iOS productivity showdown: Apple iWork vs. Microsoft Office 365 vs. Google Docs

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  • Reply 41 of 65
    Of course, there is also the issue of Apple dumbing down desktop versions to create parity with the iOS versions. I would never use Keynote on iOS to create a presentation. It would be better to carry a bottom of the line MB Air and show a stunning presentation than to use an iPad and show an okay presentation.
  • Reply 42 of 65
    It's unbelievable that this review neglects Quickoffice, the suite bought by Google and then made free. It's far, far better than what the Google Drive app offers.

    I used to be a user of Quickoffice on iOS (and PalmPilot before that), for its msft compatibility more than anything.

    Of course, since Google removed support for Dropbox in Quickoffice, it's been removed from all my devices.
  • Reply 43 of 65
    Originally Posted by dacloo View Post

    You'd thought they learned from the Final Cut Pro X launch, but no.

     

    You’d think you would have learned what Apple’s doing with its software by now, given that it has been, what, two years, now.



    Enjoy wasting money on a migration that will have been worthless in a year.

     

    Originally Posted by TYancy View Post

    Of course, there is also the issue of Apple dumbing down desktop versions to create parity with the iOS versions.

     

    An issue being rapidly resolved.

     

    Originally Posted by forentria View Post

    Its unbelievable that this review neglects Quickoffice

     

    Why, when no one here cares one iota for a product from Google?

  • Reply 44 of 65
    Obviously, most of the commenters here are not programmers and are completely unaware of the scripting capabilities of Apple Numbers or Apple Word. While I can't yet comment about the most recent versions as yet, the previous versions of Apple Numbers and Apple Word are quite powerful.

    Additionally, while Apple Numbers nor Apple Word aren't Microsoft Office, they aren't trying to be. For example, Apple Numbers doesn't offer pivot tables but does offer table categories. Table categories is much easier to use for the average user and just as functional (in conjunction with other features). Formatting and layout options are impressive in Apple Word as well.

    The difference is that there are legions of Visual Basic programmers while there are significantly fewer AppleScript programmers.
  • Reply 45 of 65
    neilbchap wrote: »
    Sorry, not impressed with Pages/Numbers on iOS. But worse is what they've done to the desktop versions, by stripping away the most useful features for power users.

    I've got 6,000.00 contact cards in my Contacts app, yet when I need to use a Template to create a simple business letter, I have to switch apps and hunt and peck to copy and paste the multiple fields that I routinely use in correspondence (Name, address, date of birth, fax numbers, email etc etc.)

    1) Does MS, Google or someone else make a better iOS app for document and spreadsheet editing on a phone?

    2) I think Apple should have made it more transparent that files had to be converted to the new version and made it clear where to find the old versions of the app and original documents but I don't think it's fair to complain about it affecting power users when those options were still there for you. Frankly, if you really are a power user I would expect you to not simply jump into a new update without first having backups and making damn sure the update is worthwhile.

    3) 6 million contacts is certainly not the norm and quite frankly I'm surprised you aren't using better 3rd-party options for parsing data, like Vi or a MS Office Macro, as well as surprised that you would call any version of Pages and Numbers apps for power users. I don't recall anyone ever referring to themselves as power users of Pages and Numbers.
  • Reply 46 of 65
    I see what Apple is doing but it's ridiculous. You can't turn loyal users into beta testers without calling it exactly that. Pro users are screwed for the next two years, until the software becomes mature.
    Apple has proven to be very unreliable and unprofessional. I appreciate they don't settle with legacy code and rewrite the whole thing, but you can't launch and market product like that.

    And what kind of iWork user are you TK? Do you actually use it on a daily basis?
    You’d think you would have learned what Apple’s doing with its software by now, given that it has been, what, two years, now.

    Enjoy wasting money on a migration that will have been worthless in a year.
  • Reply 47 of 65

    [quote] PagesNumbers, and Keynote are every bit as fast, stable, and feature-rich as their desktop counterparts[/quote]

     

    Well that's because the desktop versions were dumbed down to only include features that could be crammed into an iPhone. Hardly an endorsement worth bragging about.

  • Reply 48 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post



    Numbers is the killer app for me. I've always used spreadsheets of necessity but never liked them. Switched to Numbers a couple years ago and never looked back! I like the way it "thinks"--it removes a barrier of annoyance I have always felt with old-fashioned spreadsheet apps. I use the iPad version.

     

    I've always been an Excel and OpenOffice user but I'm starting to like Apple's office apps. I have not yet used Numbers because of my almost intuitive familiarity with Excel. What is it about Numbers that you appreciate? I would very much like to know. What is the "barrier" you mentioned above? What do you mean by the way Numbers "thinks?" Thanks.

     

    By the way, get the iPad Air. It is excellent. (My only complaint is that it didn't launch with a 256GB version. But there's always online storage. Perhaps iPad Pro...)

  • Reply 49 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tbsteph View Post



    The author would pick Google Docs and the Google Drive app based solely on Docs's ubiquity among internet users.



