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Google kills off word-processor app Quickoffice

Mobile editing app Quickoffice, which lets you open and edit Google Docs and Microsoft Office files, is no more.

Sarah Mitroff Managing Editor
Sarah Mitroff is a Managing Editor for CNET, overseeing our health, fitness and wellness section. Throughout her career, she's written about mobile tech, consumer tech, business and startups for Wired, MacWorld, PCWorld, and VentureBeat.
Expertise Tech, Health, Lifestyle
Sarah Mitroff

Quickoffice (Android)
CNET

Google quietly announced in a short blog post that it was killing Quickoffice , the word-processing app for Android and iOS. The app will no longer come preloaded on Android devices, and in the coming weeks it'll disappear from Google Play and the Apple App Store. If you already have the app installed, you can still use it, but just know that Google no longer supports it and won't push out any new updates.

The blog post doesn't say much about why Google made this choice, but the move isn't surprising. Earlier this year, Google introduced standalone apps for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, essentially moving all the editing features from Quickoffice to those apps. And, when those apps came out, Google also removed editing features from Google Drive, which was once a one-stop shop for storing, organizing, and editing your files.

Now that there are individual Docs , Sheets, and Slides apps available for both Android and iOS, Quickoffice has become obsolete in Google's eyes. But while those apps sport robust editing features, including full compatibility with Microsoft Office files, you'll need to download all three if you work with documents, spreadsheets, and presentations on your mobile device. Quickoffice could edit all of those files in one place.

Google acquired Quickoffice in 2012, and roughly one year later made it free for everyone. Now just two years later, it's met its demise. Will you miss Quickoffice, or do you welcome the individual Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps?