The Daily App: Microsoft's SkyDrive for iPhone

The number of cloud-based storage services that operate on Apple's iOS platform continue to grow and expand, from Box.net to Evernote to Dropbox and more - not even including Apple's own iCloud service.

Microsoft launched its own SkyDrive service for the iOS platform last month, bringing the storage element of that service to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices. SkyDrive for iOS allows SkyDrive users to locate, access and view files that they've previously created or saved to the Microsoft storage service, including Word Documents, PowerPoints or Excel Spreadsheets, in addition to photo files, videos or audio files. The difference is that with Office documents, you're not afforded the functionality to edit or upload them from your iPhone to SkyDrive.

Oddly, even though Microsoft provides its own, separate Microsoft OneNote app for iPhone, that app doesn't work with SkyDrive for iOS. OneNote files in SkyDrive for iOS cannot be fully opened or edited.

And that leads us back to Microsoft's ongoing inability (or decision not) to make its productivity software work in a meaningful way on Apple's iOS platform. There may be understandable reasons why, including the fact that Microsoft is about to get very aggressive with its Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 platforms in competition with Apple and Google's Android platform. But why frustrate users with anything less than full performance, regardless of platform?

SkyDrive is fine for what it does: give you quick, lookup access on your iPhone or iPad to files you've saved on Microsoft's storage service. Plus, it's a free download from the Apple iTunes App Store. But in a world where functionality and user experience are becoming more critical, not less, it's an odd choice.

If you would like, or need, access to your files on Microsoft's SkyDrive service from your iPhone or iPad, it could be handy. But don't count on much more.