Microsoft courts iOS users with Office Sway

Office Sway (free) is a personal or business presentation app for iOS that lets you easily create simple web-based canvases of photos and text on your iPhone and share them on any mobile device or the web.

This just-released app is yet another in an increasing large collection that Microsoft is offering on iOS, after years of neglect while the company pushed users to its own OS and mobile devices.

The app is clever, but not deep with features. You can combine headers, text, photos, and captions to make a simple but attractive presentation while you are on the go. The content automatically resizes to fit the display device. Captions can also be dictated, which is a clever idea for those on the go.

Editing is easy, with just a tap or a drag to change text or move images. When you are done, send your creation via email or Messages, and you can also post to various social networks. The recipient gets a link to click on. If you make changes in your presentation, the changes are synced on the web and all your devices.



I thought the app worked well, but Microsoft made some bewildering choices. The app only works in portrait mode, and it's not universal, which seems odd since the iPad would be a great platform for this app. Maybe later.

I did have one problem, and it's not a small one. The app gives you the ability to forward your presentations to others. I did some test emails with two different accounts and nothing ever showed up in my inbox. Microsoft server problems?

Don't think of this as an Apple Keynote or Microsoft Powerpoint substitute. It's quick and easy, but there are no animations, no transitions, and no fancy effects. Still, the output looks good, and the app makes some nice stylistic choices and gives you a bit of latitude how things are formatted.

Office Sway was in beta for quite some time, and had only a limited iOS release last October, but now it's in the App Store and everyone can give it a try. I expect the app will gain some features, and hopefully go iPad native. It's nice to see Microsoft cozying up to iOS users. It's partly driven by the lack of sales of Windows mobile devices, and the company is figuring out that Android and iOS are where they need to be.

Office Sway is not available everywhere, and so far it seems limited to English-speaking countries. Office Sway requires iOS 8 and it's optimized for the latest Apple iPhones. It requires a free Microsoft login so your content can sync. It does not requires an Office 365 subscription.

I would say Office Sway is a good start at an app that will surely become more interesting and full-featured.