Apple today updated its line of iWork apps for iOS and macOS, bringing new features to Pages, Keynote, and Numbers on both iOS devices and Macs.

All of the apps have a new feature designed to let you style text by filling it with gradients or images, or by applying new outline styles. Images, shapes, and equations can be placed inline in text boxes so they move with text, and using face detection features, subjects in photos are intelligently positioned in placeholders and objects.

iworkiosapp
In Pages, Apple added new templates for novels, and the option to reapply text to a master page so text and placeholders return to their default style and position. Release notes for Pages are below:

iOS Version:

- Style your text by filling it with gradients or images, or by applying new outline styles.
- Customize lists by choosing from new bullet types, changing the size and color of bullets, creating custom bullets, adjusting indentation levels, and more.
- Choose Learn Spelling to add a word to the spelling dictionary.
- Create links from text to other pages in a page layout document.
- Copy and paste pages or sections between documents.
- Use new chart editing capabilities to change the style of individual series, adjust spacing between columns, add trendlines, and more.
- Adjust the appearance of cell borders in tables.
- Place images, shapes, and equations inline in text boxes so they move with text.
- Choose whether Apple Pencil is used to start drawing or to select and scroll -- or toggle between these options via double-tap using a supported Apple Pencil.
- Using face detection, subjects in photos are intelligently positioned in placeholders and objects.
- Reapply a master page so text and media placeholders return to their default style and position.
- Create books using new templates for novels (available in English only).

macOS Version:

- Style your text by filling it with gradients or images, or by applying new outline styles.
- Create links from text to other pages in a page layout document.
- Copy and paste pages or sections between documents.
- Place images, shapes, and equations inline in text boxes so they move with text.
- Using face detection, subjects in photos are intelligently positioned in placeholders and objects.
- Reapply a master page so text and media placeholders return to their default style and position.
- Create books using new templates for novels (available in English only).

Keynote for iOS and macOS has a new feature for editing master slides while collaborating on a presentation, while Keynote for iOS specifically has options like customizing lists with new bullet types, selecting what the Apple Pencil can do, and more. Release notes for Keynote are below:

iOS Version:

- Edit master slides while collaborating on a presentation.
- Place images, shapes, and equations inline in text boxes so they move with text.
- Style your text by filling it with gradients or images, or by applying new outline styles.
- Use new chart editing capabilities to change the style of individual series, adjust spacing between columns, add trendlines, and more.
- Using face detection, subjects in photos are intelligently positioned in placeholders and objects.
- Adjust the appearance of cell borders in tables.
- Choose whether Apple Pencil is used to start drawing or to select and scroll -- or toggle between these options via double-tap using a supported Apple Pencil.
- Customize lists by choosing from new bullet types, changing the size and color of bullets, creating custom bullets, adjusting indentation levels, and more.
- Choose Learn Spelling to add a word to the spelling dictionary.

macOS Version:

- Edit master slides while collaborating on a presentation.
- Style your text by filling it with gradients or images, or by applying new outline styles.
- Place images, shapes, and equations inline in text boxes so they move with text.
- Using face detection, subjects in photos are intelligently positioned in placeholders and objects.

Numbers for Mac and iOS offers improved performance while editing and sorting tables and the option to add rows to filtered tables. For iOS, there are ‌Apple Pencil‌ options and customizable lists. Release notes for Numbers are below:

iOS Version:

- Greatly improved accuracy using the enhanced 128-bit calculation engine.
- Style your text by filling it with gradients or images, or by applying new outline styles.
- Create links from text to other sheets in a spreadsheet.
- Add rows to filtered tables.
- Use new chart editing capabilities to change the style of individual series, adjust spacing between columns, add trendlines, and more.
- Adjust the appearance of cell borders in tables.
- Place images, shapes, and equations inline in text boxes so they move with text.
- Using face detection, subjects in photos are intelligently positioned in placeholders and objects.
- Choose whether Apple Pencil is used to start drawing or to select and scroll -- or toggle between these options via double-tap using a supported Apple Pencil.
- Customize lists by choosing from new bullet types, changing the size and color of bullets, creating custom bullets, adjusting indentation levels, and more.
- Choose Learn Spelling to add a word to the spelling dictionary.

macOS Version:

- Greatly improved accuracy using the enhanced 128-bit calculation engine.
- Style your text by filling it with gradients or images, or by applying new outline styles.
- Create links from text to other sheets in a spreadsheet.
- Place images, shapes, and equations inline in text boxes so they move with text.
- Using face detection, subjects in photos are intelligently positioned in placeholders and objects.
- Improved performance while editing and sorting tables.
- Add rows to filtered tables.

