Microsoft’s “Freemium” Apps for iOS and Android Devices

The leading software company has made its Word, Powerpoint and Excel apps for mobile more user-friendly. But the most important announcement is that iPhone, iPad and Android users can now take advantage of the Microsoft Office content for free.

Microsoft has now clutched the concept of "freemium" which gives away basic apps and games to consumers for free. Unlike before, where in you have to pay a minimum of $6.99 a month for an Office 365 subscription. Such marketing shift appears to be the company's strategy to broaden its market scope, CNET reports.

Amanda Lefebvre, Office product manager for Microsoft, said in an interview that they want more people to use their applications. Usage is the company's main goal and they want to give consumers more reasons to use their products, she adds.

According to IDC, the Office suite software ruling the PC world is a known fact. However, Microsoft has a hard time in enticing customers to shift to its Windows Phone operating system on mobile devices. The researching company also adds that Apple's iOS and Google's Android OS control almost all the smartphones and tablets in the market, leaving only 2.5 percent control over such devices for Microsoft.

Starting this week, you no longer need an Office 365 subscription if you need to edit documents or store them in the cloud. This is the result of Microsoft's partnership with Dropbox which integrates the cloud storage service into MS Office used in desktops, mobile and the web. You can now download Office for iPad and have all your documents saved on Dropbox without the extra cost. Microsoft will also release a new iPhone app along with the preview of Office for tablets running on Android which are all integrated with Dropbox, according to The Verge.

On the other hand, the company did not leave everything for free. Microsoft isn't extending the service to businesses. An Office 365 subscription is needed to edit documents that are stored on OneDrive for Business or Dropbox for Business. Obviously, the software giant is keeping its business running from earning money from the thousands and thousands of businesses and commercial institutions that depend on the Office suite and the cloud platform.

In addition, Microsoft's "freemium" apps are the basic apps that you normally use. But if you prefer to get more editing tools in Word or have the Presenter View when you use Powerpoint then you can use the premium versions of the Office apps by paying extra to enjoy the additional features.

After unveiling the new Office apps for iOS this week, apps for Android tabs can be previewed by customers if they choose to sign up this week. However, the new software for Android tablets won't be available until early 2015.