Apple's iWork suite of productivity apps has been one of the go-to options for iPhone, iPad, and Mac owners for years. The three apps, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers all offer people the ability to create documents, presentations, and spreadsheets respectively, and best of all they don't cost a penny. They aren't necessarily the most updated apps around, however, which makes this round of updates worth paying attention to.
Apple has issued updates across all of its major platforms so owners of iPhones, iPads, and Macs should check for new updates if they don't have the App Store configured to handle them automatically. Each app has its own release notes although they are very similar no matter which platform you happen to use these apps on.
All three apps have gained improvements for handling photos taken on an iPhone and iPad while other improvements specific to their wheelhouse are also present. Obviously, all of these updates are free, and we'd suggest everyone downloads them sooner rather than later.
Pages
Apple's Pages app is a great option for people who need to create rich documents whether they be letters, posters, and more. This update improves photo handling and in-app notifications, among other things.
- Press and hold the Command key to select noncontiguous words, sentences, or paragraphs
- Streamlined in-app notifications inform you when a person joins a collaborative document for the first time
- Preserve file format and full quality when adding HEIC photos taken on iPhone or iPad
- Additional stability and performance improvements
Keynote
The Keynote app is perfect for creating presentations and users can connect their devices to projectors for that big-screen experience. In this update Apple has again improved HEIC photo handling while the familiar stability and performance improvements are also present. Those who deal with files that also need to work with Microsoft PowerPoint will also enjoy a compatibility improvement.
- Add a new look to your slides with the Dynamic Color, Minimalist Light, and Minimalist Dark themes
- Streamlined in-app notifications inform you when a person joins a collaborative presentation for the first time
- Preserve file format and full quality when adding HEIC photos taken on iPhone or iPad
- Press and hold the Command key to select noncontiguous words, sentences, or paragraphs
- Improved compatibility for slide transitions when importing and exporting Microsoft PowerPoint files
- Additional stability and performance improvements
Numbers
While Microsoft's Excel might be the go-to for a lot of people, Numbers can more than hold its own in the spreadsheet stakes. This new update isn't going to change the way people get their work done but there are still some notable improvements to stability and file handling.
- Streamlined in-app notifications inform you when a person joins a collaborative spreadsheet for the first time
- Preserve file format and full quality when adding HEIC photos taken on iPhone or iPad
- Press and hold the Command key to select noncontiguous words, sentences, or paragraphs
- Additional stability and performance improvements
Those who don't have the iWork apps installed already can download them all for free from the App Store and Mac App Store via Apple's developer page. Again, all of these apps are free which makes them a viable option for people who need to get things done but don't want to pay for a Microsoft subscription or buy Office outright.
