Microsoft has announced its Office for Android. This comes weeks after the organisation announced the availability of Office for iPhone. For now, the new software is only available in the U.S. for Office 365 subscribers. But if you aren’t already an Office 365 subscriber, you can visit
www.office.com to learn more about Office 365 and sign up for a free 30 day trial.
You can access Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel using the app. Microsoft highlighted some of the frequently asked questions in a
blog post:
What are the requirements to use Office Mobile for Android phones?
There are two key requirements:
- You need a qualifying Office 365 subscription plan that includes the Office 2013 desktop applications (see list below). After you download and install Office Mobile for Android phones, just sign in with your Office 365 username and password to activate the app.
- A phone running Android OS 4.0 or greater.
What Office 365 subscriptions include Office Mobile?
Any Office 365 subscription plan that includes the full Office 2013 desktop applications also includes Office Mobile. Specifically, these plans are: Office 365 Home Premium, Office 365 Small Business Premium, Office 365 Midsize Business, Office 365 Enterprise E3 and E4, Office 365 Education A3 and A4, Office 365 ProPlus, and Office 365 University. There are also Office 365 government plans that include Office Mobile.
Additionally, Office 365 trial subscriptions will activate Office Mobile. Please visit Office.com to get a 30 day trial.
What languages and markets will Office Mobile for Android phones be available in?
Office Mobile for Android phones will be available in 33 languages and in 117 markets. Initially, it will only be available in the United States. We will gradually expand to additional markets and languages.
- Office Mobile for Android phones will be available into the following languages: Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (US), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian , Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian (Latin), Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian.
- Office Mobile for Android phones will be made available in the following markets: Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote D’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
When will Office Mobile for Android phones be available outside of the United States?
Office Mobile for Android phones will be available in other markets over the next several weeks.
Can I purchase Office Mobile for Android phones in the Google Play store?
The app is available free of charge for Office 365 subscribers only. Office Mobile is a subscription benefit and demonstrates our commitment to add new value to the Office 365 subscription service.
Customers can buy an appropriate Office 365 subscription through regular channels, for example
www.office.com. Office 365 subscriptions will not be available for purchase in the Google Play store.
How does Office Mobile for Android phones compare to Office Mobile on Windows Phone 8?
Office Mobile on Windows Phone 8 provides a richer, more integrated experience. Specifically, on Windows Phone 8:
- Office Mobile comes preinstalled;
- Office Mobile is pre-activated, so it will function without an Office 365 subscription;
- Office 365 setup combines the setup of email, Office Mobile and Lync, with a single entry of credentials;
- Office documents received as attachments in email will open directly with the Office Mobile app, not with viewers that may not render the documents correctly;
- Office Mobile has support for saving documents locally on the phone;
- Office Mobile includes searching and filtering for documents;
- Office Mobile supports opening IRM-protected email and documents.
What is the difference between Office Mobile for iPhone and Office Mobile for Android phones?
The functionality of both apps is very similar. The main differences are:
- Office Mobile for Android phones does not include an option to purchase an Office 365 subscription from within the app. Office Mobile for Android phones only has a “sign in” option.
- When accessing documents on an on-premises SharePoint Server, the URL to the document needs to be fully qualified for Office Mobile for Android phones to be able to open it. For instance, https://contoso/monthlyreport.docx will not open, but https://contoso.corpnet.northwind.com/monthlyreport.docx will open in Office Mobile.
How many phones can I install and activate Office Mobile for Android phones on?
Most Office 365 subscriptions grant you the license to install Office Mobile on up to 5 mobile devices, not including Windows Phone devices (which come with a pre-activated version of Office Mobile preinstalled). An Office 365 University subscription grants you the license to install Office Mobile on up to 2 mobile devices.
Is Office Mobile for Android phones available on other devices like Android tablets?
We built Office Mobile for Android phones to ensure a great Office experience when using a small screen device. Therefore, you will not be able to download and install Office Mobile for Android phones on an Android tablet from the Google Play store. If you have an Android tablet, we recommend using the Office Web Apps which provide the best Office experience on a tablet.
Where can I get more information on Microsoft technical support?
Microsoft technical support information on Office 365 subscription is available
here.
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This article was first published on 31st July 2013
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