Google Docs now available on Android
- — 28 April, 2011 13:55
Google Docs for Android is available now, and is free to download from the Android Market
Google has today announced that its Google Docs app is now available for Android phones, allowing users to view and edit and share documents on their smartphone.
Read our guide to the top Android phones on the market.
Developed in Sydney, Google Docs for Android offers the ability to find, create, edit and share documents on a compatible Android smartphone.
"For the past couple of years, a team of engineers in Sydney has been improving and adding new features to Google Docs," said David Loxton, product manager, Google Docs, on Google's official Australia blog. "Recently, our team started working to enhance the mobile Docs experience, starting with today’s launch of Google Docs for Android. Together with the design team in Tokyo, we crafted a simple user experience to deliver the best of Google Docs to your phone."
The Google Docs for Android app can open document files directly from Gmail without having to re-enter your login details, and also supports Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which converts uploaded images to text. The app uses OCR technology via the phones camera — users take a photo, and the text from the image is converted into a new document.
Google Docs for Android also comes with a home screen widget with three shortcuts — a direct link to any starred documents, take a photo to upload or creating a new document.
"With this new app it’s easy to filter and search for your content across any Google account, then jump straight into editing docs using the online mobile editors. The app also allows you to easily share items with contacts on your phone, right from within the app," said Reuben Kan of Google in a blog post.
Google Docs for Android is a free download through the Android Market, and works on all Android smartphones running the 2.1 'Éclair' version of Android and above.
