Microsoft Office for iOS, Android might not come till October 2014

Microsoft Office for Android and iOS has been a mouth-watering thought ever since references to it were made late last year, but we may not get to see the apps arrive any time soon. In fact, Microsoft could release the apps as late as October 2014.

The folks at ZDNet have got their hands on what is allegedly a leaked roadmap of the “Gemini” wave of Microsoft Office updates. It shows that the productivity suite could hit Android and iOS as late as October 2014, and pretty much dashes any hopes of the suite being released sometime this year.

The updates mentioned in the roadmaps are supposed to hit markets in “waves”. In all, there are going to be three waves in the Gemini project. Gemini Wave 1.0 is expected to be released as early as this October. The first wave will be dealing with the Windows Blue updates for the Office Suite.

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Android, iOS version delayed?

This update will bring more touch-centric features to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and One Note. These apps will also work on Windows 8 and Windows RT. The point of this first wave of Gemini updates will be to supplement the existing desktop versions of these apps.

Wave 1.5 of the Gemini update is planned to be released six months after the first wave, in April 2014. This one is supposed to bring along the next version of Mac Office and an update for the Windows Phone version of Office. It will also add support for Perspective Pixel large-screen and multi-touch systems. Interestingly, “Office RT” is one of the projected milestones for April 2014.

Finally, the Office for iOS and Android release has been shown to be slated for October 2014. Outlook RT too is slated for a Fall 2014 roll out. The Office for iOS suite could well be home to the rumoured Office for iPad app that has been spoken about for quite a while now.

Microsoft Office for iOS and Android was originally rumoured to arrive in early 2013, but that has not happened. The Office versions for both operating systems were said to be free of cost, and would enable users to view Office documents on the go. Of course, Office Mobile would need you to have a Microsoft account.

The report also stated that while you could have basic viewing access with the mobile version of Office, but could access editing functions only if you had subscription to Office 365.

Back in December last year, references to Office for iOS came up on certain support sites. The names “Office Mobile for iPhone”, “Excel for iPad”, “Lync for iPhone” and “PowerPoint for iPad” had all featured on French and Romanian Office support pages.

However, all is not bad news. The roadmap also states that Microsoft is taking the cyclical update format pretty seriously, which means updates for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 could be on the horizon soon enough.