    Wow! Now there is some quality reasoning. Office runs circles around anything offered by Google and is the predominantly used application suite amongst those that need a serious productivity solution. I willing to bet Office is more ubiquitous than Google Docs/Drive.

     

    Besides, Dropbox is the online storage of choice. All intelligent people agree, I think. :)

  • Reply 50 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by forentria View Post

    Of course, since Google removed support for Dropbox in Quickoffice, it's been removed from all my devices.

     

    Dropbox support is still there, by way of the sharing options in both QuickOffice and Dropbox. Simply, Dropbox is no longer the online storage for the apps.

     

    I like the new QuickOffice more, since they finally removed those awuful Microsoft code colors from the app titles. Not that I like grey, but in this case it is less 'alarming'.

     

    Paolo

  • Reply 51 of 65
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Howie View Post

    What is it about Numbers that you appreciate? I would very much like to know. What is the "barrier" you mentioned above?

     

    I cannot answer for nagromme, but I can say that I find the grid concept annoying, if not dumb. when making my calculations on a sheet of paper, I draw only the cells I need. Exactly what Numbers does.

  • Reply 52 of 65
    aegeanaegean Posts: 164member
    I would love to use Numbers on Mac but I hate to see it lacks tons of features that Excel has. Moreover, Numbers now lacks lots of features that existed in previous version. The top top reasons for me not to use are...

    1. You can no longer sum by selecting the multiple cells first, containing different values, and click sum from fx function to get the total. You will actually need to type in sum in cell and then select the cells to get the total. Such a basic thing but very important.

    2. Date format is totally screwed up across all Apple platforms, whether its Numbers, Aperture or now even with Mavericks. Numbers on iOS is slightly better now but on Mac, Apple is forcing to use month, day and year format even if I have British English set as default. So much so OS X menu bar only displays date in MMM DD format only.

    Excel still gives me a lot more flexibility, features and freedom to use the software the way I want. Although I like the simplicity of Numbers. I don't much use iWork on my iOS devices because I hardly use any of my iOS devices and rather prefer using my MBA 11"
  • Reply 53 of 65

    Apple needs to add a scripting language like VBA embedded into Numbers. Only then will it start to approach the power of Excel. Sorry, Applescript does not cut it. Although if Apple did do this, I'm pretty sure they would implement it in a fantastic way.

  • Reply 54 of 65
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Banyan Bruce View Post



    Numbers is awful and more eye candy than functionality. Pages and Keynote far easier to use and way ahead in of their MS offerings, word or powerpoint. Until Apple get Numbers functionality on par with Excel, they are never going to to break into the corporate IT world where the spreadsheet is king.

    :no: Excel is the single most overrated piece of software in the history of software.

  • Reply 55 of 65
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member

    It really shouldn't shock anyone that Apple's software is among the best in the world...they actually try.

     

    Microsoft is still writing crap for a user experience from 2 decades ago, and Google could not care less if their software is among the worst ever created....it only exists to be another way of showing you ads.

  • Reply 56 of 65

    Pages is unusable  for substantive work because of missing features (such as TOC and index, footnotes and endnotes by section, etc.).

    Alas, there is no alternative to abysmal buggy Word Office. NeoOffice, LibreOffice, OpenOffice suffer the same shortcomings.

    Scrivener is remarkable, but more for authors, screenplaywriters, etc.

  • Reply 57 of 65

    I agree with article that if you want to do work on your iPhone then Apples apps are the best. As the article is about productivity though, I'd question if any of them are productive, or if it's actually possible to make a productive app on an iPhone. End of the day it's still a phone and there's a limit to what you can do on a screen so small.

     

    If we're talking about editing documents then isn't the most productive one going to be the one that can access your companies files? Simple quick edits more than anything else needs you to be able to easily open, edit and save the file where its located. Office 365 and Google Docs, do a good job at that. Apples stuff not so much unless your in a Mac only environment, but most of us are in a PC and Mac environment so the solution needs to be cross platform.

  • Reply 58 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kantx View Post

    Pages is unusable  for substantive work because of missing features (such as TOC and index, footnotes and endnotes by section, etc.).


     

    If you are referring to Pages for iOS, footnotes and endnotes by section are there. I guess TOC will be introduced in the forthcoming months.

    If you are referring to the desktop version, Pages has all that (apart for the Index).

     

    I'm always surprised, however, why so few refer to Nisus Writer or Mellel when speaking of professional wordprocessing on the Mac. You are not forced to use Windows software (or Apple branded software). 

     

    As for using the full-featured Word or LibreOffice Write on a tablet or phone -- well, yuk!

     

    Paolo

  • Reply 59 of 65

    Endnotes by section is not possible on desktop Pages. I just spent time with Apple support that confirmed the fact.

  • Reply 60 of 65
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kantx View Post

    Endnotes by section is not possible on desktop Pages.


     

    I just did it with Pages 09. Endnote numbering can restart at each section (as set in the Document panel).

    Is this a bug in the new Pages?

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