Apple is making its suite of online iWork apps available on non-Apple platforms like Windows, Linux, and Android.
In order to access Apple’s range of iCloud productivity apps before, you needed an Apple device. You couldn’t create an Apple ID without one.
Now, it’s possible to access Pages, Numbers, and Keynote without owning a single Apple device through the iCloud Beta service.
Head on over to the iCloud Beta website on any platform and you’ll notice a new banner advertising the fact that “Now anyone can use Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for iCloud”.
Signing up in this way will give you 1GB of free iCloud storage in which to store your cross-platform documents.
It’s unknown at this point whether Apple plans to roll this feature out on iCloud proper, or if it’s just testing the waters with its Beta website.
If this does work out to be a fixed feature of Apple’s online productivity offering, it will see the company taking on the cross-platform cloud offerings of Google Docs and Microsoft Office.
The company took its last major step in that direction back in late 2013, when it made its iWork apps free to iOS and OS X users. While the service still lacks some of the functionality of its big rivals, this is a major step forward if Apple plans to attract businesses to use its software.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
