GoDocs Brings Google Docs to IPads
You can do a lot of things on an iPad, but there’s one thing that’s surprisingly difficult: working with Google, whether it’s docs, music or maps.
Apple and Google: once partners in the mobile game, now bitter rivals and enemies, the two tech superpowers have slowly evolved into competitors, especially as Google has expanded its business beyond search. As a result, Apple has been sloughing off its reliance on Google, with the latest casualty being Google Maps.
People want to do Google things on Apple devices, and they’re faced with an inferior mobile experience — a bewildering amount of apps that pose as “Google clients” but don’t deliver. Sadly, Google Docs still isn’t a smooth or pleasant experience to work in, even with the best of apps, and if you’re waiting you’ll have to wait a little longer.
What’s the App?
GoDocs, available for iOS devices for $5, is a well-established Google Docs client designed to help you work on your Google files on an iPad or iPhone. The app lets you view, edit and upload docs to and from your Google Docs and Google Drive accounts. Through a clear, simple and Google-like interface, you can create new docs, share existing ones, manage revisions, e-mail them to outside parties — almost everything you can do in the Web app.
Some nice features include the ability to work in a few different Google accounts — nobody really has just one Google account — as well as the ability to download documents to your mobile device to work on, even when you’re not connected to a network or Wi-Fi. These features bring true portability and productivity to what has become a valuable document creation and sharing solution for many individuals and businesses.
GoDocs has been around for a bit, but recently updated its app to improve and add to its functionality, especially in relation to integration with Google Drive. Now you can add public sharing with links to your documents through the app, look at videos stored on Google Drive, and look at docs with improved full screen viewing with zoom functionality.
You’ll Want It If…
You’re a student, business person or just anyone who works extensively in Google Docs and needs on-the-go productivity that spans many devices and platforms. One of the Google Docs’ biggest assets is that you can work on something almost anywhere you have a network or Internet connection — just open up Google’s site and work, no matter what the device or platform.
That’s the ideal promised by cloud computing, of course — in practice, it’s not so simple. Those on PCs and computers can exist happily in this cloud-anchored dream, but once you start getting into mobile devices, that vision quickly disintegrates. Apps like GoDocs aim to bridge the gap, and for the truly mobile worker, they’re an increasing necessity.
It’s Not My Thing — What Else Ya Got?
Unfortunately, most Google apps can be lacking, and as much as the update adds some great new features, GoDocs still falls short in some ways. The functions and features are all great and valuable to anyone looking to work on-the-go in their Google Docs. But in terms of ease of use, GoDocs still has a ways to go.
It’s hard to find some of the features, for example, such as the edit functions, and it’s still slightly buggy, though it seems to have improved a bit from past versions, which crashed and created errors often. Sadly, there aren’t a lot of competing apps at this level with the same functionality, and often I still find myself gritting my teeth and working through the sludgy Web version on my iPad’s browser.
But alas, in a world where Apple and Google are duking it out and Google has yet to put out — or Apple has yet to approve — its own native app, I’m just another one of the innocent bystanders.