Months ago we took at a look at ReaddleDocs and agreed we really didn’t NEED another PDF reader app. We have several and they were getting the job done. As well, many like GoodReader did more to download/upload files to the Cloud so we could gather documents in meetings… more than just PDFs.
Now, it would appear that ReaddleDocs has stepped it up a few notches. You can view a large variety of document styles, and markup those PDFs for others to review.
Previously, it had been noted that the UI wasn’t very Mac like. True or not, it really works now. Tapping on the options on the left side of the screen does exactly what you expect them to. You can view documents you have loaded in ReaddleDocs, you can reach out to a long list of ‘networks’ like MobileMe DropBox Google, you can access a browser and you can manage document attachments in emails.
While the addition of being able to view powerpoints, spreadsheets and doc files… PDFs is the files that you can do the most to as far as highlighting to copy text and adding notes to.
The documents you are viewing/editing can be shared out via email or opened in another document reader. Also, it is handy when referencing PDFs to lock them from moving about or reflowing the text to match the area your working in.
Once you have the variety of network locations set up to access your files either on a local network or the Internet, you can move through the folders to find the documents your looking to bring into ReaddleDocs. Like we mentioned above, the UI is very easy to understand and extremely uncluttered. A change from the direction many iPad apps are going (this is the iPad version of ReaddleDocs, there is a separate purchase for the iPhone version).
Now, the big difference from other document readers. ReaddleDocs allows you to manage multiple files at a time. You do not need to download one at a time and manage those in multiple places. This is true either when working on a Cloud location or on files downloaded to your iPad. You select multiple files to upload/download, eMail, zip compress, delete and move to another location/folder.
Our biggest complaint with the UI for other apps we are using to view documents in their endless lists of our documents. The default way of handling documents you move to your iPad is to put them in one long list. This is very difficult to manage quickly when in a meeting. ReaddleDocs (also, DocumentsToGo) allows you to set up folders which your documents can be moved in and out of quickly. When your using your iPad at the office and needing to reference files for meetings which you grabbed from your Cloud location, organization is key. We will be seeing a lot more of ReaddleDocs around the office now.
