Update on using Hangul Office 2014 for Mac vs Hancom Docs version

For those of you in the macOS world who need to work with Hangul (HWP) files, here's an update you may find of interest.  

I'm personally still running the standalone version of Hangul 2014 for Mac, which I purchased and downloaded from the Hancom website a few years ago. Curious about a perceived lack of updates, I did some sleuthing and found that this version is now behind the version that is offered with Hancom Docs. 

As I mentioned before, Hangul for Mac 2014 is no longer being offered for sale anywhere on the Hancom website (the info page remains, but links to purchase have been replaced with links to Hancom Docs).

Version differences

And importantly, the last update this standalone version has received was to version 10.30.11 (3422) as of January 30, 2023. 

Release notes for Hancom Office 2014 for Mac. Image: Hancom

Meanwhile, the version that you can download and install locally if you have a Hancom Docs paid subscription is now at version 12.3.0(4250) as of April 2023. 

Docs version adds support for Apple Silicon

A big upgrade available if you pay for the Hancom Docs version is that it seems to include versions that run on both Intel processors and Apple Silicon. Take a look: 

So this download should run natively on any type of Mac. The old Hangul Office 2014 for Mac was Intel-only, so if you have a newer Macbook with the M-series of processor (M1, M2...) it runs in Rosetta II. Personally this hasn't really been an issue for me except for occasional hiccups when it force-quits on me or certain large files take a little longer to open than they should. 

But it's nice to see that I'd be getting my money's worth with the update, and would have an Apple Silicon specific version to run smoothly. 

Pay for upgrade

The paid plan is promoted as the only way to use Hangul Office locally on macOS, so it looks pretty clear that if you want to stay secure with the latest version, you're going to need to become a paid subscriber. In fact that seem to want Windows users to do the same, despite plenty of people still using Hangul Office 2022 as a standalone product (the purchase links for that have been removed too).  

If you're ready to take the plunge, a personal plan for Hancom Docs is 6,900 won/month or 49,000 won/year:

Hancom Docs pricing

This isn't a bad price really. I complained about it previously, but for those who use this office suite (i.e. if you live in Korea and work with documents at all), it's not that bad. We should be thankful they maintain a macOS version whatsoever. With this price, you can download the full local versions of Hangul Office on up to 5 computers. 

So if you're still rocking the Hancom Office 2014 for Mac, you may want to start considering coughing up $50/year to stay with the latest version. Maybe get a few friends together to spread the cost. 

Free options remain

Though here's a reminder that using Hancom Docs purely online (similar to Google Docs) is still totally free. See my other post for more on that:  Open HWP files in Hancom Docs online (new name of Hancom Office Online, Hancom Space, Netffice24). 

And of course if you just need to view or print (or copy the text from) a Hangul HWP file on Mac, there is a free official Viewer app on the App Store that works fine. 

Hancom Viewer for macOS

Interesting though, if you log in to your free Hancom Docs account and use the free online version of the office suite, they include a download link for the full downloadable locally-run version of Hangul for Mac. That's how I discovered that it supports Apple Silicon. 

It's a 756 MB package file (.pkg) that comes from: 

https://cdn.hancom.com/pds/hnc/DOWN/HancomDocs/HwpMac_HancomDocs.pkg

Don't get too excited though, because even if you install this, it essentially acts just as a viewer. All the editing features are locked behind the registration login. But this goes to show that you can easily access the download once you do decide to become a premium subscriber. 

Personally, I'm going to try to milk some more time out of my standalone 2014 version. It still is working fine for me, and is still officially listed as supporting from Big Sur to Ventura (the latest OS version as of this post):

I'll keep an eye on updates to see if anymore come but I'm thinking that maybe this is it. By next year, I think it will be time to fork over $50/year for it. By then maybe the whole office will move to the enterprise plan and I can use that login. 

Thanks for reading.