Microsoft is retiring Sway for iOS in December

Software maker Microsoft has announced that Sway for iPhone and iPad will be removed from App Store on October 19 and discontinued fully on December 17, 2018.

Another app bites the dust

A Microsoft employee shared the news on the company’s forums yesterday.

Microsoft is retiring the Sway for iOS app on December 17, 2018.

With this change, we’re consolidating our Sway experience. Sway online provides the same, most up-to-date feature set across platforms and devices.

All Sways that you have created or edited on Sway for iOS will continue to exist, and you access them on Sway online.

You can use the iOS app until December 17, 2018. After that date, when you open the app you will be greeted with a message directing you to Sway online.

We want to extend the biggest thank you to our iOS users. We appreciate your support of Sway for iOS and look forward to seeing your Sways online.

The Windows giant is advising customers use Sway online at sway.office.com.

Weathering the transition

Microsoft has added that, in addition to sway.office.com, your Sway projects will continue to be accessible through the Windows 10 app, which is available free in Microsoft Store.

The timeline for retirement for the Sway iOS app is as follows:

  • October 19, 2018: The app will be removed from App Store. Existing users won’t be able to download or update Sway for iOS anymore.
  • December 17, 2018: The app will stop working. Anyone who attempts to open the app will be greeted with a message directing them to use Sway online.
  • August—December: Users of the app will receive in-app notifications encouraging them to use Sway online.

Sway for Windows 10 will continue to exist because it’s a web-hosted app.

Sway: build attractive presentations

Sway was quite an interesting piece of software.

Launched on App Store in January 2015, the business-focused app permitted users to create visually striking newsletters, documents and interactive presentation complete with images, captions, headers and styled text in minutes.

I’ve played with Sway a number of times and was pleased with its features that let you do things like share interactive reports, stories, presentations and more. It’s a good thing that Sway lives on as a web app, but I would much rather prefer a native experience.

Have you used Sway and if so, how did you like it?

Let us know in the comments!