SmartOffice - Document Editing Reviews

by AGean18

SmartOffice is not user friendly at all. When I delete a document it doesn’t delete. When I try to edit, it rarely lets me and Ive even emailed for help, do everything they say and still no luck. I am trying to edit documents in from my google drive. I hate this. It was a waste of money.

by Classicmonsta

Paid for SmartOffice first month. But whenI copy a text from my mail it cannot paste into the document. Why? I will discontinue my subscription. It is useless.

by Lolafj

SmartOffice is collapsing while you are writing by itself. I hope they can look in to it. It’s really horrible.

by Dadodane

Yet another developer trying to get more money. No consideration for existing paid users.

by Hytrdesw

Brother Printer used to work with the old version, now it doesn't. Printer is on the supported list DCP-8085DN. If I can get it to work I'll update my review.

by R.d.wilson

App is unstable and buggy. When opening app in Keynote and then sending it to Smart Office 2 to open, it asks format, I choose PowerPoint and it opens in Smart Office 2, only to be a blank presentation with 0 kb in size. Other issues: pull down menu bar while in a document is intermittent. It will pop up at times and not pop up at times. Does not auto save, and despite trying multiple newer wifi printers (7 in all) I could not get it to print to one of them. It just keeps showing "Apple Air Print" as the printer? I tried to delete the PowerPoint file I brought over from Keynote, and it either freezes or crashes when I hit the delete button, when it actually shows up as this is intermittent as well. The user interface is garbage and very hard to figure out, and trust me when I say figure out because the guide with it is useless and appears to be written by a 3rd grader. SmartOffice is nowhere near advertised in my opinion. Quickoffice is a much better app. I just wish it had wireless printing built into SmartOffice .

by Gwguger

Another reviewer said the program was great, but the user interface could be 'streamlined a bit.'

Yes, it works. I am thankful that it works. I am also very thankful that it syncs with Google Docs, and one can indeed edit a Google Doc.

But the user interface is downright horrifying. Notice how in all of the screen shots above, you really can't tell what the heck is going on. It's like that in the program too. Editing cells in a spreadsheet is like torturing a child. A giant iPad-sized screen opens every time you manage to figure out how to edit a cell, asking for the cell's input. You cannot use an external keyboard's arrows to navigate. Sparkles and glitter adorn so many buttons, you might think it was inspired by a 14-year-old girl who was just given a Bedazzler and the year is 1986.

You will actually have GUI nightmares if you use this software too long.

However, at the awesome price of free, I give it 3 stars for being functional in the strictest sense of the word.

UPDATE:
I've tried accessing other Google Docs, and it was fully incapable. It's also incapable of saving to a Google Doc. Why ever anyone would give this Bedazzled app 5 stars is beyond me, but it had nothing to do with Google Docs. Down to two stars, because it no longer meets the strictest definition of the word 'functional.'

by Kathy562

I have had SmartOffice for about a month now when it was free. I tried it a couple of times and could not understand how to edit and all i would get would be that menu bar on the option to zoom in and out. I decided to use it today and i finally discovered how to highlight certain parts to make changes. This is not user friendly at all. I am sorry but I see so much potential that you all still lack. Additionally, i use my own keyboard and my commands there do not work at all so can't navigate at all :/ I am only giving it two stars because it gets the work done and it was free. Like I said, not user friendly but I'm in finals away from my laptop in need of writing a paper and this is doing the trick and allowing me to change the font sizes and settings,something I cannot do on google docs alone. I hope you have a better time with SmartOffice.

by EmilySylv

I am using this on an iPad4. I keep getting issues where the UI becomes unresponsive. Because of this I cannot save my work or even copy and paste it to a different program so I can open and close it! This has caused me to lose some work, but not a ton. I won't be using this any more because it just happens so often and I could only imagine losing several pages worth of work.

Other general annoyances: whenever you move the cursor, it is in caps even if you're in the middle of a lower case word. Just irritating. Formatting tools aren't easily available which is frustrating. The program can't figure out if I want to move around on a page or zoom in. So instead it just kind of spazzes out.

This could be a great program. It looks good and has quite a bit of functionality. But these bugs just kill it and have made me look elsewhere.

by _L_P_

Difficult to the point of impossible to compose or edit documents in this.

The touch-screen is unresponsive to tapping, often taking several tries to move the cursor.

Hightlighted words behave irregularly - sometimes typing with a word highlighted will replace it, sometimes the typing will be ignored. And even when SmartOffice does replace that word, its "interface bar" sits there and flickers for several seconds before processing the typing.

It's nearly impossible to move the cursor to the end of a line and, sometimes, when editing reaches the end of the line the cursor simply vanishes, and any further typing goes nowhere.

This poor behavior is aggravated by the fact that SmartOffice *ignores* the arrow keys on a bluetooth keyboard, meaning that often the only way to make even a small edit is to highlight a subsequent word, delete back from it, and then retype the line with the desired correction.

Assuming you can get the highlighted word to notice that you're trying to delete it.

Perhaps a better app if you're just viewing documents (in which case, why not save and view a PDF, for which there are more stable platforms) - but not a good editor.

A bunch of other irritating aspects as well - the constant nagging to sign up for their newsletter, for instance.

