLOOKUP, on the other hand, lets you find data in a table or within a particular range row by row. In case you’re wondering how the new XLOOKUP feature is different from the older VLOOKUP feature, here is how Microsoft puts it: “XLOOKUP is different from VLOOKUP in that it uses separate lookup and return arrays, where VLOOKUP uses a single table array followed by a column index number.”
That is, with Excel’s XLOOKUP, you can look both horizontally and vertically to arrive at the data set you’re looking for. Make sure you’ve updated to the latest version of these apps to start enjoying the new features.
Download Word | Download Excel | Download PowerPoint on App Store
