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Microsoft Excel for iPad/iTunes

Why Excel isn’t ready for the iPad

by
6th May 2014
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AccountingWEB.com’s US tech editor-at-large David H Ringstrom has a few reservations about Microsoft’s spreadsheet migration to its big rival’s phone and tablet operating system.

“When Excel for iPad finally arrived, my first impression was here we go, yet another 1.0 Microsoft product,” said David Ringstrom with a metaphorical roll of his eyes in a recent piece for our US sister site, AccountingWEB.com.

Software industry lore holds that you should avoid any product with a version number ending in “point zero”, particularly if it’s a 1.0 release, as the first public release of any software product is usually a bug-ridden dog.

It’s unfair to call Excel for iPad a 1.0 product - that tag goes to Excel for iPhone, a product compromised from the start by the phone’s limited screen size that was motivated by Microsoft’s desire to mark its turf, “much like a dog peeing on bushes”, Ringstrom wrote.

So Excel for iPad is a 2.0 product: still quirky, but showing some promise. “I think over time Excel for iPad will blossom into a useful product, but you never can tell,” he continued. “Remember Office Accounting, the software that was going to eat QuickBooks’ lunch? Anyone?”

Microsoft has a corporate tradition of ignoring technologies invented by other companies for as long as possible. The developer held out for more than 15 years after Adobe invented the Public document format (PDF) in 1991 before it would let you directly save an Office document as a PDF in Office 2007.

Similarly, it has taken more than four years from day Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPad for Excel for iPad to arrive. Now that it’s here, there are three things you need to bear in mind:

  • Excel requires 450MB of storage space, or 3% of a 16GB iPad.
  • The free version of the app just lets you push numbers around on screen. You can’t edit, but you can pinch and zoom!
  • The ability to edit documents requires an Office 365 Home annual subscription that will set most users back £95.88/year, which allow you to install Office on up to five devices. Students can get four years’ access for  £59.99 (for 2 devices).

The subscription issue was highlighted by AccountingWEB.co.uk user Marlborough, who commented, “If you want to edit on the iPad, make sure you have the right edition of Office 365.”

For Ringstrom, however, these administrative caveats are secondary to the technical limitations that he encountered during his initial experiments with Excel for iPad.

Initially, he was frustrated that you could hide worksheet columns on the Apple device, but there was no apparent way to unhide them. “Pay attention in case you fat-finger that menu choice accidentally,” he warned.

“If you miss your chance to undo, you’ll have to use another device or the Office Web Apps to unearth your buried column.”

After further explorations he discovered the secret sequence to restore a column. First, select a column to the left of the hidden area, then drag the little selector in the middle of the screen to the right so that two or more columns are selected, and tap on the worksheet frame again. The mythical Unhide command will then reveal itself. “Clear as mud, right?” asked Ringstrom.

Those accountants who have already embraced iPads tend to recognise their value for reviewing and presenting figures, but you will only be able to add new comments in desktop versions. PivotTables are also view only, even in the paid version of the app.

Among the other issues that he feels could represent “deal breakers” for accountants itching to adopt Excel for iPads, Ringstrom lists:

·         The inability to print a document from Excel for iPad (though you could email the document to yourself and then print it from the Mail app)

  • Lack of support for form controls and macros.
  • Group and Outline doesn’t work.
  • The app is so tightly bound to Office 365 and OneDrive that it makes it difficult to save a document anywhere else. “If you stand on your head you might be able to,” writes Ringstrom.
  • You have to duplicate an emailed spreadsheet on to OneDrive before you can edit it. The same goes for Excel 97-2003 files that have the .XLS extension, notes Ringstrom, adding: “Two copies of a document are better than one, right?”
  • You can only open one workbook at a time, so plan ahead if you’re likely to need to copy and paste anything from one workbook to another.

Also beware of the “rookie mistake” of activating your licence within the app. “Go online and sign up for a 30 day free trial instead,” he advises.

