Edit word documents on ipad and sync

Question

Level 1

3 points

Edit word documents on ipad and sync

An older and not computer savvy relative wants to be able to create or edit documents on his ipad and then be able to access and edit the document in Word on his pc (syncing would be best, rather than having to email or manually upload and download). He'd like the ipad editor to include tabs (or columns or tables) and the usual font, bold, italics, etc.

The closest I can find is Google Drive, but that won't do tabs (or columns or tables) on the ipad.

Pages will do all the formatting on the ipad, but syncing and coordinating with Word don't seem to be as simple a process as he needs (at least that's my conclusion after reading some posts here).

Quick Office Pro won't do tabs, columns or tables. The other ipad apps I've seen have poor reviews or feature sets.

It's an ipad 2 running ios 5.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

iPad 2, iOS 4.3.3

Posted on Oct 6, 2012 4:44 PM

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Answer 1

Diavonex

Level 9

67,259 points

Oct 6, 2012 4:48 PM in response to drwhosong

Have a look at the following:

http://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/quickoffice-pro-hd-edit-office/id376212724?mt=8&l s=1

http://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/office2-hd/id364361728?mt=8&ls=1

http://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/documents-to-go-premium-office/id317107309?mt=8&l s=1

http://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/polaris-office/id513188658?mt=8&ls=1

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Answer 2

drwhosong Author

Level 1

3 points

Oct 6, 2012 5:00 PM in response to Diavonex

Quick Office won't do tabs, etc.

Office 2 has been getting terrible reviews recently

Documents to Go won't do tabs, etc.

Polaris is a possibility. I'll have to do some more research on it.

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Answer 3

Ralph9430

Level 7

21,998 points

Oct 6, 2012 5:19 PM in response to drwhosong

The Pages app will save in WordFormat. Prepare the doc on the iPad using Pages. Then use the Share and Print choice in Pages to save to iTunes in Word format. When you connect the iPad to the computer running iTunes the docs will be in iTunes under the File Sharing section for Pages.

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Answer 4

Laxman25

Level 4

2,367 points

Oct 6, 2012 5:22 PM in response to drwhosong

Or any changes on pages will be available at www.icloud.com on the computer. They can grab the file from there and open on word. Just enable icloud(documents and data). That's what I do for work or school documents. I intermingle on alot of computers(pc or macs) that way.

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Answer 5

drwhosong Author

Level 1

3 points

Oct 6, 2012 5:24 PM in response to Ralph9430

Alas, he doesn't use iTunes. Having to use itunes, dealing with share choices, etc. is what I meant by not being as simple a process as he needs

Automatic syncing (e.g., Google Drive or Dropbox) would be much easier for him.

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Answer 6

drwhosong Author

Level 1

3 points

Oct 6, 2012 5:28 PM in response to Laxman25

What's the process for getting the file from icloud, opening in Word on a PC, then sending back to icloud for the ipad?

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Answer 7

Laxman25

Level 4

2,367 points

Oct 6, 2012 5:32 PM in response to drwhosong

On the iPad, make sure you have icloud enabled with your apple I'd. Make sure documents and data at least is ON. Download pages. When he creates a document etc, its automatically saved to icloud.

On any computer go to www.icloud.com

Select iWork, pages.

The document will be there.

You can open it in word, make changes, and just make sure you drag it back into icloud when your done.

When you open up pages again on your ipad, the new document will be there for you.

*just make sure any changes on a computer(pc) are saved and put back on icloud.com

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Answer 8

Laxman25

Level 4

2,367 points

Oct 6, 2012 5:35 PM in response to drwhosong

At work we use Microsoft office all the time.

I have pages, numbers, and keynote on my Mac and iPad. If I have any work to be done at home, I save whatever I am working on at work to icloud.com. Then I can make any changes on it at home. When I get to work, I open icloud.com and retrieve the documents.

Pages(word), numbers(excel), and keynote(PowerPoint) work well with each other. At least I haven't came across any problem.

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Answer 9

Demo

Level 10

166,747 points

Oct 6, 2012 5:38 PM in response to drwhosong

Assuming that he sets up iCloud on the iPad - go to Settings>Pages>Use iCloud>On. Also go to Settings>iCloud>Documents and Data>On.

when he works on a document in Pages on the iPad it will sync to his iCloud.com account. He can then log into iCloud.com on his PC, click on the iWorks icon at the top and then click on the Pages tab at the top. All of his Pages documents will be in the next window. He can click on a document and then download it and one of the options will be to download it as a Word document. He can close the browser window and quit the browser as well.

He can work on the file on the PC - open the browser again, log into his icloud.com account, click on iWorks, click on Pages and then drag it back into the browser window.

When he launches Pages on his iPad, the edited document will appear in Pages.

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Answer 10

drwhosong Author

Level 1

3 points

Oct 7, 2012 5:18 AM in response to drwhosong

Some reviewers on itunes of the latest version of Pages (1.6.2 September 19) say there's now Dropbox support, but I can't find any other information.

Polaris and Pages seem the best alternatives, but I haven't been able to find any detailed comparisons, although this person prefers Polaris https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4373813

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