Microsoft launches Word, Excel, and PowerPoint previews for Android phones

Microsoft today launched Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Android phones in preview. You can download the new apps by joining the Microsoft Office for Android community and becoming a tester for each: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The launch follows Microsoft’s big Office news in November, when it made mobile editing free and launched Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPhone, as well as the same apps in preview for Android tablets. In January, the company released the Android tablet apps out of preview, and Julia White, general manager of Microsoft Office, told VentureBeat the company would have more to share “in the summertime.”

Just like with the Android tablet apps, Microsoft is releasing the Android phone apps in preview to gather user feedback and improve the app experience on a wide range of devices. “The feedback we received from the Office for Android tablet Preview in January was critical to ensuring a high quality and consistent Office experience across Android tablet devices,” Microsoft said.

In the latest blog post, the company promises the following to Android phone users:

• Familiar and consistent Office experience: The Office apps combine the familiar look, feel, and quality of Office with a touch-friendly experience designed for Android phones. Documents open and render with all formatting and content in the right place. In addition, familiar navigation and menu options in the ribbon are placed at the bottom of the screen within reach of your thumbs so you can easily review and edit documents on your phone.
• Do great work — anywhere, anytime: Read, review, and make edits on-the-go. Turn numbers into insights with easy insertion of charts, text and tables in Excel. Tell your story on-the-go with PowerPoint — review, make quick edits and even present right from your phone. Reflow documents in Word to make them easier to read and navigate.
• Access your documents quickly: Create, open, edit and save files in the cloud from your Android phone so you can access them anywhere and anytime you need them. Google Drive, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, Box, Dropbox, and SharePoint are all available.
• Work together: Share ideas, insights, presentations with others right from your phone. Track changes, comment, and mark up docs. Share your documents with others by simply emailing a hyperlink or attachment.

iPad, iPhone, and Android tablets have all had their own separate Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps for a while now. Office Mobile for Android phones will remain in the Google Play store until its triplet counterpart apps come out of preview “later this year.”

Just last week, Microsoft released a new Windows 10 Mobile preview, along with universal Office apps for phones and very small tablets. Windows users thus received touch-optimized versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on their phones before Android users, though it’s not clear which platform will get them out of preview first. Either way, iOS beat them both to the punch long ago.