If you do decide to give Excel for iPad a try, Ringstrom suggests investing in a protective case, “in case you get the urge to sling your device in frustration”.

Before reaching these depths, David suggests preserving your sanity by checking out his regular tips on AccountingWEB, and registering for the iPad edition of his High Impact Excel webinar series on 26 June at 9am.

Replies (10)

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
09th May 2014 10:52

Standard actions

Quote:
After further explorations he discovered the secret sequence to restore a column. First, select a column to the left of the hidden area, then drag the little selector in the middle of the screen to the right so that two or more columns are selected, and tap on the worksheet frame again. The mythical Unhide command will then reveal itself. “Clear as mud, right?” asked Ringstrom.
So in other words, do exactly the same actions you have to unhide columns in Excel on the desktop. Select columns either side of the hidden columns and use the Unhide command. These actions may be harder to achieve on the iPad edition, but to describe as a "secret sequence" the actions that have been used for this in Excel for years makes it sound like he has no real experience of the program.

As he is the tech editor, this is presumably not the case. Is there some detail I'm missing here that explains why Mr Ringstrom is apparently unfamiliar with the standard operation of Unhide?

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Replying to Tax Dragon:
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By Jar1
13th May 2014 16:17

That's what I thought!  I

That's what I thought!  I imagined maybe there was some easier way to unhide in desktop excel that I'd managed to miss.

Thanks (1)
Replying to accountantccole:
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By bseddon
16th May 2014 15:23

Imagine the outcry

The Excel community whinged and whined about the introduction of the Ribbon which, in my view, is a much better means of navigation than menus.  No so the grey beards who just didn't want to change.  They knew the command sequences, where all the little feature were tucked away.  Imagine, then, if Microsoft, god forbid, changed the way columns are hidden and unhidden on the iPad.  Can you imagine the hue and cry about Microsoft changing the interface again?  My bet is that Microsoft learned from the introduction of the Ribbon not to do things in a better way.

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Replying to mkowl:
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By Gav2013
16th May 2014 17:27

That ribbon was crap! ...for ages I've had to google to find out where the buttons had moved to.  Then they took away my start button in Windows 8 and I couldn't do anything at all :-(

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By listerramjet
16th May 2014 15:01

pdf?

I always understood pdf to stand for portable document format!

never understood why anyone would want to work with excel on an ipad.  Better model would be the ability to publish excel apps from excel on a pc

Thanks (1)
Replying to lionofludesch:
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By chatman
16th May 2014 15:06

Portable Document Fomat

listerramjet wrote:

I always understood pdf to stand for portable document format!

Me too.

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By avdyke
16th May 2014 15:03

Maybe not...

Maybe he was pointing out that on the desktop, the 'unhide' option appears in the menu all the time (whether or not the selection can be 'unhidden'), whereas on the iPAd it would disappear until you had selected something that it could 'unhide'?

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By nickselectaccounting
16th May 2014 15:30

Office 2013

I think Microsoft should concentrate on getting Office 2013 right for the PC first. . .Office 2010 was much better and more stable in my opinion. .  2013 is a real backwards step from what I have seen so far. . . 

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By bseddon
17th May 2014 17:05

Eloquent

The ribbon is great.  Sure things moved but the text, and so purpose, became more obvious. Also, often because the option then exists to do more stuff, its possible to review text formatting, table and graph styling before its applied.  I'm glad Microsoft made the change.

As for Windows 8, update to Windows 8.1.  It boots to the desktop. You can customize the start menu to meet your needs.

Of course if you are unwilling to change, stick with Windows XP.  While it may be out of formal support, in practice Microsoft is still maintaining it from a security perspective.

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By [email protected]
14th Aug 2014 00:38

Surface

Have people tried Excel on a Surface yet?! It's surprisingly good. We use Surfaces for coffee demonstrations and casual pitches. I don't think many PC users are that comfortable using the Mac version of Excel, so why not just stick with PC in the tablet world as well...

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