Google Spreadsheets can now be edited on Android mobile phones and iPhones. Up until now, all Google Docs (online docs, spreadsheets, and presentations) could only be viewed on mobile phones. Editable spreadsheets work inside the mobile browser, which for both Android and iPhone is based on Webkit.
Jonathan Rochelle, the senior product manager in charge of Google Spreadsheets, showed me the app on his Android G1 a couple weeks ago. As he added rows, edited, sorted, and filtered on his phone, the changes would automatically be reflected in the same spreadsheet on his desktop. (I took a photo of him doing this—with my iPhone, naturally). Each row can be edited by clicking on an “edit” link, and columns can be sorted via a box at the top of each one which then pops open an overlay screen that allows you to select each name or other variable you want to view in that column.
Another week, another Google product launches. Or almost launches in this case. Google hasn’t opened up Google Spreadsheets, an Ajax spreadsheet, to the general public yet but they have published a tour of what the product will look like once it actually does launch, and you can request an invitation to try it out.
Files can be imported in CSV or XLS formats, so excel documents and other spreadsheet files should work in Google Spreadsheets. Files can be saved in CSV, XLS and HTML formats.
The collaboration feature is excellent - multiple people can update a spreadsheet at the same time and chat with eachother while doing so.
Screenshots are below. While you are waiting for your invitation you may want to try out one of the other Ajax spreadsheet applications out there, such as ZohoSheet, iRows, or numsum. Zoho is putting together a very nice Ajax office suite, by the way. If you can’t wait for Google to bestow an invitation upon you, give it a try.
See all
Post
