Thanks for the comment. I was just getting ready to reply, noting that this seems like a good update that, while it doesn't correct all the issues you mentioned (including the cramped first line issue), does give a lot of hope for updates in the future.

I appreciate all your feedback.

Quickoffice 1.2 is now available (it was released over the weekend) and it's vastly improved over the original version. I won't bother with the full details, but suffice it to say you now have auto-correction built into Quickword, and copy/paste built into Quicksheet. That's the high level view, and those two changes are a huge improvement.

The addition of auto-correction does several things for you, but the important thing is that using Quickword is now no different than using most apps on the iPhone: The first letter of each sentence is now auto-capitialized, words are auto-corrected based on the device's internal dictionary (though you can decide to not auto-correct a given word's spelling by dismissing the suggestion), and double-tapping the virtual SPACE bar inserts a period for you, which makes ending sentences a piece of cake.

There's more to it than that though, as Quickword also has more justification options, though you can't do full justification. But you can left, right, and center justify. You can also now indent text. While these changes are not revolutionary, and SHOULD have been in the product since day one, they definitely make the product feel more finished and fleshed out.

As far as Quicksheet is concerned, being able to copy and paste cells means you can create a single formula and then copy/paste it into another cell. Just like doing the same action in a desktop spreadsheet, when you paste a formula it automatically updates the cells references to reflect the fact that you are now on a different row.

The bugs I found when I first reviewed Quickword are still present, and I even found one I hadn't noticed before: Saving a document as “Quickoffice 12″ results in the filename “Quickoffice 12.doc”, but saving it as “Quickoffice 1.2″ results in “Quickoffice 1.2″, which cannot be reopened in Quickword unless you rename it to “Quickoffice 1.2.doc”.

While being able to save a document with any extension might be a valid feature, the program cannot open such a document and should at least warn you that you are creating a document that cannot be opened in Quickword. This is user interface 101 folks, which I guess makes this a UI quirk and not a bug, but as far as users are concerned, the document is unusable and they may not figure out that a simple rename will fix it.

Bottom is is that Version 1.2 is a better version of Quickoffice, and while the whole suite is still a little over priced at $20, it is much better now, and I feel like dropping that amount of money on an iPhone app is now pretty well justified. It's still not close to a 5, but it now approaches a 4!

I thought about this issue myself for a while, and I assumed that leaving the keyboard in the picture most of the time would obscure the vast majority of the text you wanted to edit, particularly when copying, pasting and performing large formats. I don't see a great solution to this.

“You may not like auto-correct, but anybody who keeps it on and is used to its usefulness and quirks will miss it.”

No, I absolutely love auto-correct for the most part. If it were just spelling correction I think I'd completely agree with you. However, I think in formal contexts word replacement has much more potential for embarrassment than using a single-r instead of a double-r. I agree with your thoughts about double-tapping to end a sentence.

“Anytime you are trying to tap or double-tap the very first sentence at the top of the display (in portrait mode), it is common to instead tap Back and then have to deal with either returning to Quickfiles or be presented with a prompt about saving the document.”

Thanks for pointing this out. I tried this repeatedly and didn't have regular problems, but my fingers are fairly slim.

“You can't view iWork 09 files at all and unfortunately, only Microsoft Word (.doc only) and Excel (.xls only) files can be directly edited from within the app. It does let view a bunch of types but there are a bunch of other apps that do that, most much cheaper. I don't personally care about Open Document format but that might be important to some people.”

Yes, I did note that these are the only formats that allow editing, along with basic text files.

Gary, I've noted your other issues and I'll think things over. I appreciate the feedback and I can see from your site and linkedin profile that you have years of testing behind you, whereas I'm just starting in this sort of thing. I certainly don't want to misrepresent value in this case.

In Quicksheet, there is no copy and paste. If you create a complex formula and want to replicate that to other cells, there's no easy way to do that. You have to type it in over and over again. Other versions of Quicksheet have it but it's missing on the iPhone.

Also, it would have been great if they'd automated some aspects of formula creation. If you have connectivity you can go online to view help, but those of us without an always on connection (I have an iPod Touch) just have to remember how to create them. That's great for power users but for the rest of us, it's a royal pain.

In Quickword, in portrait mode you have to toggle the virtual keyboard on and off. When it's off, there's no access to the toolbar. This means formatting, copy and paste, and anything that requires the toolbar is a tedious process of turning the keyboard on and off. In landscape mode the keyboard will toggle on and off automatically but you never get a toolbar.

You may not like auto-correct, but anybody who keeps it on and is used to its usefulness and quirks will miss it. I'm personally quite used to using double-tap to enter a period. That doesn't work here. I'm also used to using auto-correct to automatically capitialize the first letter of each sentence and offer spelling suggestions. This is a very basic feature and in my eyes it's sorely missing.

Anytime you are trying to tap or double-tap the very first sentence at the top of the display (in portrait mode), it is common to instead tap Back and then have to deal with either returning to Quickfiles or be presented with a prompt about saving the document.

You can't view iWork 09 files at all and unfortunately, only Microsoft Word (.doc only) and Excel (.xls only) files can be directly edited from within the app. It does let view a bunch of types but there are a bunch of other apps that do that, most much cheaper. I don't personally care about Open Document format but that might be important to some people.

There are no justification or indenting options.

The bugs I found I've already reported to the developer, but one had to do with pasting text to the end of a paragraph. Sometimes the last character can become orphaned and you can't get to it unless you delete and retype it. The other was a weird problem where using the app in landscape mode would sometimes change the virtual keyboard to portrait mode.

And I'm not saying Quickoffice is worthless. I often use Quicksheet and Quickword will undoubtedly come in handy. To me the suite isn't worth $20 and I can't wait to see what Documents to Go will look like when Dataviz ships it (http://www.dataviz.com/products/documentstogo/i...).

The important thing to remember is this suite is highly flawed and there's plenty of room for another developer to release something better. It's not even close to a 5. Again, I would rate it a 3 on all fronts.

You're right, I should have mentioned the spell check. I do feel that there should be an option to turn on the iPhone OS's auto-correct while keeping the option to turn it off. This is for the simple reason that many people hate it. They may feel that it's less embarrassing to misspell a word than to have a random word replaced with “Frank”. I'd tend to agree with them on that score. I did mention the compatibility issues, though I don't think that should be a huge consideration since at least 95% use Office and the others all use suites or apps that are capable of export. I hate that fact as much as anyone and would particularly like to see Open Document support, but I have to admit that it doesn't have much bearing on the average user.

As for bugs, I'd have to take your word for it. I tested this particular app much longer than I ordinarily test any app (to the detriment of my queue) and never had a single problem with stability or other errors. This is not to say that there might not be problems, just that I did not encounter them. I'd encourage you to voice such things here, as many eyes may see it, including (possibly) the developer.

The last thing I'll comment on is the “barebones” aspect. I know it's limited. It's my feeling that a mobile app should be somewhat limited as opposed to cluttering the interface. I suppose I'd feel that it was “rushed to market” if any of the features were hard to access, or if the way they functioned didn't make logical sense. As it was, I felt that things were extremely well thought out. Where you and I will have to agree to disagree is on what features we feel are needed by the general iphone audience. I certainly would never argue what you need. With that in mind, I hope the review has covered the features included in the suite in enough detail so that a potential customer can read it and evaluate it based on the text and not a subjective score.

Thanks again for mentioning the spell check.

The spreadsheet is better, but it too is very bare bones. It seems less buggy, but the entire suite looks rushed to market and in general unpolished. At best it's a three star affair, especially when you consider it costs $20.