Hi,

I've just got on to the beta and was hoping to be able to use my ipad for remote access to documents. Unfortunately, the office365 webapps seem as disfunctional on the ipad as the previous/current office live web apps (with no keyboard available for word or onenote - the 2 most useful apps on here).

Are there any specific settings needed for safari on iOS4.3 to get this to work, or are there any future plans to properly support devices such as the ipad so that they can be useful and usable?

Without the ability to run these apps and edit documents on them, my beta participation (and I imagine that of others in the same situation) will be very shortlived and I guess that would be another missed opportunity for Microsoft to spread its business beyond desktop devices (look at the number of people clamoring for OneNote on iPad or Android).

Hopeful thanks in advance,

Scott...

Hi Scott,

Actually till now there is no related official announcement about Office 365 support. And I test your issue, I guess it could be result from poor support of silverlight on iPad. However, I suggest maybe you could choose an alternative as below.

1, Enter your library in the sharepoint site, and mark your target document.

2, Click download a copy to obtain a local version of your document.

3, Edit it locally on your iPad using some third-party software.

4, Upload the document.

I have already tested this method. It works fine. Hope this will help you with your work on iPad.

Regards,

Allan

Hi Allan,

Thank you for the reply and advice as to how to go forwards. I must admit to having tried a similar approach already using iSMEstorage and OfficeHD running against SkyDrive which broadly works.

I must also admit that I am a little disappointed that this is what we must try. (although I acknowledge this is a beta product). Part of the reason for buying an iPad in the first place was that I saw a useful tool which could be safely and securely used within a business environment by having documents stored in the cloud and using the ipad to access and edit the documents without actually having to hold a local copy. That way, if the device was lost, there would be some inconvenience but at least not a breach of security or any potential data loss. The tools I had seen and used on the Office Webapps worked well enough on a laptop to allow this to happen, so the potential for a mobile portal such as an ipad (and sorry Microsoft, but there is no comparable product available from yourselves for the immediate future until perhaps Windows 8).

This really does appear to be a missed opportunity by either not supporting the ipad directly or providing a SilverLight browser app which enables the current products to access your documents also created in your software. If you think how many people use Office products on the PCs whether Windows or Mac hosted who will also have an iPad of one form or another and who will potentially use that to gain access to the same documents, you could provide a key part within both ecosystems which is mutually beneficial. For a relatively minimal development cost, you could either extend the desktop licenses, or even provide a dedicated app both of which would bring in enough revenue to not only cover the development and support costs, but also provide a tidy profit. The experience gained by supporting what is admittedly the first viable platform of this type would be valuable for you to feedback into subsequent developments of your Future WIndows products in the same way of the Office suites bounce off each other for Windows and MacOS.

This really is something we need within the business world, both SMEs such as my company right up to large corporates so please look to provide your customers (current and potential) with what we need rather than another workaround.

Many thamks,

Scott...

Scott, I totally agree.  It shouldn't take much to invoke the iPad keyboard. I think this is a HUGE opportunity that was missed. Aside from that, it all seems to work well. Can anyone create a shell app that will give a floating keyboard link to run office 365 through?

Greg Fishback

Director of I.T.

GreenField Health System

I'm with you as well.  The lack of really good Apple or third party apps to edit MS docs, spreadsheets and especially PowerPoints made me long to try Office 365.  When I was accepted into the Office 365 beta program, the very first thing I did once I had access was to try and create a PowerPoint presentation.  Boy was I dissappointed!

There is a huge opportunity here for Microsoft.

Scott Tompkins

Sr. Product Manager

Don't worry the web apps don't exist on desk top browsers either as they do in Windows Live.

I can't believe the worlds ( presently ) most popular tablet device was forgotten....

I am forced to abandon Office365 before even starting and I will have to advise others to be aware of the monolithic nature of this service.

Hi All, I've posted this elsewhere but thought it may be of interest.