All of the new updates are available from the iOS App Store and macOS ‌App Store‌ as of this morning.

Apple's iWork apps are free downloads for everyone.

Top Rated Comments

sracer Avatar
76 months ago
I totally agree. Everyone I know uses MS Office. I really wonder who the end users are for these products. They are really good but what is the user base?
Everyone I know uses MS Office... and I use it too, but when I have a choice, i use the iWork suite. Pages allows me to easily create documents with medium to advanced layouts and formatting without getting in the way so that I can spend my time on the content of the document, not how it looks.

The greatest hurdle I've seen for people to warming up to iWork is that they take an "MS Office mindset" to these apps. One needs to "think different" about how to accomplish the final results. Once over that hurdle, there are many situations where iWork can be used more efficiently and effectively than MS Office.

Apple has done a stellar job in attempting feature parity between the web/macOS/iOS versions. So much so, that I can start work on a document on my iMac, continue on my iPad, and finish it up on my Pixelbook.

Here's the web version of Pages running on my Pixelbook (chromebook).
(click to expand)


Attachment Image
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
easteraries Avatar
76 months ago
Indeed. I don't think PC can use .pages (or .keynote) files, except perhaps if they login to icloud.com
That's unfortunate because I find iWork substantially superior in terms of UI, features, stability. They've done a wonderful job here and they keep upgrading them with new features.
I have the incredible good fortune to work in an all-Apple company. We use all the internally and are soooo much happier for it.

And we credit Keynote for a big portion of the wow factor our client get from our presentations. Not to mention that we do essentially all our page-layout in Pages, and our collateral looks so much better for it.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
techpr Avatar
76 months ago
Nice that they keep updating these at regular intervals.

But I never have come across people who actually use these. At work, my shopping life , my friends and family always either use Office or Google Docs.

I never get pages or number files
I use them almost everyday. Pages and Keynote specially. Keynote is far superior to PowerPoint.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
atoqir Avatar
76 months ago
Nice that they keep updating these at regular intervals.

But I never have come across people who actually use these. At work, my shopping life , my friends and family always either use Office or Google Docs.

I never get pages or number files
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4487549 Avatar
76 months ago
Mac Users: we use pivot tables on Excel and Sheets

Apple: announcing face detection!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AllergyDoc Avatar
76 months ago
I use all three: Pages almost daily, Numbers when I have sales, and Keynote for educational seminars. I work alone, though, very little collaboration.

I ended up deleting the all then redownloading them to get the new versions.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Apple 2025 Thumb 1

10 Products Still Coming From Apple in 2025

Friday April 11, 2025 4:14 pm PDT by
Apple may have updated several iPads and Macs late last year and early this year, but there are still multiple new devices that we're looking forward to seeing in 2025. Most will come in September or October, but there could be a few surprises before then. We've rounded up a list of everything that we're still waiting to see from Apple in 2025. iPhone 17, 17 Air, and 17 Pro - We get...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.4.1 With Bug Fixes

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There have been complaints about ...
iPhone 6s MacRumors YouTube

Apple Says These Products Are Now Vintage

Tuesday April 15, 2025 9:53 am PDT by
Apple today updated its vintage products list to add the 2018 Mac mini and the iPhone 6s, devices that will get more limited service and repairs now that they are considered vintage. The iPhone 6s initially launched in 2015, but Apple kept it around as a low-cost device until 2018, which is why it is only now being added to the vintage list. The iPhone 6s had Apple's A9 chip, and it was...