Nor can I figure out how to make it save a file to Dropbox, but that may simply be because I'm not willing to spend any more time using SmartOffice until it's significantly improved.

by Quincemaestra

Please if you are using SmartOffice, never turn it completely off (you know...the double tapping of the home button then x-ing it out?). I think this was the source of my problems. I can no longer open any of my files that I had been working on. Getting over the little things like slight delays in processing what I have typed and lack of a menu to guide users towards what they are trying to do...these were easy to ignore. The issue is that I use my iPad for school work during class and we are currently playing monopoly (accounting style). All of my journal entries and postings to my ledger have now been deleted and I must rely on my partner and cross my fingers that he has everything as well. It all started when I x-ed out of SmartOffice completely. Now all I get is a message that says smart office cannot view the files. If anyone has a solution, please post.

by RoscoePete

SmartOffice initially seemed like a good deal, it was on sale and I grabbed it, I was hoping they would improve it. Here's why it's terrible:

1) the interface is horrible, from the first menu screen, all the way to workin with documents. The menus don't tell you what the icons mean, which is how you navigate, you basically have to press the icons hoping you get where you want to be. Working with documents will leave you frustrated, you have to learn and remember that all functions are hidden away until you tap at the top of the screen near the status bar

2) if you need to edit or select a particular set of words, you have to use this system which is so unintuitive and clunky which should have been replaced with the one Apple and nearly every other app uses for cut, copy, paste, and select

These two problems stay with you in every part of SmartOffice , from word docs, to presentations, to spreadsheets,

Then there is a terrible resolution that is such an eyesore, makes you wonder how someone approved of this and thought it was something the customers would like.

Overall, SmartOffice does what you need if you can tolerate the huge shortcomings of SmartOffice , but I can't recommend it, I'm glad I have Apple's Pages.

SmartOffice is a visual hell and will have you scratching you head

by Ronald Mark

I use it extensively and frequently. I would like to see Tables added to the Format in Word. Also in the spreadsheets, the return key to move to next cell would be useful

by JohnnyBravo3

I don't normally write reviews because I figure they aren't really noticed. But today I decided to write one because I'm sick of SmartOffice. It's a great app for those who need to use their iPad for work related things. In fact thats why I use it. But SmartOffice needs an update. Like its already been said sometimes SmartOffice does a weird automatic capitalization thing. Also when I reach the end of a line on a page, SmartOffice stops my typing so that each line I have to literally press the page and line to continue typing. Finally when something is highlighted it won't let me press delete, or do anything on my keyboard or keypad. SmartOffice is potentially the last step to really making my iPad a tablet mac, and if SmartOffice would work right, then I would be able to accomplish that. They need to update SmartOffice

by Aydan2010jorge

New review. This is for the support. When I use SmartOffice in the vertical position and I am in format menu the body pages don't show all the time. It's like it picks and chooses when to appear, but when the phone in horizontal view the body menu is there. Please fix small bug. Thanks.

Everything on SmartOffice is great. I use it for work and papers I do on the side one thing if needed noted, need to put a spacing bar with headings other things people in the work place use on the work on a daily basis. Front and wordage is great, but need that. Because I have to go on my computer making spacing. Heading the front to a standard size. Etc. you get my point. Need that because sometimes us business people need that because we can get on our computers to edit and send a report or draft. Good app. Need that though.

by Timbo103108

I use Docs to Go on my Nexus 7. The iOS app has horrid reviews so I got this one instead. It's like the lesser of two evils. It's awesome if you have to quick type a paragraph or two, or edit a couple of things in a document that you import from Dropbox. The biggest thing it is missing is the ability to format double spacing for MLA format. If you import a document that is already formatted its fine. But you can't create one with it. The developer said they don't have plans to integrate this BASIC feature. I would love to go back to Docs to Go, but not for $15. I will just type on my tablet for now.

Once again, great app for a quick edit and definitely worth picking up for free.

by Power-tool-guy

I absolutely love the improvements you made for spreadsheets ... it's now so easy for me to keep track of finances and credit card charges. Thanks ... I highly recommend for anyone needing spreadsheets.

by ZenLizard

I had trouble registering, but found out it was due to exceptionally high server traffic, so I registered without problems today. Now everything is working great, and I'm getting used to how everything works. The fact that it supports inserting images (and most of the others don't), is stable, easy, and has good dropbox integration makes it a 5 star app. By the way, another reviewer claimed that presentation slides can not be deleted. Not true. I had no problem deleting slides I didn't need from the templates. I'll bet that more claims about what it "won't do" are also a result of user ignorance. It would br nice if people would hold off on submitting damaging reviews until AFTER they have learned to use an app.

by Geekhunter

Yes, there are some unusual issues that need to be ironed out, but...overall this is an excellent app. The interface is really quite creative and that may account for some confusion when using it. For instance, there have been complaints about text editing. What I figured out is that you simply have to point your finger just below the area that you want the cursor to move to and it works just fine! Actually it's more intuitive than putting the pad of your finger on top of the text you are editing where you can't see anything once your finger is in the way. Just takes some getting used to. One odd point is that I CAN open docs from Google Docs and CAN save them on the iPad if I want. I CAN open docs from DropBox but CANNOT save the document locally? Why? Like I said a few rough spots but overall a very useful product with a slick and creative interface. Keep up the good work! BTW: would love to see a customized keyboard optimized for document editing like found in other apps (e.g., move cursor arrows, etc.).

by Mack2Nite

Ok you do not have 100% full capability of the Official Microsoft Word & Excel but this program is awesome. I can email word or excel file from my laptop to my IPad, import them, edit, and email it back out. I can even save the file to my IPad. I can also wirelessly print that doc or spreadsheet because It locates wireless printers. Fonts, colors, formatting is all there. It's clean and smooth. It will take a short bit to get accustom to entering data when working with spreadsheets but Its still fully functional to what I need it for. You can save a few dollars by buying cheaper programs like Documents 2 but prepare yourself for the frustrations that are inherent of cheap programs that have a serious lack of format ability and functionality. Im not a Microsoft power user. I use word and excel to do my school work and also to manage the contracts and order forms for my catering business. This program does everything I need. I have no complaints for $10.