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Alternative MS Office app
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For Excel etc. There's Docs U, Documents to Go, Polaris, WPS Office, OfficeSuite, even Google's Sheets (not used any of these, just offering them up as suggestions).
For Powerpoint KeyNote seems to be the best option, or Google Slides (again, not used myself).
For Powerpoint KeyNote seems to be the best option, or Google Slides (again, not used myself).
Do you only want to read Office documents or also edit them?
If so these three options below are the best options out there outside of the Office apps (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) by Microsoft for which you need Office365 subscription in order to make edits to documents (first 30 days are free). Reading them with the Microsoft Office apps shouldn't be a problem with the apps without a subscription.
- WPS Office - free to open and edit, with ads, for a version without ads and more features there is a subscription option. TIP!
- Polaris Office - free to open and edit, with ads in free version, for no ads and more advanced features there is a subscription option. TIP!
Not as good as the above two but also an option:
- OfficeSuite - limited features in free version, you can edit but you can't save documents in Office filetypes 'xls,'ppt' or 'doc' , with ads in free version, saving documents in 'xls,'ppt' or 'doc' needs a subscription as well
If so these three options below are the best options out there outside of the Office apps (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) by Microsoft for which you need Office365 subscription in order to make edits to documents (first 30 days are free). Reading them with the Microsoft Office apps shouldn't be a problem with the apps without a subscription.
- WPS Office - free to open and edit, with ads, for a version without ads and more features there is a subscription option. TIP!
- Polaris Office - free to open and edit, with ads in free version, for no ads and more advanced features there is a subscription option. TIP!
Not as good as the above two but also an option:
- OfficeSuite - limited features in free version, you can edit but you can't save documents in Office filetypes 'xls,'ppt' or 'doc' , with ads in free version, saving documents in 'xls,'ppt' or 'doc' needs a subscription as well
EDIT: re-reading OP's question, they might be asking about apps compatible with OpenOffice/LibreOffice (Open Document Foundation) documents? If that is the case, last I looked, I believe Google's offering support them as their own format is based off ODF standard. Outside of that, I have not found a viable app out there for ODF.
EDIT2: LibreOffice does a pretty good job of retaining formatting on Office documents, so, a viable option is to save your document as a MS format from OO/LO and then use the MS mobile apps. That is my typical use-case as I use LO for the bulk of my word processing, spreadsheets (only save-as when wanting access on mobile devices; bulk of documents stay on Mac and in ODF formats).
Re: 365 subscription: not neccesarily needed. If iPad Pro, yes, otherwise, just need a free Outlook/Live account for basic editing functions in the MS apps. That is how I'm using this on "classic" iPad and iPhone. It's spelled out in the App Store deeper into the details section.
As for other options, if just viewing, they get the job done. I will add Dropbox to the list (does ok for simple rendering, and has a tie-in with MS for inline editing via web site). Where most fail is editing and retaining Office formating/functionality. For example, for Excel, many apps do not support cross-sheet referencing, in some cases, even most basic functions might not be present (eg. Sumif() was a glaring omission in one app).
My remote editing and viewing needs are simple, so, I have been using the MS apps with free Outlook account and syncing via Dropbox for a few years now. Runners up, would probably go Apple's apps or Google, as they seem to be most compatible with Office docs and are free.
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Thanks for posting about the official Microsoft Office apps that you actually don't need a Office365 subscription but that a free Outlook/Live e-mail account is enough (I don't have that right now) to also edit documents when you are logged in and it works on most iOS devices for free (except for the iPad Pro).
Check also the official Microsoft Office apps out if you have a Live/Outlook account you can also edit for free so it seems on various iOS devices except the iPad Pro (for that you do need a 365 subscription). See the post from NoBoMac above.
If one has a 9.7 iPad Pro then they don't need an Office 365 subscription. Any tablet with a 10.1" screen or smaller can access mobile Office for free. (Microsoft's wording regarding the iPad Pro is a bit confusing. Their verbiage lumps all iPad Pros together because Apple no longer markets the 9.7 Pro)
