What is the best power-user spreadsheet experience on IPadOS? (not Google Sheets)

Question

Level 1

42 points

What is the best power-user spreadsheet experience on IPadOS? (not Google Sheets)

The new M4 iPads have more power than the Macbook Pros these days—but even my M1 iPad has more than enough to run a complete spreadsheet. Combined with a magic keyboard, I should be able to build complex spreadsheets on my iPad—so why am I always switching to the MacBook to do something as simple as a range-sort?

I can run Google Sheets on the “Desktop View” of Safari or Chrome and get close, but it’s very clumsy. I have to:

1) open the Sheet in the app, get the share link

2) open the link in Safari/Chrome

3) request the Desktop View

4) dismiss all entreaties to use the App instead.

Has anyone found a better way? Is there a Shortcut that can do this for me? Is the Excel App for iPadOS full-featured?

iPad Pro (3rd generation)

Posted on May 16, 2024 7:58 AM

Reply

Answer 1

May 17, 2024 2:39 PM in response to mixersoft

Don't forget that Apple's Numbers App for iPad is a very capable "desktop-class" Spreadsheet App - that is significantly more sophisticated than it was just a few years ago.

https://apps.apple.com/app/numbers/id361304891

Numbers User Guide for iPad - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 2

bumbleben0

Level 5

5,731 points

May 16, 2024 8:19 AM in response to mixersoft

Depending on how heavily you rely on “power-user” features, Excel for iPad may not be right for you, but I’d still recommend downloading and trying Excel for iPad to see if it works anyway.

I find the iPad app for Excel to be miles better than the stripped-down Sheets app or the clumsy Sheets website — no question, since it plays nicely with iPad features like multi-window and iCloud Drive. However, the iPad version of Excel is somewhat limited when compared to the (already feature limited) version available for the Mac.

If you’ve never used Microsoft 365, you can get a free trial on the App Store to see if the app is right for you, and if you already have Microsoft 365, you can sign in with your Microsoft account to access Excel on iPad.

Reply