Microsoft consolidates multiple services into its new Office for Android app

Microsoft has made its latest app for Android available. It allows the user to create Word, PowerPoint and Excel files from 1 interface, whereas these programs have heretofore had their own apps. The Redmond company claims that the new download can "harness the unique strengths of a phone", which includes the ability to turn captured images of a hard-copy document or table into an editable electronic version through optical character recognition.

This new Office for Android app also supports OneDrive browsing, which seems odd as this could compete with Google's Drive service. Similarly, it also has options to sign PDFs, as well as convert scans or images to this format, which is a surprising thing for Adobe to ostensibly let it away with.

Finally, it can also sync with the OneNote app on PCs. Therefore, this app sounds like a boon to those who like to be productive with their tablets. However, Android Police has reported that the new software is not well proportioned on screens of this size category. This is an interesting decision on Microsoft's part, also it does make sense that it would prefer consumers use Office on its own Surface 2-in-1s instead.