Delighted with Numbers

[Dagwood]

Some feedback having decided to purchase Numbers.
Having read a number of adverse comments I took my time over the numerous headings designed to help users in the Getting Started sample worksheet. This I found really helpful as it is interactive and you can try out the hints on the sample without having to leave to create one for yourself.
In the first three days of use I have created a number of "spreadsheets" designed to assist in our forthcoming house move.
One is a proper spreadsheet with columns,rows,totals and formulas designed to calculate varying sums of money dependant on differing costs and purchase prices.
The second is a Things to Do worksheet which used a dummy format supplied within the App. It gives me a basic list which I can easily insert rows into; tick boxes to show jobs completed; finally there is a date completed column. If I need additional columns and headings I an add them easily.
Finally I have a simple spreadsheet for showing boxes,contents,location and a numbering system.
Aware of people's concerns about losing info I made sure I could use the easily understood Share facility and in just a few seconds am able to send myself an e-mail with a copy of any spreadsheet in either PDF , xls, or Numbers format, the first two opened perfectly on both iPad and PC but the Numbers format was jumbled. I don't know why but will investigate.The PDF versions I was able to save to iBooks for easy viewing.
I see there is a facility to use iCloud for backups and storage but although there is a help tab for this it fails to explain how this is used. Again I need to investigate.
So far I am very impressed by an App that costs the princely sum of ?6.99 and have not experienced any of the problems suggested by others.
Dagwood

 

[twerppoet]

Glad you like it. It's missing a few high end features, but most of us don't need those. As long as you don't need to edit the same document on both a PC and the iPad, it's an excellent solution.

 

[giradman]

Hi Dagwood - thanks for your thoughts on Numbers - the app is on my iPad and a nice program for that platform; I've not use it that much so far, but share Twerppoet's comments - NOW, for clarification, I'm assuming that your price quote is in Pounds - the USA price is $10 - Dave

 

[Dagwood]

Hi there. Giradman, The price is in pounds as you point out. For some reason the pound sign gets changed on this and a couple of other sites I use.
I've been trying together iCloud to work with Numbers but have had no success yet and cannot see where I'm going wrong.When I get it to work I was hoping it would be possible to open it using Works on my PC. From the post by Twerppoet it appears that might not be the case. Thanks for both your responses.
Dagwood

 

[Dagwood]

trying to get iCloud to work with Numbers but have had no success yet and cannot see where I'm going wrong.

I've tried everything I can think of to get my spreadsheets to appear in iCloud but cannot get it to work. I have two iCloud accounts provided by Apple. I can see them on my iPad and can receive e-mails; I have also switched on everything that should be switched on in my Settings;still no joy in seeing the spreadsheets appear in iCloud. The instruction provided in the App is skimpy and I've looked at various forums (or is it forii?) and can see others have had problems with few answers different to what I have tried.
Do others here have the same problem. Any suggestions as to what to try next most welcome
Dagwood
ps as a last resort I know I can just post a copy into DropBox but that's not how it's supposed to be.

 

[AQ_OC]

I don't have Numbers but I have Keynote and Pages and I can see my files in iCloud. I did note that it sometimes takes a while for iCloud to update...and I do believe that sometimes I can be "down" and you have to wait even longer for iCloud to sync.

 

[twerppoet]

Two things have to be turned on before the iWorks apps will sync documents in iCloud.

The first, and most obvious, is turning on iCloud in Settings for that app. The second is to go to Settings > iCloud and make sure that Documents and Data is ON. You can check to see if documents are getting to iCloud by visiting icloud.com in a computer browser.

Do not use document syncing in iCloud as a substitute for backing them up elsewhere. Because changes propagate very quickly (including document deletion) chance are that any mistakes or changes will be in iCloud and/or the other devices before you can catch and correct them.

Good luck.

 

[Dagwood]

I don't have Numbers but I have Keynote and Pages and I can see my files in iCloud. ..............

Thanks AQ_OC, do you access iCloud via a sign-in or does it ( or should I say Pages and keynote data) appear when you login to your e-mails? I guess I'm wondering if there are two parts to iCloud i.e. one for e-mail and one for data. I guess my knowledge of iCloud and how it is used is somewhat pathetic!
Dagwood

Sorry, but I sent this before I saw Trerppoet's post!

 

[Dagwood]

Thanks Guys for your replies.
I have made sure both Settings and Documents and Data are on. I'll follow your advice re visiting iCloud.com........tomorrow! It's past my bedtime here in the UK. I'll let you know how I get on.
Dagwood

 

[MarkBat]

iOS and PC worlds meeting - even a little bit?

