Best office suites for Android DISCOVER SOME GREAT PRODUCTIVITY APP ALTERNATIVES TO MICROSOFT OFFICE.

WHILE MICROSOFT HAS released Android versions of its Office apps, there are plenty of other choices available for users who might prefer less space-hungry suites.

Google’s own productivity apps such as Sheets and Docs are built for Android and take up less space. However, they sometimes lack advanced functions, such as the ability to export documents in a specific format. Some users also have privacy concerns about storing personal files in the cloud.

In this guide you will discover five excellent office suites for Android, which you can download today from the Google Play store. Some of these – such as SmartOffice – are designed to mimic Microsoft products as closely as possible. Others such as Quip are not concerned with imitation and use their own interface.

Whichever office suite you choose, remember to make regular backups of any documents you create in case you lose your Android device.

Quip EDITING AND VIEWING DOCUMENTS MADE EASY WITH THIS COLLABORATION APP. Free; US30/mth paid. | play.google.com

QUIP IS AN online collaborative software suite that is available on Android devices. The company was founded in 2012 by Bret Taylor, who was a former Facebook CTO, in conjunction with Kevin Gibbs, founder of the Google App Engine.

The main features of Quip are the spreadsheet and word processing functions which allow online collaboration as well as alterations on the corresponding Android apps. All members of the group can view and edit documents at the same time and also have the ability to add comments if need be. Quip also has its own chat rooms and it is used by major players such as Amazon and Dell.

Quip offers a free tier, although it’s based on the activity of the user, rather than on the number of days you use it for. So, the more you make use of it, the more free time you will receive.

The paid tier is US$30 per month based on a team of five and costs an extra US$12 per month for each additional member you want to add. This enables you to use spreadsheets, chat and Live Apps such as a Calendar. If you need assistance there is also excellent support available. The app allows you to work offline and sync documents when you are next online.

Some online reviews have criticised Quip’s ability to load PDF documents saying that it is limited and sometimes can be time consuming. Further note that the app only supports a limited number of import/export formats.

Docs to Go A POWERFUL SUITE WITH WORD PROCESSING, SPREADSHEET AND PRESENTATION TOOLS. Free; €14.99/mth | play.google.com

DATAVIZ, THE COMPANY that established Docs to Go, started off with a product that connected Macs and PCs together. Docs to Go was subsequently created for BlackBerry and is now a multi-platform app.

The Android app allows users to view Adobe PDF and Microsoft Office files. From here you can edit and create Excel, PowerPoint and Word files, all in the palm of your hand. Docs to Go has many formatting tools, such as word count, tables, font color and the ability to track changes.

There’s a free and premium version of the app. Both support editing and formatting within the app, along with advanced Excel support. The premium version is €14.99 and gives users access to cloud services along with the ability to sync with the desktop version of Docs to Go. Both the free and premium applications are optimized for use on a tablet with portrait and landscape views.

Docs to Go has its own versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. These are known as Word to Go, Sheet to Go and Slideshow to Go. The only criticism the solution seems to receive is that PDF files tend to cause the app to crash, with folks being advised to stick with a separate PDF viewer for this purpose.

SmartOffice AN EXCELLENT BASIC SUITE WITH OPTIONAL EXTRA FEATURES. Free | play.google.com

SMARTOFFICE CLAIMS TO offer the most accurate representation of Microsoft Office products that can be seen on a mobile app. It is one of the few free office suite solutions for Android out there. The company used to have a paid product, but in recent times has got rid of that to offer this free version, which comes with all the features needed to make a truly innovative app.

As the official Microsoft Office apps can take up a lot of storage space, this app is perfect for space-constrained users, as it only utilises 15MB. The user interface is straightforward and simple to use, too.

The app offers password protection so that you have extra security when saving any documents you have been working on. Users can edit and share Microsoft documents easily and efficiently, plus all files can be converted to a PDF if needed. Documents can be opened and saved online with access to the likes of Dropbox and Google Drive.

SmartOffice supports several image formats such as PNG, JPG, GIF, TIFF and BMP. Wireless printing is also supported. It is compatible with all versions of Word since 1997 and supports over 37 different languages. The only real criticism of this suite is that the copy and paste options appear to be needlessly complicated, and as such, can take a while to figure out.

WPS Office A FORMIDABLE FREE OFFICE SUITE – IF YOU CAN PUT UP WITH THE ADS. Free; in-app purchases | play.google.com

WPS OFFICE IS an office suite developed by Chinese software outfit Kingsoft. The Android version was released in 2014 and weighs in at 35MB. The app is free to download but in-app purchases can be made and these range from $0.99 to $29.99 per item. The suite comprises of WPS Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheet.

The WPS PDF reader has the ability to convert PDF to WPS and is able to read Adobe PDF files. The app supports a number of file types such as DOC, RTF, DOT, PPTX, TXT and HTML amongst others. All documents are fully compatible with Microsoft Office and Google Docs.

The app allows you to securely encrypt your files with passkeys, and you can edit your documents without fear of losing your work thanks to the auto-save option. Features include the ability to track changes, comments, and run spell checks.

Another handy feature supported by the app is the ability to present documents straight from your smartphone (or tablet) to a compatible TV or projector. WPS for Android also supports 47 different languages.

The downside here is that if you’re not a paid user, you get shown adverts, and they are quite intrusive.

OfficeSuite A USER-FRIENDLY SUITE WITH NEAT CHAT AND COLLABORATION OPTIONS. Free; in-app purchases; €9.99/mth | play.google.com

OFFICESUITE WAS FIRST released as a mobile app in 2004 on Palm OS, where it was mainly read-only until 2009. At this time Sony requested an Android version within a very short time span of 12 weeks. This was achieved and OfficeSuite for Android was born. The product is now a fully featured cross-platform productivity suite.

There are three OfficeSuite options available in the Play Store: the 7-day trial that allows you to test all the features for a week, the free app that includes in-app purchases that can cost up to $49.99 per item, or the Pro version which costs $3.99 per user per month.

If you purchase the Pro version you won’t be forced to make certain in-app purchases (for example, paying for extra fonts), but you can still make purchases if you wish.

This suite is also fully compatible with a large number of file formats such as ODT, PDF, RTF, TXT and CSV. However, the free app is inundated with ads. Further note that you will need to upgrade to the premium version if you want to open certain file types such as ODT.

The OfficeSuite Drive allows you to store up to 15GB of files in the cloud. The new Chats feature helps co-workers to collaborate and swap documents online. The app is fully compatible with all Microsoft documents and boasts support for PDF files with features such as camera scanning and PDF exports.