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No, no, no. Microsoft is not going to launch a mobile device powered by iOS or Android. You bet! Over the past few months/years Microsoft has released a bunch of apps for the iOS platform (and Android too). And they’re not stopping there as they continue launching new apps.
Microsoft’s commitment to the iOS platform is very much evident from their recent acquisitions. Last December they acquired one of the most popular email app for iOS — Acompli. And in less than two months they rebranded it as Outlook for iOS.
Read: Over 25 Email Apps (Free & Premium) For Your iPhone And iPad
It was just a beginning. Later they acquired my favorite productivity app for iOS — the Sunrise Calendar (Hey, it’s not just a calendar but much more than that.). And then a few weeks back they acquired Wunderlist — again one of the most popular to-do list app.
It’s clearly visible that Microsoft want to become the best mobile productivity apps maker. I have recently noticed that a good percentage of apps I personally use on my phone is now made by Microsoft.
Microsoft Inside
So here’s a list of Microsoft apps on the iOS platform — and Android too — for (almost) anyone and everyone. I haven’t included each and every app made by Microsoft. For instance, they have made a lot of business apps and games but I haven’t listed any of them as I wanted to focus on apps that are for everyone (and many of them are my personal favorites too).
Also, most of the apps that I’ve mentioned here are also available on the Android platform as well. So I’ve linked to it wherever it’s applicable.
1. Outlook
Outlook for iOS is designed exclusively for the iOS (iPhone and iPad) platform. Your hunt for the best email app on iOS should end when you try it. Outlook lets you add all your web accounts (Google, Microsoft, Microsoft Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo, etc.) and offers a unified view of email, calendar, contacts, and email attachments. The best thing? You can add files from your cloud storage services (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.) in few clicks.
2. Sunrise Calendar
Sunrise Calendar is the best (free) calendar app for iOS (iPhone and iPad). Period. It works with a ton of services like Office 365, Outlook.com, Google, iCloud, Todoist, Trello, Basecamp, Asana, etc. and can also connect with social accounts like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, etc.
3. Wunderlist
Wunderlist is now my most preferred task manager app. Sorry Todoist! Although I have tried Wunderlist before it did not become a favorite as I loved Todoist. But recently I gave Wunderlist another try after Microsoft acquired it. And then to my amazement I realized that it’s got 10x more user base than Todoist and offers a lot more features (that are premium at Todoist).
For instance, you need a premium Todoist account to activate notifications and labels feature (or tagging). But it’s free with Wunderlist and actually you don’t need a premium Wunderlist account to enjoy most of its features. However, you need a premium Todoist account to enjoy even basic functions like reminders or labels.
4. OneNote
OneNote was my favorite note-taker until I tried Evernote. OneNote is still awesome and so powerful but the problem is it’s not simple. I would say it’s for hardcore users (or business users) who require a lot of premium features like handwriting and collaboration features (Evernote has those features too but not so advanced like OneNote).
Read: What Is Evernote, Anyway? 51+ Tips To Make You An Evernote Ninja
5. OneDrive
OneDrive was my primary cloud storage service but I recently migrated to Dropbox. I’m now using OneDrive as an archive as it’s got 1 TB free space (thanks to Office 365). OneDrive — like Dropbox — is also a cross-platform service as it’s available on all platforms and it works best when your primary computer is Windows.
Read: OneDrive vs. Dropbox vs. Google Drive vs. Amazon Cloud Drive vs. Others
6. Xim
Microsoft Xim is a photo sharing app that lets you ‘Xim’ your photos to your friends’ devices — even if they they don’t have the Xim app installed on their phone. You can even invite your friends and share photos with them — and only one person needs to install the Xim app to share it with everyone.
7. Office Suite
Office suite is a collection of office productivity apps for iOS. It consists of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Sway, and several other business apps like Lync. It’s truly magical on an iPad and is good on iPhone too. The best thing is… it’s free for basic usage but you need an Office 365 subscription to enjoy all its features and to get that full Office experience.
- Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Android
- Download: iTunes (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Sway) | Android (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
8. Office Lens
Office Lens is a scanner app that you can use to digitize documents or whiteboards. It can even convert the scanned images into Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or PDF documents. You can even save all your scanned documents on OneDrive, OneNote, or another cloud storage service.
9. Microsoft Remote Desktop
Microsoft Remote Desktop is one of my favorite remote desktop apps. It’s so fast and is probably the best way to access your Windows computers from a remote location. However, I had to switch to Chrome Remote Desktop as Microsoft Remote Desktop is meant for Windows PCs only. You can’t access your Mac on your Windows PC by using this app.
With Chrome Remote Desktop app, you can access all your computers (Windows and Mac) from any of your mobile devices (or another computer). Again, when you access your computer via Microsoft Remote Desktop app it locks the screen but with Chrome app you can work on both devices simultaneously (if you want).
10. Skype
Skype is my preferred messaging app though it’s not the best one — that is, if I compare Skype with its peers like WhatsApp, Google Hangout, Viber, etc. Skype is available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch too.
And if you’re a Skype addict who loves mobile messaging then you might also like the new Skype Qik (a video messaging app for mobile devices).
- Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Apple Watch, Android
- Download: iTunes (for iPhone) | iTunes (for iPad) | Android
11. Bing Search
Bing needs no introduction. Bing Search is the official Bing app by Microsoft for iOS devices and it lets you search things by typing, speaking, or even by using your phone camera. Of course, you can earn free rewards as well. Bing Rewards is not available in all locations. Anyways, I’m not using this app as my preferred search engine was (and still is) Google!
- Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Android
- Download: iTunes (for iPhone) | iTunes (for iPad) | Android
12. Xbox Music
Xbox Music lets you play songs on your OneDrive (oh yes, you can play it offline as well if you want) in your iPhone. Let’s say, you are an Office 365 user and you got over 1 TB cloud storage space. Then it makes perfect sense to store your entire music library online and play it using Xbox Music.
- Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch)
- Download: iTunes
13. MSN Suite
MSN suite is a collection of MSN apps that are basically individual apps for — News, Money, Sports, Food & Drink, Travel, Weather, and Health & Fitness. I’m not sure whether they would pull Food & Drink, Health & Fitness and Travel apps from the AppStore as they’ve discontinued it this month.
- Platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod touch & iPad), Android
- Download: iTunes (News, Money, Sports, Food & Drink, Health & Fitness) | Android
Conclusion
You might be wondering about why I wrote this blog post. Actually, it’s the quality of these apps that made me write this. In fact, most of the above listed apps works better on an iPhone or an iPad than it does on Android or Microsoft’s Windows Phone itself.
The only thing I actually like about a Windows Phone is its UI (especially the start screen). Other than that it’s got plenty of flaws! I really hope things will change with Windows 10.
Happy App Hunting! :)
P.S. No, Microsoft didn’t pay me for glorifying their iOS app ecosystem. :D
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