Glad you like it. It's missing a few high end features, but most of us don't need those. As long as you don't need to edit the same document on both a PC and the iPad, it's an excellent solution.

So what IS a good app if you need to be able to edit a spreadsheet on both my shiny new iPad and my workhorse Windows laptop? My office, and nearly every business our company works with, is very Windows-centric in terms of daily operations and utilise Excel (and Word and Powerpoint) on a daily basis. I would like to be able to use my iPad to, for example, review an XLS/XLSX file attached to an email, and possibly even save it down (or up, I guess, to iCloud/DropBox/whatever - this is day 4 of being an iPad owner, if you can't tell...), edit in a few changes and send it back to someone. I know Microsoft in their deliriousness think that if they never release Office for iOS then Apple will eventually shrivel up and die, but until then I would at least like to be able to shuffle a little between the two worlds...

Ditto in regard to Word and Powerpoint documents as well. I gather Pages and Keynote seem to be well regarded for thier respective functions, but do they similarly fit into your "as long as you don't need to edit the same document on both PC and iPad" qualifier?

 

[giradman]

Hi Mark... - welcome to the forum!

Please check this Recent Thread - I left several posts concerning iWork which may be useful to you? This topic is oft discussed in the forum, so you might also want to try a search - good luck. Dave

 

[twerppoet]

So what IS a good app if you need to be able to edit a spreadsheet on both my shiny new iPad and my workhorse Windows laptop? My office, and nearly every business our company works with, is very Windows-centric in terms of daily operations and utilise Excel (and Word and Powerpoint) on a daily basis. I would like to be able to use my iPad to, for example, review an XLS/XLSX file attached to an email, and possibly even save it down (or up, I guess, to iCloud/DropBox/whatever - this is day 4 of being an iPad owner, if you can't tell...), edit in a few changes and send it back to someone. I know Microsoft in their deliriousness think that if they never release Office for iOS then Apple will eventually shrivel up and die, but until then I would at least like to be able to shuffle a little between the two worlds...

Ditto in regard to Word and Powerpoint documents as well. I gather Pages and Keynote seem to be well regarded for thier respective functions, but do they similarly fit into your "as long as you don't need to edit the same document on both PC and iPad" qualifier?

I can't speak to what features are available in other office suite apps, since I don't use them. The main problem with the iWorks apps is that they convert the document to/from the Office formats. In any conversion there are at least minor errors. This isn't a bit deal if you convert it once, so you can import/export a document to the other platform, but if you keep converting the document back and forth the errors will accumulate.

Microsoft has, finally, released an app for the iPad. It's called Office Mobile. My understanding is that it is pretty limited in what it will let you do on the iPad, and you need an Office 365 account to use it. If you already have the account, or are willing to pay for one, it may be what you want.

The most compatible and powerful apps are CloudOn and OnLive. They run actual Office apps on a remote server. The downsides are that you need an internet connection (a good one) to run the apps, there may be lag due to the remote nature of the apps, and the user interface isn't the best, being a kind of modified touch setup instead of built for touch from the ground up.

Some of the other popular apps are QuickOffice, Office Pro HD, and Polaris Office; among others that I can't call to mind at the moment. As giradman said, there are lots of threads here discussing the merits of the various office compatible apps.

 

[MarkBat]

Great info and feedback giradman and twerppoet - many thanks. I did try doing a search, but terms like "word" and "office" tend to bring back way too manby threads to be useful, and in fact gathering that Numbers is one of the more popular iPad productivity apps I grabbed this thread with both hands when I saw the subject line...

A cloud-based service for something as fundamental as this is of little interest to me, since there will be many times when I'm in some remote part of the world -or even suburbs in my own city for that matter - where 3G coverage is crap, let alone there being availability of wifi, that I'll want to use some downtime to review/edit a document. Or even just sitting on a plane crossing the Pacific or Europe or whatever and can't be bothered cranking open my PC and firing it up. The idea of being able to watch a movie of my choice if one of airline ones doesn't appeal, do a bit of work, then read a book all on one tiny little transportable device is pretty appealing.

I'll look into the thread you referred to giradman, as well as those products you've mentioned twerppoet, and see where those investigations take me.

If anyopne thinks of anything else or has any other feedback then PM me or add to the thread further.

Again, many thanks.
Mark