Microsoft releases updated Office 365 APIs, iOS SDKs to development community

Not that the competition between Apple and Microsoft will ever truly go away, but this could herald in slightly better relations between the two companies, especially given how long it took Microsoft Office to come to iOS.

Per The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Microsoft has released a new series of tools for developers looking to improve integration between their apps and the company’s Office 365 service. For iOS users and developers, the main point of interest will be the new 365 APIs for mail, files, calendar, and contacts. There is currently more than 400 petabytes of data stored via Office 365, and these news tools will allow developers to access that information from their own apps.

These API’s will provide better options for connecting apps to users who need to use Office 365. Microsoft hopes to see travel reservation apps that connect to your 365 calendar and sales automation apps that integrate with your mail and files to save and send receipts.

The company is also launching an iOS SDK with support for Objective-C and, in the near future, Swift.

This marks the first time there has been a iOS SDK for Office 365, making this something of a landmark event.

If you’ve tried the tools or have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.