Microsoft has updated its Office suite for iPadOS by introducing trackpad support , an essential element to obtain a good user experience with the various productivity apps. The Redmond giant had promised the arrival of the function in the first half of the year, and now the apps are being distributed on the App Store for all compatible iPads.

Office for iPad now allows you to use the trackpad built into Apple’s Magic Keyboard to navigate text, photos and other elements in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The cursor is context sensitive, like other apps that took advantage of the Magic Keyboard before Office, so you can highlight text in Word, resize images and charts in PowerPoint, and select multiple cells in Excel – all with the same tool. The first implementation isn’t all that different from using a trackpad with Office on a PC or Mac.

The apps Word , Excel and PowerPoint for iPad are now being updated, writes Microsoft on the official website, supporting not only the Magic Keyboard trackpad , but any pointing system connected to the tablet: “When you move a finger on the Magic Keyboard’s built-in trackpad, the cursor changes to the tool you need depending on the content you are pointing to” , writes the company. “And using a mouse or trackpad with iPad for common tasks like highlighting a text passage in Word, selecting a range of cells in Excel, and moving and resizing graphics in PowerPoint is easier and more intuitive than ever.”

This is a very different method of use than what we are used to on tablets, more difficult and frustrating in the long run, and very similar to that of the Office suite on a notebook . In addition to trackpad support for iPadOS, the Office apps for Apple tablets introduce new launch screens and a new ribbon, to achieve a “cleaner and more modern user experience with the aim of helping people to find what they need more easily and focus on what to do. ” The news has already arrived a few weeks ago for the first users within a “gradual launch”, however the roll-out phase to the mass audience has just started and should finish in a couple of weeks .