Originally Posted By: kevs
ok Joe, so for excel/ word files that's it. If in icloud, they are non editable.

I am trying to figure out how to tell you politely that you are WRONG in your assertion. The files can either be opened through Files, although it is a two-step process rather than one, or they can be opened through the App. NOTE: I just ran a few tests to verify my assertion (and grab the accompanying screenshots) using PagesAfor iPad and a Word file, but Numbers for iPad works exactly the same way with Excel files.
  1. Using Files:
    1. Files will show the Word .docx file but it does not show an icon for it, just a preview. (See this image)
    2. Touching the .docx file opens the MacOS equivalent of a Preview of the files content (See this image which cannot be edited.)
    3. touching the share icon at the top right corner of the screen will bring up an amazing list of apps the file can be copied to INCLUDING PAGES. So although it is not a direct opening of the file it is the functional equivalent of "Open With" on the MacOS context menu.
  2. Using the App:
    1. In Pages for iPad if you touch the "Browse" bar at the bottom of the window it opens a screen that looks almost exactly like Files but headed Pages. From there you can Navigate anywhere on the iPad/iPhone/iCloud Drive to find and open a file.
    2. When I opened the .docx file I got this warning which is not surprising.
  3. NOTE: When open in Pages this edit screen looks like this and at first glance could be mistaken for the preview screen.
Without having either Word or Excel I have no way to verify whether either of these methods on Microsoft products for iPad, but based on other non-Apple apps on my iPad, I would be surprised if it did not — especially given Apple's requirements on any software going through the App Store.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein