QuickOffice Changes
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Come April 2014, cloud storage options will be limited to 1
For the last couple of years, I’ve used QuickOffice HD on my iPad for my writing when I am on the go. I am able to edit and open MS Word documents on Dropbox. This allows me to keep documents in sync, regardless of the changes I make on my Mac or on my iPad. The process is very smooth with very little issues [mostly weak signal data connections when saving a document]
When I used QuickOffice on my HP TouchPad [ver. 2.2.247], that added yet another device that worked with Dropbox [and other cloud storage services] for document editing. That all began to change in the last couple of months.
Google Buys QuickOffice
In July 2012, Google announced they had purchased QuickOffice. The product/app was pretty much left alone until September 19, 2013 when Google released it’s own update to QuickOffice, which is now free. The previous paid HD version was $9.99. The main difference between the free version and the paid HD version is the number of cloud storage services supported. The new and free QuickOffice only supports one cloud storage: Google Drive.
Google QuickOffice + Drive
The new QuickOffice logo… looks like Google Drive
With Google Drive being the only option, it severely limits the flexibility of where you can store your documents. Local to the mobile device is still an option, which works for any files you directly upload via iTunes or USB during a sync.
But this is a serious change. While I have until the end of March 2014 to use Dropbox for my cloud storage syncing, I need to look at something different as I don’t use Google Docs and Google Drive for my word processing needs.
Suggestions
What are others using for cloud-based document storage and app combinations? The newly released Pages for iPad, Mac and iCloud.com looks good for simple word processing. Also thinking about Documents To Go Premium, which is $16.99 but supports all of the cloud storage services.
Consider this a vote for Pages in iCloud.
Yeah, so far Pages has been really good, even if it’s got some features to re-add to the newer version.
I mostly use iWork apps now, but I have used DocsToGo successfully in the past.
I see that there’s something called “DOCUMENTS 2” that’s free today and lists Dropbox support. It only has a 3-star rating, so I expect there are issues.
I checked out the reviews for Documents 2 app. It seemed very lackluster to many of the users. I might have to go with the Documents To Go come the end of March if Pages isn’t adding back some of the features that got removed with the new update.