Office 365 for the iPad will feel a little more desktop-ish now Microsoft has tossed it trackpad, mouse support
- Reference: 1603801809
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/10/27/trackpad_support_office_365_ipad/
- Source link:
The update – which covers Word, PowerPoint, and Excel – is designed to help these apps more closely resemble their desktop counterparts when it comes to things like selecting text, resizing page elements, grouping spreadsheet cells, and so on.
The tweak fulfils a promise made by Microsoft earlier this year to add improved cursor support in its iPadOS Office apps, and will roll out to customers over the coming fortnight.
Apple proved somewhat reluctant in bringing mouse and trackpad compatibility to the iPad. It first appeared as an accessibility feature intended for those unable to use a standard touch interface, and was not positioned as something intended for routine day-to-day usage. That messaging changed earlier this year, with the launch of iPadOS 13.4, which added full mouse and trackpad support.
Apple later expanded upon this with [2]the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro – an excellent if arse-clenchingly expensive trackpad and keyboard combination for the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Third-party manufacturers have also had a go, notably Logitech, with its also-solid new Combo Touch case. We have one, and will be publishing a review in the coming weeks.
Hardware isn't the problem here. The biggest Achilles' heel when it comes to cursor support on iPadOS is the woeful lack of consistency among apps. This becomes apparent when doing basic tasks like copying and pasting.
Some apps allow you to select text with the cursor. Others require you to tap-and-drag the screen, like you would with an iPhone. It's exactly as infuriating as it sounds, and it feels like a massive oversight for a company that once took pride in its meticulous attention to detail.
The update to Office 365 shows that when it comes to resolving this, the onus is on individual developers, rather than Apple itself. While cursor support will become more widespread in the coming years as more people use their iPads as laptops, punters will have to suffer this inconstancy for a while longer. ®
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[1] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/office-apps-blog/new-office-updates-make-working-on-ipad-even-easier/ba-p/1818372
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/22/ipad_pro_magic_keyboard_review/
[3] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Madness
Why should a device not support different interfaces? I use a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard with my phone all the time, have done for years. I hate typing (and copy/pasting) on glass, and Android has the support baked in. Much easier for bashing out a text or whatever when I am at my desk. The Microsoft apps support it really nicely too on Android - all the common keyboard shortcuts work too.
Re: Madness
Sure, but the iPad Air 4 outperforms the 10900K on single thread workloads, and is about 37% of the speed of a 10900K on multicore. So it is definitely fast enough to do desktop-type tasks. Yes the screen is a bit on the small side, and external monitor support is not that great, but the idea of an iPad as a desktop/laptop replacement is not a completely crazy idea.
Re: Madness
I've found my iPad to be the perfect portable writing tool, so much easier to pop an iPad with keyboard case into my backpack than even the smallest laptop & PSU.
The Office 365 Apps on iPadOS are more than adequate for general writing tasks, but having to switch from keyboard to touchscreen is way more frustrating that keyboard to mouse.
Re: Madness
Android has supported mice for as long as I can remember.
I used to carry a mini one with a USB adapter in case I needed to RDP onto a server while out-and-about.
it feels like a massive oversight for a company that once took pride in its meticulous attention to detail
Perhaps they were trying not to break legacy apps.
Madness
Tablets are for different purposes to fully fledged laptops and desktops. Buy the device you need, don't try and force a different way of working on a completely different device that has a completely different user interface, its like trying to use a hammer to solve every problem.
I'm just wondering how long until we see a mouse and keyboard working off a mobile phone or someone trying to do the same on a train.
Actually, forget that, trains are a thing of the past for most.