I am an Apple device user, and I appreciate the portability of my iPad, but I haven’t found a single fantastic option for editing my documents, presentation and spreadsheets. I still prefer the desktop versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint as nothing touches their power and flexibility. Nevertheless, I figured I’d share a few that I’ve tried (and continue to appraise). The one big caveat is that none of these are great for manuscript writing. There is no great option for easily managing citations. However, for collaborative editing and easy sharing I am delighted to have my documents and files in my pocket and messenger bag at all times.
Apple’s iWork Apps: Pages, Keynote & Numbers
Free for new iOS and Mac purchasers this fall this is Apple’s attempt to create a unified document creating and editing platform across all of its devices. For simple documents and files I’ve found that it works really well. The files sync seamlessly across iCloud and there are enough options to create basic spreadsheets and pretty decent Keynote presentations. I have always favored PowerPoint, and despite the polish Keynote still doesn’t have as much flexibility.
I am an avowed Google Drive user. In fact, I use it more than DropBox since I am a big fan of Google Docs. I started creating files on Google’s online collaborative service well before their cloud storage platform launched, and when Drive became available I was sold. That I get 15GB for free isn’t bad either. There are multiple apps on Drive, including the ability to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations and forms (surveys that import data into a spreadsheet). Though not as fully featured as Office the collaboration tools have proved invaluable. On a desktop Google Drive is great – however native editing on the iPad has been suboptimal. QuickOffice was formerly multiplatform until they were acquired by Google and allows you to edit your files stored in Google Drive on the go. This includes files created in Google’s cloud apps as well as native Microsoft files (.doc, .xls and .ppt). The editing isn’t foolproof, and is best for smaller, less complicated documents, but it certainly gets the job done. The price (free) is right and if you are a Google Drive user I haven’t found a better option on the iPad.
It requires an annual subscription and is half baked. For iOS users this isn’t really a viable option – especially for spreadsheets. The functionality is limited and hasn’t been implemented well on iOS devices.
I actually used this one back when I had a Treo. Now with better options available I haven’t gone back. However this App does what it promises, however the features have the same limitations as the above and it isn’t free ($10) so I’ve moved on.
