Word, Excel and PDF on a phone
Every office app on Android opens the common formats. Where they differ is what survives a round trip: fonts, tracked changes, comments, embedded objects and complex tables. Opening a file to read it is safe in any of them. Editing and sending it back is where somebody at the other end finds their layout rearranged.
What survives a round trip
| Feature | Survives editing on a phone | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Plain text and basic formatting | Yes, in every app | Safe to edit anywhere |
| Tracked changes and comments | In the first party apps | The main reason to use them |
| Fonts not installed on the phone | Substituted, layout shifts | Check before sending back |
| Complex tables and columns | Usually, with reflow | Read only is safer |
| Embedded charts and objects | Often degraded | Do not edit the containing file |
| Macros | No | The file will still open |
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The apps
The reference implementation. Tracked changes and comments behave exactly as they do on a desktop, which nothing else quite manages.
Fine for reading and for changing a cell. Formulas work; building a model on a phone does not.
Presenting from the phone is genuinely good. Editing a deck is the same tolerable compromise as everywhere else.
The notebook rather than the document app, and the best of the set for capture in a meeting.
A capable suite with strong format compatibility and a free tier that includes PDF work. Watch the advertising and the upsell.
The lighter build of the same, a sensible choice on a phone with little storage.
Long standing alternative with good format fidelity and a clear PDF workflow.
Polaris. Another mature suite, worth trying if the others render a particular file badly.
Best collaboration of any of them, and the version history is its strongest feature. Formatting fidelity with complex Word files is its weakest.
Same trade. Excellent for shared simple sheets, poor with an inherited spreadsheet full of formatting.
The reference PDF reader, with reliable annotation and form filling.
Better than the previous one for annotating and merging, and it does not push a subscription as hard.
Tiny and instant. When you only want to read a PDF, this opens before the others have finished starting.
Strong on reflowing text, which matters for reading a document written for A4 on a phone screen.
Photograph to clean PDF, with edge detection and text recognition. Check the free tier limits.
The alternative scanner, with less pressure to subscribe and good enough output.
The PDF questions people actually have
- Filling in a form Use a reader with form support rather than annotating on top of it, or the fields will not export.
- Signing something An image of a signature placed as an annotation is accepted almost everywhere. A cryptographic signature is a different thing and needs a service.
- Merging or splitting One of the annotation apps rather than the basic reader. Do it once, check the page order, then send.
- Shrinking a file to attach it Scan at a lower resolution rather than compressing afterwards. The result is more readable at the same size.
- Extracting text Text recognition in a scanner app, then paste. Copying from a scanned PDF gives nothing, because there is no text in it.
Read in anything. Edit in the app that made the format. If the layout matters, reply with the change rather than returning the file.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my document look different on the phone?
Almost always a font that is not installed, so the phone substitutes one with different metrics. The text is intact; the layout is not.
Can I edit a file straight from cloud storage?
Yes, and it is the usual cause of conflict copies. Make sure only one device has the file open, and wait for the sync indicator before closing.
Is the free tier of these suites enough?
For reading and light editing, yes in every case. Printing, converting and some PDF operations are where each of them charges.
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