Hands On: OpenOffice on the iPad

Last week we posted about OpenOffice coming to the iPad via the Safari web browser thanks to rollapp. Access to OpenOffice through rollapp was limited to beta testers, but users could register to get in line.

We were granted access late last week and we've been playing a bit. These a re some of our impressions.

First, because you access it through the Safari web browser, it means you need internet connection. Visit rollapp's site dedicated to OpenOffice, input your credentials and you will be all set.

Not onvenient position of the keyboard. Keyboard is normal size, but the compose window gets shrunken

Once that's done, you will have the choice to use 4 apps: OpenOffice Writer, OpenOffice Calc, OpenOffice Impress and OpenOffice Draw.

I must say, OpenOffice through Safari is fairly responsive. The User Interface is not the prettiest, but has the tools you expect to have and use. Unfortunately it is all limited to the browser window.

If for some reason you stop using OpenOffice for more than 10 minutes, an alert will be sent to you email stating the inactivity and that the application was "forcibly closed".

OpenCalc

There still room for improvement in some of the apps like Draw which has so little room to work with. 

Otherwise is nice to see these kind of efforts of bringing software through browsers.