Google Inc (GOOGL) Updates Docs To Compete With Microsoft Office 365

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) is the creator of most of the popular Android apps and recently it has been found in a survey by comScore that five of Google apps are among the ten most popular apps in the U.S. This is because of the fact that the apps are regularly updated by the company for better performance and facilitate many tasks for users. On Monday, the company made substantial updates to its Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps for the iPhone and iPad. It is said that the updated version has the potential to replace Microsoft’s Office 365 subscription service.

Updated apps with better features

Microsoft’s PowerPoint app for creating slides has been answered by Google in the form of an app called Google Slides. This app has been updated and on the iOS run devices it is accessible as a separate app. Prior to this, the iOS device users could access it only through the Google Drive, which is an online storage tool from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG).

The other two applications from Microsoft namely Word and Excel have competitors from Google Docs and Sheets. They already existed as separate apps on the iOS platform. With this update it has become possible for the iOS users to open, create and edit native Microsoft Office files through Google Docs or sheets, which was not possible earlier.

Google had announced these updates in the month of June and had executed these for the Android first as they account for 85% of the devices. These updated apps can be used on all the devices running on any of the two platforms be it iOS or Android, and the tasks can be performed both online and offline.

Can Google apps substitute Office 365?

Microsoft Office 365 is a service that requires users to pay for the subscription. This poses a serious threat as the Google Apps are equipped with similar features and functionalities that are used most frequently and for free. While the Google Apps are not of the superior quality offered by Microsoft, they do serve the basic purpose well.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) has informed that the users who have subscribed to the Microsoft Office licenses barely use it. The usage is as less as few minutes a day and it also happens that most employees do not use them at all in a day. This means that though Microsoft Office 365 has a host of functionalities to offer but full functionalities are not needed by users. Hence, the Google Apps will act as a good substitute as not much difference will be noticed by the users.