Each app listed here is free to download, but for maximum productivity, you’ll need a Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) subscription. Signing in with the credentials for an active subscription unlocks editing tools and grants access to the full allotment of cloud storage in OneDrive. All of the apps listed here are available for installation on iPhone and iPad. A few, like Remote Desktop Mobile, are barely usable on a small phone screen but work well on the more expansive iPad display. In addition, you can install Authenticator, Outlook, and OneNote on Apple Watch, where the ability to receive and respond to notifications is useful.
So what makes Microsoft Authenticator different? In addition to generating TOTP codes like any other authenticator, it also accepts push notifications and allows passwordless sign-in on sites that use a Microsoft account or Azure AD credentials. In those scenarios, you don’t need to type in a numeric code; you just approve a prompt sent to your mobile device (iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch), using your fingerprint, face, or PIN to verify your identity. Current versions of Microsoft Authenticator also work as a password manager, allowing you to fill in usernames and passwords on any iOS device and in the Edge browser on a desktop PC or Mac. You’ll need to use a Microsoft account (Azure AD isn’t supported), and you can import passwords directly from Google Chrome, Firefox, LastPass, Bitwarden, or Roboform. Outlook’s signature feature is its ability to automatically sort important incoming messages into the Focused inbox and send everything else to the Other tab. Those aren’t separate folders or labels, just a two-tabbed way to display the contents of your inbox. You can train the algorithm by manually classifying messages if they’re sorted incorrectly, and of course you have the option to turn off Focused inbox if you prefer your own sorting. OneDrive accounts connect neatly to Outlook, of course, but you can also add Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box accounts for quick access to files for sharing, and Outlook has dozens of third-party extensions available. Although the formats are identical to those found on their desktop equivalents, the mobile app offers a few unique new features. You can use the Lens button to snap a picture of a document and turn it into an editable PDF or Word file, for example, eliminating the need for the separate Microsoft Lens app, or transform a picture of a table on a printed page into a range in Excel. From the Actions tab, you can choose a PDF file and add your signature (using a finger or an Apple Pencil), and convert a PDF to a Word file or vice-versa. There’s also an option to transfer files between a PC and your mobile device that works surprisingly well as long as the files are under the 30 MB size limit. Office for iOS can connect to any cloud storage service that works directly with Office files, which includes Dropbox, Box, and Egnyte as well as a dozen or more smaller players. Google Drive is, alas, not supported. The iOS app include a handy widget that lets you add a new notebook page consisting of text, a list, or a photo. Use your iPhone camera to take a picture of a whiteboard and OneNote will clean up the image and recognize any text it finds, making handwritten notes searchable. You can also send emails directly to OneNote from Outlook on iPhone or iPad. Of course, everything in a notebook is synced to OneDrive, where it’s available on your other devices and for sharing with other people who are working on the same project. (And a bonus: The Sticky Notes tab in OneNote for iOS syncs with the Sticky Notes app on Windows 10, where each note works like a digital version of the venerable Post-It.) If you have both a personal OneDrive account and a OneDrive Business Plan account, you can manage them both in the same app, switching between the two using tabs in the app. A camera button lets you turn your camera into a mobile scanner to capture documents, whiteboard content, business cards. You can also snap photos and instantly upload them to a OneDrive folder for use in a project. The iPhone app includes an option to automatically upload all your photos to OneDrive as a Camera Roll backup in case your smartphone is lost or stolen. Key privacy features in Edge include tracking prevention and the integration of AdBlock Plus, both of which can be toggled on a per-site basis. Its ability to sync favorites, history, and other settings across platforms while respecting that privacy make Edge worth considering. For fearless souls that want to test preview releases, separate apps are available for Microsoft Edge Dev and Microsoft Edge Canary channels. What separates Teams from more conventional video conferencing services is its integration with Microsoft 365 online services. That makes it possible for members of your organization or class or even a private group to create automated workflows, talk face to face, chat, hold virtual meetings, share files, and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, and other projects in real time. You’ll also find a huge selection of add-ins for Teams, all of which work on your mobile device. There’s even a Zoom add-in, so you can stay in the Teams app while connecting to another group via Zoom. Microsoft To Do can hold its own in a feature battle with most alternatives, and if you’re looking to organize your post-pandemic life it’s probably a good choice. You can easily turn Outlook emails into tasks, create and share lists for work or home, and sync everything to the cloud for access in any device or in Outlook on your PC or Mac. And it has dark mode. Need I say more? And when those are the stakes, this thing works. At least as long as the device on the other end of the connection is running Windows Professional or Enterprise or Windows Server, with Remote Desktop connections enabled. It even does audio and video streaming. But let’s be clear: This app isn’t for casual connections to Windows PCs. It’s best suited for administrators who need to log on to a remote instance of Windows or Windows Server to perform some critical task. Most people are not going to use Remote Desktop Mobile to casually mirror your PC screen to your mobile device. But it’s nice to know you can. Think of Microsoft Lists as OneNote without all the annoying paragraphs. You can use lists to track issues like customer support requests, or assets in your business, or customers or inventory or … well, you get the idea. The real secret of Microsoft Lists is not creating personal lists but rather in sharing lists with a team, complete with enterprise-grade security and customizable views that can keep everyone on the same extremely orderly page.
