iWork apps for iCloud, iOS and Mac updated with new features and fixes

Apple on Tuesday updated its iWork apps for iCloud, iOS and Mac. The update has come within a week of Microsoft's release of the Office productivity suite for iPad.

Apple has updated three iWork apps - Pages, Numbers, and Keynote - for iCloud with some enhancements. These updated paid apps are now also available for download on iTunes App Store and Mac App Store.

The updated Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps now have improved Retina display support, and bring updated designs for the document, spreadsheet and presentation editors. It has also added the new sharing option that allows users to share documents in a view-only state. Previously, as 9to5Mac notes, anyone could edit documents shared via iCloud. Users can now directly open a document via iCloud Mail.

The Pages app has new templates and better text wrapping ability, and both Pages and Keynote app can now edit charts within imported files. The Numbers app now has improved pop-up menus like printing options, custom data formats, and custom table styles.

With the update, all three apps (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) on the Mac are expected to do a better job of exporting to Office's XML formats. The iCloud versions of the apps can now open password-protected documents, spreadsheets and presentations from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Additionally, these iWork apps for the Mac and iOS will preserve custom number formats in charts imported from Office docs.

The move will help the Cupertino-based company to compete with Microsoft's Excel, PowerPoint, and Word apps for iPad. Microsoft had released the Office for iPad suite to users on Thursday. Although the Office for iPad is free for viewing Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on the iPad, it requires a subscription to Microsoft's Office 365 to create and edit documents on the device.

The Office 365 subscriptions cost $70 or $100 annually, and users can also get it for a lower price with more restrictions on the number and types of devices that can be used