Apple’s free suite of iWork apps provides a wonderful method for Mac, iPad, and even iPhone customers to create newsletters, spreadsheets, and displays. However, as intuitive and enticing as Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are, it’s additionally honest to say they’ve at all times lagged behind their well-known Microsoft counterparts.
Apple’s iWork apps are free, whereas Microsoft’s Word, Excel, and Powerpoint have to be bought individually. Of course, these apps are way more highly effective and could also be properly price it if yow will discover a superb deal.
With in the present day’s replace to Pages, although, there could also be one much less purpose to use Microsoft Word; Apple has lastly introduced Mail Merge automation to its writing app.
Mail Merge, which helps you to create a single doc or envelope template that can be utilized for dozens of recipients, has at all times been a conspicuous omission in Apple’s phrase processing app. It’s one thing that’s been a core characteristic of different phrase processing apps for over 30 years, and many Pages customers are shocked once they discover it lacking.
This characteristic is so in-demand that enterprising builders have constructed third-party apps to fill the hole. Thanks to Pages’ assist for AppleScript, extra tech-savvy customers have additionally been ready to cobble collectively their very own homegrown options. However, all of those have been hacks to make up for a characteristic that Apple actually ought to have baked in from the start.
Worth the Wait?
While it’s been a very long time coming, Mail Merge has lastly arrived in Pages 12.1 — and it’s not solely out there on the Mac; iPad and even iPhone customers can reap the benefits of it, too.
That’s a pleasant enchancment over Microsoft Word, which provides a stable Mail Merge characteristic on the desktop, however not on the iPhone or iPad. That’s not stunning since Apple works onerous to ship characteristic parity throughout its complete household of gadgets as a lot as potential.
Word, Excel, and Powerpoint for iPhone and iPad are fairly purposeful for customary modifying, however they lack the superior options of their desktop counterparts. On the opposite hand, there’s little or no in Pages, Numbers, and Keynote that you are able to do on the Mac which you can’t additionally do in your iPad or iPhone.
Apple has additionally built-in its Mail Merge characteristic way more tightly into your entire macOS and iOS expertise. Most considerably, if you happen to’re sending out a letter to a bunch of buddies, household, or colleagues, you don’t want to create a separate spreadsheet; you’ll be able to pull the information immediately from the Contacts app in your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
When establishing the Mail Merge in Pages, you’ll give you the chance to drop in title and tackle fields that correspond to your contacts, and if you carry out the merge, you’ll be able to choose which contact record or group you need to pull the names from.
Nearly any subject in your contacts is honest recreation for a Mail Merge in Pages; the one exception is the Notes subject. This consists of issues like birthdays, anniversaries and different dates, social media handles, associated names, and even URLs.
Of course, you’ll be able to nonetheless use a conventional spreadsheet, wherein case you’ll give you the chance to create no matter fields you need. This could possibly be helpful if you happen to had been sending out thanks letters for presents or donations after a fundraising occasion, for instance, the place you may want to record the quantity or present given throughout the physique of the letter.
What Else Is New in Pages, Numbers, and Keynote?
While Mail Merge is undoubtedly probably the most important new characteristic to come to Pages this time, Apple has additionally added some “fashionable new templates for occasion invites and pupil certificates” to assist of us prepare for grad season. You may now export your Pages paperwork to plain textual content information.
Numbers get some efficiency enhancements when inserting rows and columns in massive tables, whereas Keynote provides dynamic backgrounds that transfer as you transition from slide to slide, plus some extra animated themes to characteristic these new backgrounds. It’s additionally now potential to skip or unskip all slides in a collapsed group.
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