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Apple devices get Office preview option

The OneDrive app for iOS devices now has a preview option for Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents.

From version  8.6.1 onwards, the OneDrive app can display Office documents without opening a separate app (like one of the Office apps for iOS).  Handy for quickly checking a document for a detail or to see what it contains before fully opening it.

There’s also a Scan feature to take pictures of documents, business cards, whiteboards etc and convert to text automatically.  This sounds like Office Lens by another name.  If it’s anything like Office Lens itself (available for iOS, Android and Windows phones) it has some neat tricks up it’s sleeve.

According to Microsoft, the changes in v8.6.1 are:

  • Instantly view your Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files in the app via our new instant previewers.
  • Go paperless with the new Scan feature! Like magic, Scan can digitize your whiteboards, documents, and business cards.
  • Thank you for your great feedback. On iPad, files opened from the offline tab will now take advantage of your entire screen.
  • Also thanks to your feedback, we have updated the details pane to include camera information.
  • Finally, we have improved upload reliability for users using their work or school accounts.

OneDrive for iOS is available from the iOS App Store.

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