- The Office Web Apps Browser Plugin installs an add-on that enables Office documents to be opened directly from Firefox into the appropriate Office desktop application. It enables you to open.
- Aug 19, 2009 Microsoft is planning on having Office Web Applications support Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.5 on Windows, Mac, and Linux, as well as Safari 4 on Mac.
This article describes the software and device requirements for running Office Add-ins.
Note
If you plan to publish your add-in to AppSource and make it available within the Office experience, make sure that you conform to the Commercial marketplace certification policies. For example, to pass validation, your add-in must work across all platforms that support the methods that you define (for more information, see section 1120.3 and the Office Add-in host and availability page).
For a high-level view of where Office Add-ins are currently supported, see Office Add-in host and platform availability.
Jan 22, 2016 I found that if a MAC user joins the Skype meeting with Skype for business Web APP using any browser and share the screen they are not able to give control to anyone. Neither MAC users are able to control any shared content.
Server requirements
To be able to install and run any Office Add-in, you first need to deploy the manifest and webpage files for the UI and code of your add-in to the appropriate server locations.
For all types of add-ins (content, Outlook, and task pane add-ins and add-in commands), you need to deploy your add-in's webpage files to a web server, or web hosting service, such as Microsoft Azure.
While not strictly required in all add-in scenarios, using an HTTPS endpoint for your add-in is strongly recommended. Add-ins that are not SSL-secured (HTTPS) generate unsecure content warnings and errors during use. If you plan to run your add-in in Office on the web or publish your add-in to AppSource, it must be SSL-secured. If your add-in accesses external data and services, it should be SSL-secured to protect data in transit. Self-signed certificates can be used for development and testing, so long as the certificate is trusted on the local machine.
Tip
When you develop and debug an add-in in Visual Studio, Visual Studio deploys and runs your add-in's webpage files locally with IIS Express, and doesn't require an additional web server.
For content and task pane add-ins, in the supported Office host applications - Excel, PowerPoint, Project, or Word - you also need an app catalog on SharePoint to upload the add-in's XML manifest file.
To test and run an Outlook add-in, the user's Outlook email account must reside on Exchange 2013 or later, which is available through Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, or through an on-premises installation. The user or administrator installs manifest files for Outlook add-ins on that server.
Note
POP and IMAP email accounts in Outlook don't support Office Add-ins.
Client requirements: Windows desktop and tablet
The following software is required for developing an Office Add-in for the supported Office desktop clients or web clients that run on Windows-based desktop, laptop, or tablet devices:
For Windows x86 and x64 desktops, and tablets such as Surface Pro:
- The 32- or 64-bit version of Office 2013 or a later version, running on Windows 7 or a later version.
- Excel 2013, Outlook 2013, PowerPoint 2013, Project Professional 2013, Project 2013 SP1, Word 2013, or a later version of the Office client, if you are testing or running an Office Add-in specifically for one of these Office desktop clients. Office desktop clients can be installed on premises or via Click-to-Run on the client computer.
If you have a valid Microsoft 365 subscription and you do not have access to the Office client, you can download and install the latest version of Office.
Internet Explorer 11 or Microsoft Edge (depending on the Windows and Office versions) must be installed but doesn't have to be the default browser. To support Office Add-ins, the Office client that acts as host uses browser components that are part of Internet Explorer 11 or Microsoft Edge. See Browsers used by Office Add-ins for more details.
Note
Internet Explorer's Enhanced Security Configuration (ESC) must be turned off for Office Web Add-ins to work. If you are using a Windows Server computer as your client when developing add-ins, note that ESC is turned on by default in Windows Server.
One of the following as the default browser: Internet Explorer 11, or the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari (Mac OS).
An HTML and JavaScript editor such as Notepad, Visual Studio and the Microsoft Developer Tools, or a third-party web development tool.
Client requirements: OS X desktop
Outlook on Mac, which is distributed as part of Microsoft 365, supports Outlook add-ins. Running Outlook add-ins in Outlook on Mac has the same requirements as Outlook on Mac itself: the operating system must be at least OS X v10.10 'Yosemite'. Because Outlook on Mac uses WebKit as a layout engine to render the add-in pages, there is no additional browser dependency.
The following are the minimum client versions of Office on Mac that support Office Add-ins.
