Microsoft finally updates SkyDrive for iOS with iPhone 5 & iPad Mini support

After a long wait, Microsoft has finally updated the iOS app for its cloud storage service SkyDrive, with new support for the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini and the capability to download full resolution photos.

“With the release of Windows 8 and Windows RT back in October, more and more people every day are using SkyDrive for their most important files through the SkyDrive app as well as through SkyDrive integration in File Explorer,” SkyDrive group program manager Mike Torres wrote in a blog post today. “Of course, there are great SkyDrive experiences for Windows devices, but being the place for all your files means we invest a significant amount of effort ensuring you have a great experience across all the devices you want to use.”

This clearly includes iPhones and iPads for a lot of folks.

SkyDrive for iOS last received an update in June. But Microsoft and Apple had been bickering over in-app purchasing of SkyDrive accounts, so this prevented Microsoft from releasing a new version of the app. But it appears that issue has been resolved with Microsoft removing the option to buy more SkyDrive storage from inside the app. (That said, it’s pretty easy to do inside the web-based version of SkyDrive.)

Here’s a full list what’s new in the SkyDrive update for iOS:

• Support for iPhone 5 and iPad Mini
• Updated app icons and user experience
• Download full resolution photos to your iPhone or iPad
• Control the size of photos you upload and download
• Photo metadata is retained when you upload to SkyDrive
• Opening and saving files to SkyDrive works better with other apps on your iOS devices
• Many other small changes, bug fixes and performance improvements

Take a look at screenshots of the new SkyDrive below.