Choosing the Best iPad Office Productivity App
iWork vs QuickOffice vs Docs To Go vs Office2
For most iPad users who want to make their device into a productivity machine, one of the first apps to seek out is an Office app – something to create and edit documents and/or spreadsheets. Searching the App Store turns up a fair number of contenders for this, all of them with a fair mix of both glowing and less than positive reviews. We here at App Chronicles decided to examine and compare the leading apps side-by-side, helping users decide which app is the best choice.
There are four top contenders for the crown of best office productivity app, and we have looked at them all. The contenders are:
- The iWork apps, Pages and Numbers, from Apple (Full Review of Pages, Full Review of Numbers)
- Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite for iPad, from Quickoffice, Inc. (Full Quickoffice for iPad Review)
- Office² HD, from Byte² (Full Office² HD Review)
- Documents To Go® Premium, from DataViz, Inc. (Full Review of Docs to Go Premium)
The apps have been evaluated in five areas that are important to productivity in the modern workplace: Word Processing, Spreadsheets, MS Office Compatibility, Cloud Support, and Other Considerations. Hopefully comparisons between these iPad Office apps will aid iPad users in selecting the office apps best suited for them.
Word Processing Features
Word processing is probably the first productivity demand many users will want for their iPad. And here, hands down, the iWork app, Pages, wins the battle of the word processors. It is more fully featured, more fully functional, and more user friendly than any of the other word processing apps. It has robust and well-implemented controls, excellent ability to insert tables, graphs, and shapes, and extensive formatting and layout options. It’s simply the best choice on the iPad for document creation.
There’s a wide gap between Pages and the word processing features of the second place contender, QuickOffice, and a much narrower gap between QuickOffice and the other apps. Basically, all three edit on a more basic level with fewer features, bells, and whistles. QuickOffice rises above the others, however, in two areas. First, its interface design is better and more innovative than the others (see, for example, its visual page scrolling). Second, it is the only one of the three second tier apps that offers page layout features.
Spreadsheet Features
Excel is a ubiquitous part of many workplaces, and so spreadsheet functionality is an important feature. Once again, the clear winner is the iWork app, Numbers. Even though Numbers is not a perfect spreadsheet app (see our three-star review), it is clearly the best available in terms of features. Especially notable here is the app’s use of the spreadsheet-friendly and function-friendly keypads, which make data entry much easier than in any other app; and its charting and graphing ability. For straight up iPad spreadsheet functionality, Numbers has it.
The functionality gap between Numbers and the rest of the pack isn’t quite so pronounced, but it is definitely a gap. As with word processing, the level of functionality between Office², Docs to Go, and QuickOffice is fairly level. And so again, the nod has to go to the app with the best interface and implementation, which is, again, QuickOffice.
MS Office Compatibility
For most users, compatibility with Microsoft Office — the most dominant productivity app in both workplaces and schools — is a must. Here, the so-far dominant iWork apps are markedly different.
Pages is perfectly compatible with Microsoft office, able to work with files in both DOC and DOCX format. This is a trait that it shares with both QuickOffice and Docs to Go. In all three instances, the transfer from Office to app isn’t perfect, and some more advanced document formatting will likely be lost. There just does not exist a perfect app for dealing with heavily formatted DOCX files. Pages does better than the others, however, and QuickOffice does better than Docs to Go because of its page layout preservation.
QuickOffice and Docs to Go will also handle XLS and XLSX files. Again, neither app does so perfectly, and XLSX files seem to lose the most in terms of advanced formatting. But both are functional enough.
Office² falls short in this category. It only creates and edits DOC and XLS files — that is, Office 97-2003 format, which is no longer the default standard. It can read DOCX and XLSX files, but can’t edit or create them.
Finally, there is Numbers, which completely fails here. While it can read and edit XLS and XLSX files, its output is entirely in Mac format. It does not output Excel-format spreadsheets, and Excel cannot open the Numbers file format. Numbers is useless to anyone who needs to export data to any program except Mac-based iWork.
Workflow & Cloud Support
Cloud computing is clearly the dominant trend in file storage and sharing, especially for a wireless device like the iPad, and so cloud support is vital. This is the one area where the three other apps win easily over iWork. Simply put: if you want to use Google Docs, Dropbox, or other cloud services, you have to look beyond iWork. As of this writing, neither iWork app offers any cloud support beyond the ability to e-mail a file.
Docs to Go, QuickOffice, and Office² all support popular cloud services, such as Google Docs, Dropbox, MobileMe, and Box. In this category, it’s a draw; just make sure that the program you choose is compatible with the cloud service you prefer, as some of the smaller services (like iCloud) aren’t served through every app.
Other Considerations
There are some other things to note for consideration. For one thing, Pages and Numbers are separate apps. This is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon your needs. If you don’t need a spreadsheet app, for example, then you don’t have to pay for Numbers. But since Pages alone is $10, you’re not exactly saving money versus the current purchase price of either QuickOffice ($10) or Office² ($8). And if you need both, the Pages/Numbers combo is actually the most expensive option.
The other apps in question all function as a single unit which, on an iPad currently lacking multitasking, can make swapping between document and spreadsheet a little faster. This does means that each needs a more robust file management interface. Here, QuickOffice definitely wins. They put a lot of thought into creating a full-featured and iPad-friendly file interface, and the result is something that’s smooth and intuitive.
It should also be noted that of all the apps, Office² was the one that we found the most problematic in our individual review. While its core functionality was not necessarily less than QuickOffice or Docs to Go, the program was simply inelegant in its design, and it the version reviewed also contained a number of bugs. It solidly ranks at the bottom of our list, and also has the worst App Store rating of this group of apps.
The Verdict
If you own a Mac and sync a lot, or if you plan to keep your work on your iPad, then the clear winner here is the iWork Suite. Apple knew what they were doing when they designed Pages and Numbers, and both of them come with more features than any of the other contenders. They’re nice apps that come with the backing of the very designers of the iPad. And if Apple ever fuels them with cloud support (and Numbers with Excel compatibility), then they will be the hands-down winner for most iPad users.
For most users, though, Office compatibility and cloud support probably matter. If you use a Windows PC, and/or you need your iPad to be compatible with online services and the computers of friends and coworkers, then you want one of the other apps. Here, QuickOffice is the best choice. While it shares a lot in terms of basic features with Office2 and Documents to Go, it is simply a better app. It is well designed with a slick interface and fewer bugs. For iPad users who want an app to insert into their daily workflow, QuickOffice should be the app of choice.
App Store and Review Links:
- The iWork apps, Pages and Numbers, from Apple (Full Review of Pages, Full Review of Numbers)
- Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite for iPad, from Quickoffice, Inc. (Full Quickoffice for iPad Review)
- Office² HD, from Byte² (Full Office² HD Review)
- Documents To Go® Premium, from DataViz, Inc. (Full Review of Docs to Go Premium)
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Related posts:
- QuickOffice for iPad Review: Solid Workflow Support
- iWork Numbers for iPad Review: Functional but Flawed
- QuickOffice Connect Mobile Suite Review: Pocket Productivity Power
