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First Look: Spreadsheet for iPhone

Softalk, a UK development firm known for their messaging and productivity solutions, has released the first iPhone spreadsheet application. The application has the really original name Spreadsheet, costs US$7.99, and is available now from the App Store (click opens iTunes).

The first release features over 50 functions and the ability to email spreadsheets created on the iPhone to Mac or PC for further editing. The function list includes:

Date/time functions -- DATE, DATEADD, DAY, DAYABBREV, DAYNAME, HOUR, LASTDAY, MINUTE, MONTH, MONTHABBREV, MONTHNAME, NOW, SECOND, TIME, TODAY, YEAR

General functions -- COL, COUNT, ROW

Math function -- ABS, CEILING, EVEN, EXP, FACTORIAL, FLOOR, LOG, LOG10, MAX, MIN, ODD, POWER, ROUND, SQRT, SUM

Statistical functions -- AVE, MEDIAN, MODE

String functions -- CONCATENATE, LEFT, LOWER, MID, RIGHT, UPPER

Trignometry functions -- ACOS, ASIN, ATAN, COS, COSH, PI, SIN, SINH, TAN, TANH

The initial App Store reviews of Spreadsheet aren't exactly glowing, which is why TUAW will be doing a detailed review in the near future.

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Softalk, a UK development firm known for their messaging and productivity solutions, has released the first iPhone spreadsheet application....
 

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adb

Well, I guess I'll have to disagree with most of the folks. I had been looking for a multifield checklist (like the ListPro I used with Windows Mobile), and this works pretty well. Only big missing function for me is sorting; future updates will apparently include importing Excel files.

Only functionality issue I had was hitting exactly the right spot to start data entry for a given cell; I never had a problem hitting the correct icon along the bottom of the screen.

And why is this better than Google Docs? Because roaming rates in Europe are obscene, and I'd prefer something native. My recent trip to the Paris Auto Show would have cost a hell of a lot more than $8 had I been downloading and uploading spreadsheet data the whole time.

October 07 2008 at 7:23 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
JimGramze

I purchased this app knee jerk and then read the reviews. Very stupid of me. I don't use Google Spreadsheet because I don't have internet access away from home on my Touch.

Ignoring how it crashes and putting functions in functions is an absolute nightmare at best, division is the worst problem.

The thing only does integer division. You can enter all the decimals you want but if you divide, first it truncates the numbers to integers (invisibly) and then does the math. This makes for some very inaccurate results to simple math.

This division problem along with many others are being addressed, according to their website, in the next update.

Also, this is the second, not the first spreadsheet app. The first was so feature poor as to not warrant my attention.

October 04 2008 at 10:25 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
frank d

Doesn't that look like too much data shown on screen for the limited screen resolution the iPhone has?

October 02 2008 at 9:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rowan

Why bag an app you haven't used? 'looks like a usability nightmare' I have no connection with the author of this app and do not intend to buy it, but it's existance fills a gap in the iPhone software set at the moment, I know a few business types that would not buy an iPhone without the ability to edit sheets basically on the road.

Give the author a chance I reckon, and say it's junk if you've used it, not just 'looks like junk'

Besides, I'd imagine it'll get updated.

People complain about 20+ flashlights and calculators and things like Koi Pond, and then when a spreadsheet editing app comes along it's ugly/unusable even by those who haven't actually used it.

But it might be crap, I don't know I haven't used it :)

October 02 2008 at 7:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Moose

Not only is it horrendous as noted by others, but it looks like a usability nightmare. That is way more icons along the bottom than there should be... If you think that typing is difficult, this is going to be impossible.

October 02 2008 at 5:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jonathan ober

@Tomahawk
...because iWork is Apple...Google Docs, not so much. Its all about integrating their product hardware/software lines as much as possible.

October 02 2008 at 5:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to jonathan ober's comment
Tomahawk

NO I agree with you about iWork, but why would anyone spend $7.99 on the spreadsheet application from Softalk when you can doo all this now for free through Google's Doc & Spreadsheets in Safari, and then better yet it's synched it's stored in the cloud, meaning you can access it from any computer anywhere.

October 02 2008 at 7:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rich

There's another good reason to use Google Apps: the functionality is far beyond what a bedroom developer can push out.

October 02 2008 at 8:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jonathan ober

Couldn't apple just make a mobile version of numbers/keynote/pages iwork suite?

I mean for numbers it would pretty much be this spreadsheet program just with the numbers look and feel.

Keynote could up the ante by being able to include photos you take into your presentations and be able to be outputted to a tv screen or other display. You could use the templates already made in iLife then click to include an image or change text. The keyboard area would have a new iWork color/font/editor (no marker felt here!).

Pages would be the same as Keynote, except pages templates. You could select from different layouts, just like in Pages.

Basically you are at home and getting ready to go on the road or flight and you have to make a presentation but dont have the time until you get in the air...laptop battery drains fast and is bulky so you upload your photos or text that you want onto the iphone. Once in the air you pull it out choose your template and start entering content. If you want to add a photo you double tap the photo in the template which brings up your photos. You can move it around and adjust colors, etc. Choose fonts from the new iWork keyboard maybe an 'iWork icon' in the place where the globe currently is (I have languages turned on).

When you are done you can upload to the cloud or transfer wirelessly to any computer or email.

What do you guys think? iWorkMobile...catchy and it could iWork for you!

October 02 2008 at 3:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
samsonsu

no financial functions for me to create a loan what-if worksheet?

October 02 2008 at 2:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mstrglss

So is there a copy and paste function?

October 02 2008 at 2:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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