Dropbox Adds Microsoft Office Support to its Android, iOS Apps

Following a frenzy of Dropbox-related activities in Microsoft's Office apps for mobile devices, Dropbox this week returned the favor, adding support for Office to its Android and iOS apps. Now, users can edit Office documents directly from the Dropbox apps on those platforms.

Microsoft and Dropbox announced their partnership in early November and at that time each company promised to integrate Office and Dropbox in their respective products. Microsoft has spent much of the past month adding Dropbox support to Office for iPhone, iPad and Android (preview), and will add this support in Windows and Windows Phone sometime in 2015. But with this week's Dropbox update, Dropbox has come through on its promise to let users edit Office files directly from Dropbox and then sync those documents and changes across devices.

Here's how it works: When you open an Office document in the Dropbox app, you'll see a new Edit button that can be used to open the appropriate Office app (Word, Excel or PowerPoint).

If you don't already have that app installed, you'll be prompted to install it. Otherwise, the app will open so you can edit the file.

When you're done editing, tap the Back button to save the file to Dropbox. Then you'll be back in the Dropbox app and the preview of the document will be updated to reflect the changes.