Office 365 Comes to Android Smartphones

Microsoft has released a new Office 365 app for Android, but there are a couple of catches. You’ll need a subscription to use the app, and it doesn’t work on tablets.

PCMag’s Chloe Albanesius reported, “Microsoft today announced that its Office 365 suite is now available for Android phones. The free app was added to the Google Play store this morning, and provides Office 365 subscribers with access to Office, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents from the palm of your hand.”

ReadWrite’s Dan Rowinski noted, “The app… isn’t intended to let users actually create Office documents on mobile devices. Rather, it’s intended to allow people to ‘access, view and edit your Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint’ files.”

Mashable’s Pete Pachal added, “The Android version of Office only works on phones. Owners of Android tablets, just like iPad users, will have to settle for Office web apps since they won’t be able to download the official app from Google Play (side-loading, of course, is always an option). Android phones must be running version 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” or later.”

GigaOm’s Kevin C. Tofel commented, “I don’t understand, however, why Office Mobile is limited to phones only…. I suspect if you really want to use Office on a tablet, Microsoft would rather you use the app on its tablets, which could provide the Surface slates a sorely needed sales boost.”