X

2011 iPad Office Apps Showdown

The Apple iPad is a great for having fun and being entertained, but it also functions very well as a mobile work platform. This year we are looking at the 6 best Office apps/suites. Since there are no trials available we present you with over 100 screenshots and an extensive article, including summary tables, to help you make the most informed decision for your needs.
By Matthew Miller, Contributing Writer
6250551.jpg
1 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The Apple iPad is a great for having fun and being entertained, but it also functions very well as a mobile work platform. This year we are looking at the 6 best Office apps/suites. Since there are no trials available we present you with over 100 screenshots and an extensive article, including summary tables, to help you make the most informed decision for your needs.

Check out my full ZDNet Mobile Gadgeteer blog post with several pages of details and summary tables for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint comparisons.

6250552.jpg
2 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The file explorer supports drag and drop and is the main user interface you interact with in Quickoffice Pro HD.

6250553.jpg
3 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Tapping on the arrow to the right of the file name shows you a thumbnail preview and stats on your file.

6250554.jpg
4 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You can choose to create a new document from one of 6 formats.

6250555.jpg
5 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Quickoffice Pro HD has a very nice user interface for spreadsheets with easy navigation between worksheets along the bottom.

6250556.jpg
6 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There are several formats available for your numbers and tapping the arrow opens up even more options.

6250557.jpg
7 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The formula entry bar is positioned just above the spreadsheet and as you can see original formatting is maintained in Quickoffice Pro HD.

6250558.jpg
8 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Printing is supported, but even more useful to me is the ability to save documents directly into PDF format. You can now work on documents on the go and then email a PDF off to a client without worrying too much about manipulation after you send it out.

6250559.jpg
9 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

One reason I really like Quickoffice Pro HD is the user interface is excellent and reminds me of Apple's design with the use of color, large tappable areas, and much more.

6250560.jpg
10 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Finer formatting options are present for spreadsheets and include Apple rolling selectors and large buttons.

6250561.jpg
11 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Can you even compare your desktop Excel software with this slick ability to drag to align your cells?

6250562.jpg
12 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Easily change your font or cell color with this selection palette.

6250563.jpg
13 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Borders can be a pain on the desktop, but Quickoffice makes it easy as you can see with this utility.

6250564.jpg
14 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Even though Office apps are optimized for landscape orientation, they work just as well in portrait too.

6250565.jpg
15 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You can manage file transfers and cache and even enable security with Quickoffice Pro HD.

6250566.jpg
16 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The drag and drop functionality works when you wish to email or delete files too by simply tapping and holding and then sliding a file around towards the bottom of the display.

6250567.jpg
17 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The formatting support in the word processor is excellent in Quickoffice Pro HD and again advanced formatting is supported.

6250568.jpg
18 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The formatting utility is very similar to the one in the spreadsheet application and is located in the same upper right corner.

6250569.jpg
19 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Similar to cell alignment, you can align paragraphs by dragging in the utility.

6250570.jpg
20 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The color palette is also available for font and highlight colors.

6250571.jpg
21 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Quickoffice Pro HD is one of the few Office apps with full PowerPoint presentation support so you can actually create them on the go with just your iPad. Shape and image insertion is supported to help you create some amazing presentations.

6250572.jpg
22 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Most people like to place images in presentations and you can with Quickoffice Pro HD.

6250573.jpg
23 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Pictures and text can be inserted, resized, and easily moved around on the display.

6250574.jpg
24 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

While there may not be a ton of avaialble templates, Quickoffice Pro HD does give you the option to create as you desire.

6250575.jpg
25 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

This list shows that you can have documents from various online cloud services show up right on your iPad and Quickoffice provides the largest number of available services.

6250576.jpg
26 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

DataViz's Documents To Go product supports the same large number of cloud services as Quickoffice.

6250577.jpg
27 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Documents To Go has a lot of functionality, but as you can see the UI is not as elegant as Quickoffice Pro HD. The icons for formatting are at the bottom and have no color and could be more visible.

6250578.jpg
28 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You may miss the open menu down at the bottom left when you have a color spreadsheet opened for editing.

6250579.jpg
29 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Formatting options are also kind of lost down at the bottom, but as you can see most all of the ones you need are there.

