Office for iPad apps reach 12 million downloads milestone: Microsoft

Microsoft has announced that its four productivity apps for Apple iPad users - Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote - have collectively surpassed 12 million downloads from the iTunes App Store. The firm did not mention the breakdown for downloads.

While the Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint separate apps were released just a week ago, the OneNote app has been available for a couple of years on the iPad device.

The news came via a tweet early-Friday from Microsoft's official 'Office' account, that stated "More than 12 million downloads of Word, Excel, PPT & OneNote for #iPad from the @AppStore <3 #OfficeforiPad."

Notably, these Office apps are free to anyone who wants to read Office's Word, Excel and PowerPoint programs on the iPad, it will require a subscription to Microsoft's Office 365 to create and edit documents on the device. The Office 365 subscriptions cost $70 (roughly Rs. 4,209) or $100 (roughly Rs. 6011) annually, with the lower price placing more restrictions on the number and types of devices that can be used.

The firm also made an important change to its apps for iPhone and Android mobile devices. With the recent update of Microsoft Office Mobile for iPhone and Android, editing Office files is free for 'home use'. Earlier, users could only view Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files on their mobile devices, but editing them required a paid Microsoft Office 365 subscription.

Though Microsoft said editing of documents via Office Mobile for iPhone and Android is free only for 'home use' and still expects enterprise users to purchase a subscription for Office 365, in the real world the company has no checks over where the app is being downloaded and used, so all users can benefit from this move.