Microsoft Wants Users To Use Office Web, As It Ends Android App Support
Chromebooks have earned their respect for being budget-friendly machines suitable for office and school users. But what good is its office usage if it cannot run Office apps? Microsoft is ending support for its Android Office app on Chromebooks in September.
Microsoft plans to shift its existing users running Android Office apps on Chromebooks to the web version of Office. However, web apps obviously cannot offer the functionality that apps do. This means that Chromebook users will no longer be able to download Office apps from the Play Store.
Transition to Office Web
Microsoft has already started sending out notifications regarding the end of support for Office Android for select users. To clarify, the tech giant is asking users to shift to the Office website for the “best, up-to-date experience.”
The company confirmed to About Chromebooks that it plans to fully end support for Android apps starting on September 18, 2021.
“In an effort to provide the most optimized experience for Chrome OS/Chromebook customers, Microsoft apps (Office and Outlook) will be transitioned to web experiences (Office.com and Outlook.com) on September 18, 2021. This transition will give Chrome OS/Chromebook customers access to additional and premium features. Customers will need to sign in with their personal Microsoft Account or the account associated with their Microsoft 365 subscription. More information is available here.”
However, this doesn’t mean that the Office for Android is going away for everyone – it’s just going away for Chrome OS users. Likewise, Android apps on Chromebooks have been one of their key features.
Further, Chromebooks reported that the Office web isn’t at all the same as the apps. One of the key functionalities of Office – being able to use it without the internet doesn’t exist. In the same vein, the web version isn’t competent.
The inability to use Office without the internet will make most Chromebook users suffer that they tend not to have an internet connection all the time. However, we expect to see offline functionality back sometime soon.
