Apple adds real-time collaboration to iWork, taking a stab at Microsoft and Google
Apple wants to help you work with others.
The iPhone maker has added real-time collaboration to iWork, its suite of productivity apps, the company announced at its event on Wednesday in San Francisco.
First released in 2005, Apple's iWork includes the presentation program Keynote, word processing app Pages and spreadsheet app Numbers. Think Microsoft PowerPoint, Word and Excel.
You May Also Like
"iWork is all about making beautiful and engaging documents," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of product management and marketing. "For people who want the power of iWork, there is just not a great way to work with colleagues or classmates to work together."
By relying on Apple's iCloud, iWork users can edit files on Mac OS, iOS and the web -- so collaboration can use a MacBook or another laptop running OS as well as an iPhone or iPad -- and changes made to the documents can be seen almost immediately. Files can be made private or public.
“Remember: this is happening live," Prescott said during a demonstration that showed collaborators adding images, graphics, text and illustrations to a document.
But the update comes rather late to the 11-year-old product. Indeed, Microsoft's Office 365 has been accessible in real-time for a few years, and Google launched its cloud-based system, including Docs, Sheets, Slides and Form, back in 2006.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Interestingly, Apple had invited Microsoft onto its stage at its keynote event nearly a year ago when the company introduced the iPhone 6S, the Apple Watch and the iPad Pro. During the iPad Pro announcement, Microsoft product manager Kirk Koenigsbauer demonstrated Office's suite apps for iOS.
Salesforce is also building out its infrastructure in work collaboration. Last month, the company acquired Quip, a word processing app created by former Facebook Chief Technology Officer and Google Maps co-creator Bret Taylor.
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
