Indeed, it makes sense that Microsoft offers separate mobile apps for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Plus, they have an easy-to-remember name: Microsoft Office.

Currently available for iOS and Android, Office does more than just reduce the number of apps on the home screen and avoid folders; it also supports Box.com, Dropbox, Google Drive, and even iCloud. Tablet-optimized versions will soon be available for iPadOS and Android tablets.

The Microsoft Office home screen looks a lot like the Google Drive home screen I see when looking for the various documents and spreadsheets I rely on for my work. The left tab shows a list of files that are already there, and the ... button to share, pin, and make other file management tweaks.

The big guns come into play when you tap the "Actions" tab on the right, which shows tools such as "Image To Text," which is supposed to extract text. While writing this article, I did a quick test in my office and was not sure if I would succeed:

"It makes sense that Microsoft would provide a separate mobilb app$ for Wqrdq -owerPoint, buf ''No, all three apps are currently folded=Æallyeasynameto remember: microsoft office'' [This requires editing the text, but hopefully it will get smarter over time.

Other features that are available right out of the box revolve around PDF editing, although you are not paying for Microsoft Office products. These tricks are similar to Apple's Notes app, including Sign a PDF, Scan to PDF, and Document to PDF.

There is also "Scan a QR Code," which Apple's Camera app already does. Not all Android phones offer this trick, but Google Lens does.

For people who love Office and already use Office for most tasks, this all makes sense. However, I doubt this will bring back many people like me (who moved to Google's GSuite).

Oh, and don't think Microsoft will release an Office app and forget about it. Microsoft told me via email that there will be a voice to text Word Dictation translator with a button for easy punctuation (have you ever said "comma" hoping Siri would understand? (This looks much better).

Office will also include a version of Excel that actually looks and feels right on the phone's screen. It's called the Excel Cards View user interface, which Microsoft is thankfully going to adopt because the spreadsheet interface we're used to was designed for larger monitors.

Finally, Microsoft's new trick for PowerPoint may turn the note-taker into a presentation wizard; dubbed "PowerPoint Designer," this feature turns an outline list into a good-looking slide It will turn your outline list into a great-looking slide.