Office automation on iPad

Last week we saw how Microsoft took his long-awaited but belated step and took out his pack of Office (Word, Excel and Power Point) for iPad. So this week, and after analyzing the download data according to which, the three Office programs have quickly placed themselves among the Most downloaded apps from the App Store, as announced, with a curious tweet, the Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, on his personal Twitter (@satyanadella), it is necessary to know how the office automation staff is to iOS, to know the main and alternative Apps and how each of them helps us, so that in the end we can choose the one that best suits our needs.

iWork, creativity to power

We started, how could it be otherwise by iWork, the office suite created by Apple, for Apple and for Apple people. This we will have to take into account since it will mark some of its key characteristics that make it strong and weak at the same time.

This pack consists of Pages (word processor), Numbers (spreadsheets) and Keynote (slide show) all these applications with their corresponding touch apple What is that touch? Well, the creativity, dynamism, multiplying the possibilities to give a simple file that touch of life. Let's say you depart from the monotony and sobriety of Microsoft, without this representing a loss of functionality. Moreover, in aspects such as synchronization with devices, Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), touches perfection since, iWork, works directly with iCloud, the same as you Mac. Refering to compatibility with Microsoft files (which has always been questioned), it must be said that surprise, since these can be opened and edited by all the App's of  iWork (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) without any problem.

Obviously not everything is going to be good. Within the less good part, it should be noted that iWork can leave something to be desired in purely professional uses, what Microsoft calls the Business pack, does not implement it Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),. And that is why Office is the most widespread suite for professional uses, because it focuses on work, leaving behind creative aspects that, according to Microsoft and all its clients, will already be used in less "serious" areas.

Office, efficiency of always, price of always

By allusions, we will continue with the most recent important addition to the App Store, the pack Microsoft Office, composed, of course, of Word, Excel y PowerPoint.

In the first place and as we already saw in another post on this same page, has arrived late and wrong. Starting from that base, it seems that we are not going to be able to say anything good, but let's not forget that these are Microsoft applications, with what all this entails, bad and good (as happened with Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),). By this I mean that they are applications with a very powerful name behind, that most of us recognize and quickly associate with operation, effectiveness and have been working with them for years so, however new they are, "They will never catch us again".

In this sense, the three applications of the Office suite are easy to use, intuitive, although it is paradoxical, simple and familiar. BUT they are not focused on a medium-low user who in their daily life does not exceed three or four documents a week. Given its price, (The pack that allows document editing, Office 365, requires a subscription of 99 Euros per year) the user who decides to pay it, has to work practically all day with spreadsheets or Word documents, to really take advantage of paying that amount. On this side, it is again shown that Office for iPad is primarily for professional use. 

I can't stop talking about Office without highlighting something that seems basic to me. In the aspect of synchronization of documents with other devices (for example iPad-PC) these applications leave a lot to be desired, since, literally, they force you to use their cloud: "One Drive", leaving aside options as widespread (or more) as they are "Google Drive ”or“ Dropbox ” (and obviously I imagine they have considered iCloud).

Google Drive, the great unknown

Finally we find Another alternative, quieter and therefore less known, but with quite potential and at the same level of functionality than the previous two. We are talking about Google drive, Google's office suite. First of all, it must be said that it is completely Delivery to Italy takes one or two business days, by this I mean that from the first minute you can view and edit documents, no need for subscriptions, not even annually, to any additional services, which makes this group of Apps a opción clear for users amateur. Ease of use is also a point in its favor, with a clean and intuitive interface, although something limited when editing slides as it does not allow you to enter notes or comments to them. The synchronization, as in the case of iWork is quite effective, allowing the option of simultaneous work and making the changes visible practically instantly, in this case said synchronization is done through Google drive or Dropbox. Regarding the compatibility with the formats of other suites, it must be taken into account that it is perfectly compatible with any of them.

Conclusion

After this brief exhibition of benefits and defects of what they currently are the most advanced Apps as far as office automation is concerned, we should conclude with a small recommendation when choosing one or the other. My recommendation, based on personal experience, is that you owe guide through the use that you are really going to give the applications, and more considering that one of them (Office) has a subscription cost of 99 Euros in its full version. For this reason, if the use is not going to happen a couple of Word documents, a spreadsheet and another slideshow a week for college, university or work (and as long as you want to edit them with the iPad or iPhone) don't even bother considering the option to download Office for iOS (I would opt directly for iWork), but nevertheless if the use that you are going to give it is professional, that is, from the morning you have to handle a lot of data, write formal or professional texts and at the same time organize a slideshow for a super important client, without a doubt, you value the Office option. Personally, for professional use, I would still stick with iWork, but for tastes, colors and my fanaticism.

In this summary table you can see more clearly what is offered by each suite:

	Reading documents	Editing files	Space with the Free version	Extra space
Office for iPad	Free	From 79 euros per year	7 GB on OneDrive	From 50 to 200 GB from 25 euros per year
iWork	Free	Free	5 GB in iCloud	From 10 to 50 additional GB from 16 euros per year
Google Drive	Free	Free	15 GB on Google Drive	From 100 GB to 30 TB from 23,88 euros per year