- Word version 15.18 (160109)
- Excel version 15.19 (160206)
- PowerPoint version 15.24 (160614)
Explorer Browser Plugins
Client requirements: Browser support for Office web clients and SharePoint
Any browser that supports ECMAScript 5.1, HTML5, and CSS3, such as Internet Explorer 11, or the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari (Mac OS).
Client requirements: non-Windows smartphone and tablet
Specifically for Outlook running in a browser on smartphones and non-Windows tablet devices, the following software is required for testing and running Outlook add-ins.
Ie Browser Plugin
| Host application | Device | Operating system | Exchange account | Mobile browser |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlook on Android | Android tablets and smartphones | Android 4.4 KitKat later | On the latest update of Microsoft 365 Apps for business or Exchange Online | Native app for Android, browser not applicable |
| Outlook on iOS | iPad tablets, iPhone smartphones | iOS 11 or later | On the latest update of Microsoft 365 Apps for business or Exchange Online | Native app for iOS, browser not applicable |
| Outlook on the web | iPhone 4 or later, iPad 2 or later, iPod Touch 4 or later | iOS 5 or later | On Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, or on premises on Exchange Server 2013 or later | Safari |
Note
The native apps OWA for Android, OWA for iPad, and OWA for iPhone have been deprecated and are no longer required or available for testing Outlook add-ins.
See also
Microsoft has been slowly giving more and more information on Office 2010 and its rather ambitious goal of making the suite available via a familiar experience across the PC, phone, and browser. Ars worked with Microsoft spokespersons to try to learn more about what the new release would bring, but we only managed to get three questions answered with some relevant detail. The rest were greeted with responses like 'we're not sharing product roadmaps at this time' and 'we will announce further developments when appropriate.' Nevertheless, here is a little more information that Microsoft was okay with divulging:
Will Office Mobile be ported to Symbian or completely rewritten for the OS?
Microsoft will collaborate to design new productivity experiences for future Nokia smartphones and this alliance will bring Microsoft productivity technologies to Nokia smartphones, which is the current extent of the deal.
Where is Silverlight Mobile and where is it for Symbian? Will Silverlight Mobile play a role at all in Office Mobile?
We are continuing to evaluate the market and listen to customers to build the best possible mobile product with Silverlight. We are currently conducting a private beta with our ISVs and have received great feedback so far. As the Windows Mobile team announced at Tech Ed North America 2009, Windows Mobile 7 will include Silverlight. We have nothing to announce at this time regarding Silverlight Mobile and Office Mobile.
Google Plugin App
Will Office Web Applications work on mobile browsers, or just PC browsers?
Yes, mobile browsers will be supported for Office Web applications. We are still in early phases of development and will share additional details around specific browsers and functionality at a later date.
The Office Web Applications (browser versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote), a completely separate set of programs from Office Mobile that is coming for Windows Mobile and Symbian, were announced in October 2008 at PDC. In July 2009, Microsoft disclosed that the apps would be available in three flavors: at no cost but with ads through Windows Live, on-premises for all Office volume licensing customers, and via Microsoft Online Services where customers will be able to purchase a subscription as part of a hosted offering.
Microsoft is planning on having Office Web Applications support Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.5 on Windows, Mac, and Linux, as well as Safari 4 on Mac. The fact that they will be supported by mobile browsers is good news for users who have a device that isn't Windows Mobile or Symbian based. Redmond has emphasized time and again the apps will work well across different browsers without any plugins installed, but that Silverlight will play an optional role. For example, we already know that Silverlight will be used to improve the experience of at least two Office Web apps.
Unfortunately, not even a beta of Silverlight Mobile has seen the light of day yet. If a mobile version of Silverlight will be used to enhance the experience of Office Web Applications being used in mobile browsers, it's unlikely that testers will be able to use them on mobile browsers when they get first access to the Office Web Applications (slated for arrival sometime this month, assuming no delays) since Windows Mobile 7 is rumored to RTM in April 2010. It follows that Microsoft is still not ready to show off how the Office Web Applications are supposed to work on mobile browsers, or that Silverlight won't be as important in the mobile browser experience as it will be in the PC browser experience. The final versions of the apps are slated for the first half of 2010, when the whole Office 2010 suite is expected to arrive, so Microsoft still has quite a bit of time to let users test the apps in different mobile browsers.