Apple today updated the iWork suite, which includes Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, with a handful of new features that should be a boon to the remote work community, among others. 

Primarily, one of the big new introductions is the ability to have a live camera view of the Keynote presenter appear in the top corner of the screen, similar to how you see yourself when on a FaceTime or Zoom call. This aims to help engagement when remotely making a presentation with a group of folks who before would only see the pre-made slides and sound of your voice. 

Apple says you can “restyle” your video frame with a variable of customisable features, but how useful that’ll be remains to be determined. At any rate, the ability to add a live video feed should be excellent for the academic community. 

As for Pages, Apple says the app is getting a more optimised iOS experience, which includes naturally enlarging text and imagery to make viewing documents on the go more seamless than ever. 

In Numbers, Apple touts two new significant features,  pivot tables and radar charts, which for the former, the company describes as something “users can quickly summarise, group, and rearrange data to identify and analyse patterns and trends” - explaining that “the resulting pivot table appears in a clear layout that makes it easy for the user to read and gain insights”. 

Apple updates iWork suite with a slew of new features with an emphasis on remote work photo 2
Apple

Regarding radar charts, Apple describes them as “a new chart type that makes it easy to visually compare multiple variables with similarities shown as overlapping areas, allowing differences and outliers to really stand out”. 

The update is available for the entire suite today, and you can read the entire press release for yourself right here.