Take your work home or your home to work. The future is confusing.
ReaddleDocs is a slick app for the iPhone and iPod touch that lets you carry and read documents wherever you go. It supports Word, Excel, Powerpoint, RTF, TXT, and PDF files. It does the job and is easy to use.
To move documents between a computer and the iPhone, all file transfers are made through a remote Internet server as a go between. This works over Wi-Fi, 3G, or Edge, connecting to Readdle's free 512MB of storage space. Uploads don't even need special client software, transferring instead through a web browser. But if you're uncomfortable leaving sensitive documents on the developer's servers, you'll be happy to know that you can also use iDisk or any other server that supports WebDav.
The file transfer process is simple and satisfying. Tap a file to download it; as soon as the transfer is complete, the file opens. Documents are rendered using the app's built-in conversion scripts. Word documents don't always display perfectly; for example, there can be random resizing of text, and you're also limited to the set of fonts on the iPhone. Still, they look good overall. Excel documents are also handled well, including support for multiple sheets. PowerPoint presentations are displayed as a series of slides without animation, and PDFs display perfectly, just as they would in Mail or Safari. Unfortunately, you can't edit any files; this is a read-only affair.
And the app can't search for words. It's easy enough to skim through a short document looking for specific information, but the same task is a nightmare in a 50-page document. Other minor gripes included the inability export images to the Photos app (you'll have to email the pic to yourself), and there's a consistent graphical glitch when you first view a document (a white bar appears at the bottom).
Easy to use. Supports all major document formats. Connects to free
server, or your iDisk or WebDav host. Email function sends documents to
colleagues.
No document search. Can't write or edit files. Can't export pictures to Photos app. Minor formatting errors.
