Apple adds collaborative features to iWork to match Office Online, Google Apps

As you surely can't have failed to notice if you own a Mac, yesterday we waved goodbye to OS X as macOS Sierra was officially unleashed, and alongside the new operating system, Apple has also refreshed its iWork apps for the desktop.

You'll need to be running Sierra for the new versions of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers for the Mac (versions 6.0, 7.0, and 4.0 respectively), and the apps have seen the introduction of a major new feature – namely real-time collaboration as seen in the likes of Google Docs and Microsoft's Office Online.

In other words, you can share documents with other users, and all edit the same file simultaneously (whether they're using a Mac or iOS device – this capability is already on the mobile apps), being able to see changes as they're made. However, note that Apple still labels this feature as a 'beta', so it's still being honed and you may encounter glitches as a result.

But nonetheless, it's a powerful and useful addition to the Mac productivity suite, particularly for businesses with staff scattered around diverse locations.

Keeping tabs on things

A number of other features have also been tacked on, and both Pages and Keynote now have tabs that allow you to work with multiple documents (or presentations) in one window (browser-style).

It's also now possible to open Pages '05 or Keynote '05 files, and edit them, in these new applications. And all three apps now have wide colour gamut image support.

As ever, you'll find these refreshed versions on the Mac App Store. If you've not upgraded to macOS Sierra yet, then check out our guide on how to download the operating system.

Via: 9 to 5 Mac

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