Numbers is a passive-aggressive violent dictator - Return key (and other horrible atrocities)

[muvuth]

Hi everyone,


I'm so frustrated by the new Numbers. I've been using it since iWork '09 and it has always been an inferior product compared to Excel, but on Catalina it's such a poor experience I'm wondering whether I'm just not finding the options I need.
I'll try to limit the rants.


1) The return key
Do I really NEED to always press the Option key to input new lines of text within the same cell? I understand that happens on Google Sheets, but did Apple really need to copy that? On iWork 09 I could decide, at least.


2) Copying and pasting contents without cell outlines
I copy text in one cell and want to copy it, with format and all, into another cell. I want CONTENTS to be the same color, size and font as the first one, so I Cmd+C and Cmd+V, but the problem is that it also copies the first cell's OUTLINE?!?! Who would ever want that, after formatting the table as a whole? What am I missing here?


3) Sudden suspensions (this happens also with many other apps since Catalina)
I'm sometimes working and, all of a sudden, the software goes odd: the top bar becomes unhighlighted, as though I had clicked on a different window, but the current software name (next to the Apple logo in the system top bar) still says Numbers, or Pages, or Mail, or whatever software I'm using. So, I should be able to work on the current file, but... no. It just goes suspended like a drunken friend speaking, as though I had selected a different window in the same software. It stops working, and unless I'm looking at the screen–which sometimes is not the case–I just won't notice and keep typing. Then I'll notice, I'll curse a bit because this weird thing interrupts my workflow, and it just won't get back to the window I was using unless I click on it... I never clicked outside of it in the first place, so what is this about?!

4) When pasting multiple rows, say 11, I need to select the exact same number of rows to copy them in, otherwise it will just copy the first of the 11 rows, and the others will be lost. So, select the rows > count them > move to the part of the table you want them pasted > select the same amount of rows > double check that it's the same amount > paste > triple check to make sure ALL valued were pasted. Good luck with doing that when the contents are ALL long digits among digits, double check if the first of the 11 rows says "0.155367495" and the last says "0.155367945", which should be followed by "0.153567945"


5) Final question: honestly, how strongly is it recommended that I switched to Microsoft Excel?


Rant: Why the heck did they make Numbers free of charge, just to make it horrible and go along with the saying "you get what you pay for"? At least they should leave us the option to pay for a good product, instead of giving us a vomitable free product!


I could go on for maybe a couple of hours which is WAY LESS than the time Numbers is causing me to waste on minor issues like these. But I'll stop here.


Thanks to anyone who will be helping out.

 

[mk313]

#'s 1 & 2 are the same in Excel (Although you press ALT on Windows, not Option for new lines of text-I'm not sure what the Mac Keyboard combo is, but it will require click gin on a modifier key)
#3 sounds like what happens on my laptop when I'm using a second screen and click out of the program. I'm trying to think of the exact steps that cause it, but it happens relatively frequently, but in my case at least, it's completely controlled by me and not really a big deal. (I'm not near my external monitor or else I'd try to reproduce it) IIRC, it might have to do with quitting another program and then this becomes the uppermost program, but it's only on one screen.
#4 sounds like a real hassle, but it doesn't happen for me. I just tried it and as long as I copy the rows, and then select one CELL to paste into & it works fine. If I select multiple cells, it only pastes the number of cells that I selected. That seems like a reasonable and elegant way to handle the issue to me.
#5 I'm not sure. I like Excel a lot more than Numbers, but most of the issues that you've posted aren't going to go away with Excel. That being said, you also said that you have a bunch of other issues, so maybe switching would be a good idea.

 

[muvuth]

Thanks, I appreciate your help. Especially about Excel. I guess I'll give it a try with my hopes not too high.

The new Mac is giving me trouble, but after having a kernel panic I just can't tell if it's this specimen or the OS as a whole: compared to my 10 year old MacBook Pro, it's slow and not smooth at all. But hearing from you that most of the problems (which I suppose they call "features") are there, then I guess Apple has changed since the Jobs era. Now it feels like using a desktop smartphone.

Thanks again, have a good day.

 

[theluggage]

1) The return key
Do I really NEED to always press the Option key to input new lines of text within the same cell?

Well, yes - the clue is in the name of the app: Numbers. It's a spreadsheet and, typically, most cells contain, well, numbers - or labels, names etc. rather than short essays. If you're typing in a huge list of numbers you just want to do number/Enter/number/Enter/number/Enter... especially if you have a numeric keypad (which includes Enter). Making the Enter key behave differently in text fields would be hugely confusing. There's a reason why most other spreadsheets (e.g. Excel, LibreOffice) work this way and for Numbers to be different without good reason would be really, really annoying...

2) Copying and pasting contents without cell outlines
I copy text in one cell and want to copy it, with format and all, into another cell. I want CONTENTS to be the same color, size and font as the first one, so I Cmd+C and Cmd+V, but the problem is that it also copies the first cell's OUTLINE?!?! Who would ever want that, after formatting the table as a whole? What am I missing here?

What you're missing is "Paste and match style" (Option-shift-command-V) and the "why?" is - again - consistency across all the other apps where regular "paste" includes styles and there's another option ("Paste and match: in Apple apps, "Paste special" in MS). Have to say, I'd personally prefer the default to be the other way around - but if you can't please all of the people all of the time, "be consistent" is the next best thing.

4) When pasting multiple rows, say 11, I need to select the exact same number of rows to copy them in, otherwise it will just copy the first of the 11 rows,

The solution is: don't select the destination row by clicking on the row number - select the top left cell in the destination and then paste. (Or choose Insert -> Copied rows).

Not going to defend that one because it does seem to be a peculiarity of Numbers. OTOH Excel will flat refuse to paste a copied row into a region that isn't also a complete row and if you copy a (say) 3x3 region it will always paste the entire region - Numbers' ability to 'clip' a copied region to the selected size is arguably more flexible.

Excel (even the Mac version) is a lot more powerful than Numbers, but in terms of the issues you raised I think you'd just find it "differently annoying".

You could give LibreOffice a whirl - I've never found the spreadsheet anything to write home about, but you can't beat free.