Excel Apps for Android: Documents to Go

Educators looking for ways to integrate tablet devices into their daily work may be interested to know that there are a variety of apps out there that allow access to Excel workbooks. None are particularly fancy---you will not have the same functionality as with Excel software. But there's no harm in looking for things which allow for basic data collection and analysis. Previously in this series, we looked at OfficeSuite and QuickOffice. Today, let's talk about Documents to Go. More specifically, "Sheet to Go". I'm really trying not to make a joke about "the runs" here, but hey, they started it. Don't they know I'm really 12 years old inside?

I really want to like Documents to Go. I remember using this with my Palm OS devices and it was such a handy app. For Android, there is a Main App version that is free. With this version, you can view Office documents, but you can't create or edit them. To do that, you need the Full Version ($14.99).

  

First, the good news. (This won't take long.) Color formatting remained. And, this is the only app that keeps the hidden sheet I inserted in the workbook hidden. Other than that, I don't have much else that's nice to say about the way this app displays my sheet. Borders are gone. No text wrap. No graphs...sorta. If I click the pie chart (!) icon in the upper righthand corner, it gives me the option to see the two graphs.

Moving on. What happens when I add data?

Actually, we're a bit better off than with OfficeSuite. At least my formulas still work. And the graphs? They're building, too. Data input-wise, it's got its Sheet together. Ahem.

Your editing options are less fancy than QuickOffice. This is not an app that will do any sort of heavy lifting if you need to write formulas or build a workbook. Kind of a "look, but don't touch" approach.

How does it treat worksheets that you just want to look at, then?

It's not too bad. Like QuickOffice, it keeps my original formatting, but the numbers are a bit easier to read. Out of the three apps we've looked at so far, this is the only one that also kept the formatting for the graphs.

So, if you need to take your Sheet on the Run, then Documents to Go does a passable job. I still like the versatility of QuickOffice better, but the fact that Documents to Go has a free version is a great entry point for a teacher who just wants to think about how to integrate their Excel documents with a tablet device before ponying up some money. This Sheet don't stink.

This is the end of the app reviews---at least for apps which don't require a 3G or wifi connection. We'll take a look at Docs in the next post.