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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Google Docs on the iPad

Since I use Google Docs quite extensively in my class, I took some time to play around with Google Docs on my iPad to see how it functions.  There are two versions - the mobile version and the desktop version which can be used on the iPad.  Below is a copy of notes from an actual Google Doc that I created and edited primarily from my iPad, but I also occasionally had my laptop open to check how things were updating on either side.  And I shared it with Matt, who added to it as well (where noted).

iPad Google Docs Notes

You can create a Doc or Spreadsheet
You can edit a Doc
You can't share a Doc on an iPad
You see live typing on computer from iPad and from iPad to computer (although on mobile version you have to hit refresh for it to update)
2 versions of Google Docs on the iPad - mobile and Desktop (although it seems to be a bit limited - so far I found you can't share)
mobile version seems to be quite limited, although the pace of innovation with all of this stuff is so rapid-I wouldn't be surprised to see improved functionality soon (Matt)

Notes on Desktop Version
You can see & type in chat
I can't seem to highlight text on the desktop version on the iPad
I just found highlighting with two finger swiping
so doing things with the toolbar like bold and underline and color have to be done before typing
You can't seem to zoom to get better control on the menus (to make them bigger so you can be sure what you are clicking on)

According to Google (when clicking on New Features):

Mobile editing in Google Docs
You can now edit text documents and create both text documents and spreadsheets on your mobile device. (It also says you can edit spreadsheets)
Here's a link for more: http://www.google.com/mobile/docs/
And you can view anything in your Google Docs (including PDFs)

-- Sarah

2 comments:

Jole said...

Thanks for this rundown, Sarah!
What about Google Calendars on the iPad? Has anyone looked into that? I know it wasn't working so well 6 months ago...or maybe there was an app I needed?

Christina said...

I use it fairly regularly through the internet and it works really quite well. There may be an app for that but as with the email system, I prefer using the internet version instead of the app. Somehow the app is more limiting than going to the actual website which kind of defeats the point.

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