Early this week, Apple released the long-awaited iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura updates. With them available, the company also updated the iWork suite – composed of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps – to bring new collaboration features. In addition, the Apple Support app also got an update to improve user experience.
Numbers, Pages, and Keynote bring an “all-new” activity view that shows recent changes in collaborative documents/spreadsheets/presentations, including when people join, comment, and make edits. In addition, users can get notifications when others join or make changes to their shared spreadsheets/documents/presentations.
With the new iWork suite, it’s now possible to share a document, spreadsheet, or presentation in Messages to instantly start collaborating with your team and see updates in the Messages conversation. Right from a collaborative document, users can start a FaceTime call.
A new option lets you automatically remove an image’s background to isolate its subject with iOS 16 or iPadOS 16. iWork users can also work across multiple documents/spreadsheets/presentations more easily with Stage Manager on supported iPad models.
Each iWork suite app also has some individual new features. Pages, for example, bring:
- The new Blank Layout template makes it easy to start documents that let you freely arrange text and graphics
- Quickly insert objects and get to your favorite tools with the customizable toolbar
- Find common actions like print, rename, and more in the new document menu
- Style charts with additional controls for colors, lines, and number form
Numbers, on their way, bring:
- Compare values and combine text with new functions, including BITAND, BITOR, BITXOR, BITLSHIFT, BITRSHIFT, ISOWEEKNUM, CONCAT, TEXTJOIN, and SWITCH
- See autocomplete suggestions based on the contents of other cells in the same column
- Style charts with additional controls for colors, lines, and number formats
- Be even more productive on iPad with iPadOS 16
- Quickly insert objects and get to your favorite tools with the customizable toolbar
- Find common actions like print, rename, and more in the new document menu
The other iWork app, Keynote, offers:
- Quickly insert objects and get to your favorite tools with the customizable toolbar
- Find common actions like print, rename, and more in the new document menu
- Remove or replace the background of the live video for a dramatic effect
- Style charts with additional controls for colors, lines, and number formats
- Additional options for printing and exporting PDFs
The Apple Support app was also updated to version 4.8 with the following improvements:
- It’s easier than ever to access support tools and get help with all of your Apple products
- Booking a reservation has a fresh look and feel, including enhanced sorting and filtering capabilities
- Performance enhancements and bug fixes
These are the new features available with the iWork suite and Apple Support apps.
More Apple coverage: iOS 16.2: All the best new features coming to your iPhone