Edit Word on iPad, Excel on iPhone or PowerPoint on iPod Touch: Mobile Office Apps Showdown
Apple devices can sometimes perform miracles when you can’t access your computer. Whether its Email, Maps, or search, my iPhone or iPad can take care of many tasks. I wish the iPhone would let me beeze through document editing as easily… Powerpoint has been quite the issue for me.
Say Julie (my partner) emails me a powerpoint deck that I and the exec team need to review.
All I’ve got is my iPhone/Touch/Pad and I need to review, edit, and reply back all from my mobile device. So my first demand is I need to be able to view AND edit the attachment . With the native viewer I can open and view the .ppt but my iPhone/Touch/Pad won’t let me edit it.
After a bit of research I’ve compiled a list of the best iPad apps that let you edit Office docs (including Powerpoint) from an iPhone or iPad:
1. AlwaysOnPC (http://www.alwaysonpc.com)
This is a great application that gives you full access to a Microsoft-compatible iPad Office suite.
For added convenience you can set up the pre-installed Dropbox application or use the included email client to take care of business.
Through AlwaysOnPC you can also do any number of other web based tasks using the built-in Firefox browser.
Pros:
The most complete feature set and compatibility with MS Office; Full WYSIWYG display of even the most graphic-heavy Docs or Powerpoint presentations; fastest time to open and save docs – important for online files, especially on 3G; Nice Dropbox integration; One price gives you all the Office apps and more; Ability to copy/paste between apps like Excel spreadsheets, Word processing, image editing, etc; Same interface across devices – whether Word on iPad , or Powerpoint on iTouch.
Cons:
Internet connectivity required (not necessarily always included… 3G or Wifi = Must); Some experience with the interface to get familiar with AlwaysOnPC UI.
2. DataViz Documents to Go
A Powerpoint editor is included in DataViz Documents to Go’s set of office applications.
Pros
Can be configured to access Dropbox and a couple other cloud storage services; acceptable mapping of features to the iPhone; I was able to open and edit files opened fine in Powerpoint again on my PC
Cons
No cut and paste functionality among other apps; image rendering doesn’t always work as expected; premium price; wait can be quite long for file download when opening larger email attachments or online files
3. VNC to your home or work PC
VNC clients – or Virtual Network Computing services – allow you to remotely access your home computer directly from your iPhone, thus allowing you to use Powerpoint (assuming you have it installed there). Several examples are Mocha, TeamViewer, and LogMeIn Ignition
Pros:
Gives you access to ANYTHING you have on your main PC; files generally open faster
Cons
Setup time – requires setup on home PC, adjusting settings and firewaslls, then installing on iPhone; Home PC must always be on – not in hibernate or sleep mode – and not in use; requires internet connectivity.
4. iWork suite from Apple
Apple has made iWork suite with Keynote, Numbers and Pages available in the Appstore for iPad. It takes fourth:
Pros:
Clean interface, well integrated; Imports Powerpoint
Cons:
Not compatible with iPhone/Touch; doesn’t let you save as a .ppt/.doc/.xls; costly at $9.99 per app; Learning curve on UI for Office users.
5. Google Docs
Google Docs is a great idea and definitely improving, but it is still limited in its capacity as a tool for mobile users (plus not everyone is a Gmail user).