Having also been slightly frustrated with the lack of light editing supported on the iPad, specifically for Word and for PowerPoint I have a proposed solution prior to the rumoured fix that Apple may or may not be working on, perhaps with Microsoft.

I had a closer look at what was going on with the browser, which clearly indicates that the iPad semi-mobile version of Safari was missing something. I'm going to assume this is because iOS for iPad was ported from the iPhone OS, hence, a great deal of full browser functionality is missing.

Clearly this is an Apple issue as the large screen of the iPad is perfectly capable of supporting a browser with a much richer feature set.

And now the best bit, I have a solution. You don't have to Jailbreak and it's free too. Download an App called iSwifter and browse to your SharePoint site, open a Word or Powerpoint document, click edit in browser and off you go.

iSwifter is a browser proxy App, so the process actually happens on the iSwifter servers. As the observant among you will notice iSwifter actually exists as a proxy for Flash content, which iOS famously does not support too.

Of course as your content goes via a third party you may want to treat this fudge with caution. I make no warranty to any who use it. Also to all who bemoan the iPad with Office 365 and Microsoft providing something you can't use then please take note of the fact that it is a device issue, not an application (Office 365) issue. Blame Apple in this case, and I speak as someone who does not actually own a computer with a Windows OS on it!

UPDATE

Edit with drag functionality, so you can select text, also works with Puffin. It's a far better experience too, although you have to pay for it. That is the best 59pence (99cents) I've spent this week! Also works with the iPhone.

Puffin Description & Download

I agree that most of this is not of Microsoft's doing and that Apple are exerting their legendary control over everything and dumbing down the iPad just enough to be an annoyance rather than a show stopper. At least it opens up the third party market for Apps developers to step in and fill the void although as yet there isn't one cohesive solution.

My issue with Microsoft and the Office 365 apps is that they have shown with Excel that they can get the keyboard to appear and be useful yet on really typing intensive apps like Word or OneNote they haven't. That shows that there are differing coding approaches going on where the user interface is concerned and maybe with a little bit of communication between the developers and some coopertition rather than competition, they could deliver a truly awesome solution which appears to be what so many people really need.

Sorry to say, but in Puffin no keyboard in Word too...

I can see the cursor (vert.line) now, but no working keyboard.

Grz.

Paul

See below screen shot, ensure you click Edit in Browser, as of course the keyboard won't show unless you are actually editng! If the keyboard does not invoke automatically, as it does for me , then invoke it with the button at the top as in the screen shot below. Tested on iPad and iPad 2, iOS 4.2 and 4.3.

I have no affiliation with Puffin so feel free to try other browsers. The only two which have worked so far have been Puffin and iSwifter.

Sebastian

serviceteamit.co.uk

Ok Sebas, that works, but strange that when I apply another style, I have to 'touch the keyboardicon' evrey time.

Nevertheless a little step forward.

Did you install Silverlight in any way?

Hi Paul,

No Silverlight installed. Looking at the code through an emulator, I believe it's not actually a Silverlight issue, but I'd like to get one of our developers to have a closer look.

Also, it seems functionality is not as slick since the last Puffin update, which annoyingly happened on 4th May. Timing in this case is not so good.

I'd be inclined to kick off development for an App specifically for iOS, subject to developer approval, but I suspect Microsoft either have an App or Apps in the works as they already have Onenote in the iTunes store. That coupled to the six or seven native Sharepoint Apps already in the store make it even less compelling.

The Puffin fudge is fine for 'Oh dear, I've not changed the name of the attendees and the date for the Powerpoint presentation I'm just about to do' type of light edit. Anything more involved may get a little tiresome. External Bluetooth keyboard works great too if you really have to do a few paragraphs while on the train.

Sebastian

serviceteamit.co.uk

Thanks Sebastian,

I use a BT keyboard and I noticed that the arrow keys don't work.

The same with you?

Grz,

Paul

Hi Paul,

No arrow keys for me either.

Sebastian

serviceteamit.co.uk