If you’re a Google Drive user, you will want to check the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for updates for the mobile apps. When Google Drive was released on iOS, I was disappointed to find that it couldn’t edit documents on mobile devices. That changes today, as Google Drive finally supports creating editing documents on iOS. It boggles the mind that Google didn’t include these basic features right out of the box.
Those on Apple’s device can edit documents with rich text. Users have the option to change background colors, fonts, and indent. Also new is the ‘presentation’ mode where Slides can be set to full screen. This is great, especially for people who want to give presentations with iPad mirroring over AirPlay or using cable.
The new features don’t stop there. iOS users can now upload files and photos directly to their Google Drive. This makes backing up your local files or photos super simple. Organization has also improved with the ability to create folders and move/delete files.
While editing features were already present on Android devices, commenting wasn’t. Android users get the additional feature of commenting over their iOS brethren. Both operating systems still support sharing with easy toggles to keep a document for offline viewing and editing.
Google still has a bunch of work to do to make Google Drive more usable. Notably absent is the ability to edit spreadsheets. Only presentations and word documents can be edited on mobile devices at the moment. With the latest updates to Google Drive for iOS though, it’s nice to see that Google is dedicated to supporting its products on rival operating systems.
