Newsletter
Working at a computer and working on the go with your phone are two completely different beasts. Some road warriors may end up getting used to working on a small screen and even become accomplished thumb typists, able to type at a decent speed and even navigate complex web forms or edit documents with ease. Often, though, there are parts of the process that you just plain can’t do from your phone, mostly because the software you need does not have a mobile counterpart. No matter how skilled you are, in just about any workload, it can be all too easy to hit a frustrating mobile roadblock that adds that little extra step once you get back to the office, or keeps you from completing a file until you’re back at your computer. With today’s announcement, however, Google is removing a few of those roadblocks.
Google Docs and Google Sheets, the two most common Google Apps used on Android for business purposes, can now use add-ons from eight initial partners for deep integration, making things much easier, quicker, and more mobile for those who typically find themselves logging on at the office to edit a mostly-done file. The first on the list is DocuSign; users can now initiate or complete a document signing on mobile, and even save the prepared and executed file in the same way as any other file. Prosperworks users, meanwhile, can now work with CRM files on the go, while AppSheet allows users to turn Sheets content into apps. Those who typically have to put up with free document scanning apps in the Play Store will be relieved to hear that Scanbot is also on board.
Along with the eight initial partners, users can expect to find more add-ons coming in the future, with all of the ones out now available on the Play Store and through the in-app Add-Ons menu. Users can work with the likes of PandaDoc, TeacherAide, and EasyBib on the go, as well as a number of others, with the floodgates open for developers to port over more apps and services later. While this may not excuse most workers from taking their laptop bag with them on a trip or power lunch, it should come as welcome news to those who find themselves on the go often, or those whose businesses are beginning to move away from traditional desktop operating systems.