6250580.jpg
30 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Tapping on More... opens up utilities that are much easier to see and use while editing or creating documents and some people may like working this way.

6250581.jpg
31 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

More formatting options for the cells are found at the bottom.

6250582.jpg
32 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Your spreadsheet can be managed in Documents To Go.

6250583.jpg
33 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Filtering and viewing options exist too.

6250584.jpg
34 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Unlike some of the tab options in other clients you get a large visual thumbnail when switching worksheets in Documents To Go.

6250585.jpg
35 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

A large number of functions are available to you for Excel spreadsheet creation.

6250586.jpg
36 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The main browser is where you can find files to open, view or edit in Documents To Go.

6250587.jpg
37 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

These are the new document options in Documents To Go and as you can see PowerPoint is also supported in this application.

6250588.jpg
38 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You can manage your documents and folders in the main user interface.

6250589.jpg
39 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Similar to the spreadsheet module, the word processor is not as visually stunning as you see on Quickoffice or iWorks.

6250590.jpg
40 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The More... formatting options are similar to what is seen in the spreadsheet program and quite capable.

6250591.jpg
41 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Alignment settings in the word processor.

6250592.jpg
42 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Bullets, numbering, and other outline and paragraph formatting options are provided.

6250593.jpg
43 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There are some statistics and search functions in Documents To Go.

6250594.jpg
44 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The presentation module is a bit limited in Documents To Go and is much better in Quickoffice. If presentation creation is a major factor then you may want to look elsewhere.

6250595.jpg
45 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You can easily move around the slides and view things differently.

6250596.jpg
46 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

It is easier to duplicate a slide and edit it than to try to create a brand new one.

6250597.jpg
47 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

This pop-up gives you a quick way to view the slides in your presentation.

6250598.jpg
48 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Office2 HD was a dark horse for me last year and was one of the cheapest options that was also one of the best in terms of functionality. As you can see here you can secure your documents and manage how they appear and are shared.

6250599.jpg
49 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

New presentations are also supported in Office2 HD. The left hand side is also where you manage your files and access them for editing.

6250600.jpg
50 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Office2 HD provides an experience that is a cross between Quickoffice and Documents To Go with easy tabs at the bottom and menu option icons at the top. The icons are a bit small and everything is in black and white though.

6250601.jpg
51 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Color does appear in options for your cells, just not in the interface of the application.

6250602.jpg
52 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The menu options are large and very understandable after you first tap the black and white icon in the top menu bar.

6250603.jpg
53 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Again, there is a quick function assistant to help you choose a function for your spreadsheet.

6250604.jpg
54 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Office2 HD supports a large number of online cloud services too.

6250605.jpg
55 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Images can be inserted into documents in Office2 HD.

6250606.jpg
56 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Tables can also be inserted in Word documents and Office2 HD even gives you a large number of default formats.

6250607.jpg
57 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Here you can see a new table being inserted into my document.

6250608.jpg
58 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Printer support is provided in Office2 HD.

6250609.jpg
59 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Menu options are typical for these apps in Office2 HD.

6250610.jpg
60 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You can create new presentations and as you can see the format is very similar to that found in DTG.

6250611.jpg
61 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Office2 HD actually gives you better options for choosing a starting layout for your slideshow.

6250612.jpg
62 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Presentations can be created on the go with Office2 HD.

6250613.jpg
63 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

When you first launch Smart Office then you will likely be impressed with the available templates to get you started. As you can see they are present for documents, presentations, and spreadsheets.

6250614.jpg
64 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

I didn't think there was many formatting options, but you first have to select text to see the options.

6250615.jpg
65 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The formatting options are not as visually appealing, but they might get the job done for some people.

6250616.jpg
66 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Too often the words were too small to work with and the application is not making good use of available space.

6250617.jpg
67 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

This is not a very user friendly interface.

6250618.jpg
68 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Some good functionality is present, but not in a way that makes you want to use the application.

6250619.jpg
69 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Again, a cell had to be selected for perform some formatting options.

6250620.jpg
70 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There are not as many number formats as the other programs.

6250621.jpg
71 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The function selector does not make good use of space and hides everything else on the screen.

