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Apple updates iWork apps with new links and teachers' tools

Apple's three iWork apps have been updated on both iOS and macOS

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Apple's Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps have been updated on both iOS and macOS, now offering the ability to link document elements to web addresses, plus improved student progress viewing for teachers.

Apple's word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation apps have all been updated across both iOS and macOS. Each of the three brings improvements for teachers, while Pages and Numbers also add new linking features.

"Link to web pages, email addresses and phone numbers from objects such as shapes, lines, images, drawings or text boxes," says Apple's updated App Store entries for both Pages and Numbers.

Previously both apps would allow users to select text, or numbers, and turn them into clickable or tappable links for websites, and email addresses. Now the same feature is available when clicking on image elements, such as a chart in Numbers.

Numbers also adds support "for collaborating on forms in shared spreadsheets."

All three apps can be used in schools and they each now feature an improved ability for a teacher to monitor progress.

"Teachers using the Schoolwork app to assign activities in Numbers can now view student progress, including word count and time spent," says the App Store entry for Numbers. It's the same for Pages, whileKeynote refers instead to the identical new function in Apple's Classwork work app.

The new iWork apps for macOS and iOS are available now in the Mac App Store and iOS App Store.

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3 Comments

StrangeDays 8 Years · 12986 comments

I remember when people were so mad when Apple phased out the old versions for the new architecture that has feature parity across iOS/macOS/web, but it seems like they keep improving them.

Rayz2016 8 Years · 6957 comments

I remember when people were so mad when Apple phased out the old versions for the new architecture that has feature parity across iOS/macOS/web, but it seems like they keep improving them.

Yes, it was crap for about eighteen months, but now I prefer it Office, which still looks like a warmed over Windows port to me, even though it’s a native app apparently. 

MplsP 8 Years · 4047 comments

Rayz2016 said:
I remember when people were so mad when Apple phased out the old versions for the new architecture that has feature parity across iOS/macOS/web, but it seems like they keep improving them.
Yes, it was crap for about eighteen months, but now I prefer it Office, which still looks like a warmed over Windows port to me, even though it’s a native app apparently. 

In general I prefer Apple's apps, but they are still lacking a bit in features compared to Office, and more importantly, working with MS Office documents often doesn't go well. If  they would have better docx compatibility it would be awesome.