Google Docs is an online word processing solution by Google that allows one to edit Word documents, spreadsheets, presentations and similar word processing activities for free. This week Google announced full support for the editing and sharing of Google Docs on all iOS devices running version of iOS 3.x and Android users running Froyo 2.2.
The update brings a much-needed improvement to Google Docs’ editing capabilities on mobile devices (iOS and Android). In the past, you’d have to roll the dice by pulling up the full desktop version of a document and hope your phone had a nimble enough signal to handle all the Javascript magic going on behind the scenes. The small screen and lack of editing tools weren’t exactly impressive either. For Google Docs users such as myself, this was so discouraging that I rarely (if ever) attempted to edit a doc using my iPhone.
The mobile version of Google Docs has existed for almost three years now. Though Google has increasingly added support for more mobile browsers over that time, the inability to actually edit documents has been irritating for users.
Google must have understood, because the mobile editing experience if simply much better. Aside from making edits far less cumbersome, if you’re collaborating on a document with someone else, that person will see your changes in near real-time.
The changes are rolling out over the “next few days,” according to the Google Docs team, but you’ll know they’re live when you see the “Edit” button at the top of your documents. From the looks of it, the interface is as usable as you could expect from such a small screen space, and Google says it’s working to introduce support for non-English languages in the near future.
Searching for more Google news? Check out Google Instant Search Comes to iPhone and Android and The Story of Google Doodles
via Techland, Arstechnica