6250622.jpg
72 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The function entry box is way too big and hides the spreadsheet you were working on.

6250623.jpg
73 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There is no option to create a presentation, but there is a word processor and spreadsheet utility.

6250624.jpg
74 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Document formatting is basic and the teeny tiny options for formatting and control are down in the far left corner. Compare this to the same document in other programs and you will likely skip this one.

6250625.jpg
75 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The formula wizard is large and clunky and there are not that many available formulas for the end user.

6250626.jpg
76 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Color can be added with the proper menu option.

6250627.jpg
77 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Apple is the king of visual interfaces and as you can see they make getting started with their iWork suite quick and easy. They are very limited in their cloud service syncing though.

6250628.jpg
78 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Pages looks nice, but some of the option buttons are a bit small and there is no color coding system.

6250629.jpg
79 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Photos, tables, charts, and shapes can be inserted into your document.

6250630.jpg
80 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There are various ways to share and print documents created in Pages.

6250631.jpg
81 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Some other settings in Pages.

6250632.jpg
82 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Alignment options are easy in Pages too.

6250633.jpg
83 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Bullets and numbers of various levels are supported here.

6250635.jpg
84 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The Numbers app is the spreadsheet part of iWork and as you can see there are very few templates avaialble for this application.

6250636.jpg
85 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

If you need to create charts of your data, Numbers is one of your only available options through your iPad.

6250637.jpg
86 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Charts are not just supported, they are enhanced in Numbers.

6250638.jpg
87 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Tables can be easily formatted in Numbers.

6250640.jpg
88 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Once you tap into a cell, several options appear in the lower half of the display and let you use the blue glowing toolbar options to switch between modes.

6250641.jpg
89 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Functions are available, as well as dynamically changing keypads as you figure out what you wish to enter.

6250642.jpg
90 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

A vast number of functions are supported in Numbers.

6250645.jpg
91 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There are plenty of options for formatting your cells.

6250647.jpg
92 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Header setup is easy to perform in Numbers.

6250648.jpg
93 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Similar to Pages and Numbers this application is visually attractive and capable.

6250649.jpg
94 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You start with a theme in Keynote so pick one out to begin.

6250650.jpg
95 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There are ways to tap and edit in Keynote.

6250651.jpg
96 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

It is easy to add a slide and as you can see different options off the shelf are provided.

6250652.jpg
97 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There is a toolbar in the upper right so you can manage your presentation.

6250653.jpg
98 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You can share or print your presentation too.

6250654.jpg
99 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There are several options for building your presentation.

6250656.jpg
100 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Tables, charts, shapes, and media can be inserted into your presentation.

6250657.jpg
101 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Photos can be added from your album.

6250659.jpg
102 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

iPad Office apps: gallery thumbnail 1

6250660.jpg
103 of 103 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

iPad Office apps: gallery thumbnail 2

Related Galleries

Holiday wallpaper for your phone: Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, and winter scenes
Holiday lights in Central Park background

Related Galleries

Holiday wallpaper for your phone: Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, and winter scenes

21 Photos
Winter backgrounds for your next virtual meeting
Wooden lodge in pine forest with heavy snow reflection on Lake O'hara at Yoho national park

Related Galleries

Winter backgrounds for your next virtual meeting

21 Photos
Holiday backgrounds for Zoom: Christmas cheer, New Year's Eve, Hanukkah and winter scenes
3D Rendering Christmas interior

Related Galleries

Holiday backgrounds for Zoom: Christmas cheer, New Year's Eve, Hanukkah and winter scenes

21 Photos
Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6: Electric vehicle extravaganza
img-8825

Related Galleries

Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6: Electric vehicle extravaganza

26 Photos
A weekend with Google's Chrome OS Flex
img-9792-2

Related Galleries

A weekend with Google's Chrome OS Flex

22 Photos
Cybersecurity flaws, customer experiences, smartphone losses, and more: ZDNet's research roundup
shutterstock-1024665187.jpg

Related Galleries

Cybersecurity flaws, customer experiences, smartphone losses, and more: ZDNet's research roundup

8 Photos
Inside a fake $20 '16TB external M.2 SSD'
Full of promises!

Related Galleries

Inside a fake $20 '16TB external M.2 SSD'

8 Photos