Like the other Office for iPad application, PowerPoint needs you to have an Office 365 subscription either Office 365 Home Premium for $9.99 per month, the upcoming Office 365 Personal for $6.99 per month or one of numerous business options.
You can employ any cloud storage service for your documents as long as it’s OneDrive, a SharePoint folder or OneDrive for Business.
PowerPoint can understand .ppt files but prompts you to hit a link which converts them to the newer .pptx format before they can be edited. All the PowerPoint files are imported from my Mac opened without an event.
Microsoft refuse to comment specifically on if or when some of these missing feature would be added, but did not point out that the company has made relatively a few updates to Office 365 in the previous year and noted that it is listening to customers’ feedback.
Pros
- Strong support for transitions, tables, graphics
- Marking pen and laser pointer tools for use when presenting
- Broad variety of templates and themes
- Fast performance with large presentations
Cons
- No animations or transitions of entity objects
- Cannot modify themes of existing presentations
- Cannot crop photos or import videos keen on presentations
Bottom Line
- Important remains the leading presentation app for the iPad but PowerPoint isn’t far behind
- You almost certainly won’t buy an Office 365 subscription just to get it but if you purchase a subscription to use Word or Excel, PowerPoint.