The office packages were, at least until the explosion of the Internet via the World Wide Web, the most basic set of applications that most end users had on their computers, something that is evident in the fact that the pair they created and continue to make up Windows and Microsoft Office were the flagships for many years ships of the Redmond giant, which in the last decade has diversified its business model and focused more on services.

Of course, circumstances have changed a lot over time, to the point where the web browser eventually supplanted office suites as the main application of the operating system. The dominance of web browsers is reinforced when we see that today the web can do much more than just display text, but also powerful video platforms and other types of content, designs and tools that can be found on it depending on the user’s access. it is not necessary to have so many apps installed locally or many of them have almost no music and videos locally anymore.

Although they have lost importance, especially among users with a more common profile, office packages are still widely used for creating texts, tables and presentations (plus other options like math formulas and databases). And although it is normal to do a lot of things through a web browser on a PC, including office tasks, the situation changes a lot when we get to mobile phones.

In the mobility sector, locally installed apps continue to be used mainly because they offer greater immediacy than a web browser and allow for data storage, as both data and the interface need to be loaded via the web, whereas in apps the interface is present locally and only data is downloaded (or at least initially are). Another aspect to consider is that it is easier for local applications to take advantage of the features of the operating system itself.

With this panorama, mobile office suites are usually handled through apps. Here are the most famous Microsoft Office and Google Docs options, which are well known and whose quality has been proven over time. However, this does not mean that these are the only quality options available, so we mention five alternative office suites for Android which, at least on the surface or at first glance, have no relationship with giants like Microsoft and Google.

Cooperation Office

it’s about an implementation of LibreOffice developed by the British company Collabora, which has close ties to Linux and free software. Due to the absence of an official implementation of the suite supported by The Document Foundation, Collabora Office is a very good alternative that fully respects the ethical values ​​of the original project.

As for the Android suite, it provides everything a user needs to edit documents, allowing them to create and edit formats in creator of texts, tables and presentations. In addition, it offers high compatibility with Microsoft document formats and a high level of privacy due to the fact that it is free software and is not tied to any cloud service.

The fact that it is not tied to any cloud service gives it value in terms of privacy, an aspect that is enhanced by the nature of free software, and therefore offers much more transparency than proprietary solutions such as Microsoft Office and Google Docs.

WPSOffice

After LibreOffice, perhaps the most popular alternative to Microsoft Office. This kit is of Chinese origin It has a reputation for best preserving the formats and layouts of documents created with the Redmond giant’s office suite.which is a factor that has gained him many followers.

WPS Office for Android offers a word processor, spreadsheets, presentation maker and easy file sharing. It also supports cloud storage, online editing, a template library, and is compatible with Google Classroom, Zoom, Slack, and Google Drive.

Of course, there is a downside to this suite, which is that it is offered with a sa trial period of only fifteen daysafter which you have to go through the box to pay 35.99 euros per year.

SoftMaker Office

SoftMaker Office is a German office suite that offers word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and planning. It is paid, but alternatively offers a free version for Windows, Mac and Linux called FreeOffice. It is proprietary software in its two aspects.

SoftMaker Office makes three different apps available for Android, which are a text editor, a spreadsheet, a presentation, and a planner. Compared to other solutions in the same segment, it offers a more classic interface and more similar to what can be found in desktop office suites, so it can be ideal for use with a keyboard and mouse via a tablet.

All apps are fairly complete and offer advanced features, although there are features that can only be obtained by going through the checkout. Of course, the free features are left to the users permanently, at least for now.

ONLYOFFICE

ONLYOFFICE is LibreOffice’s great rival among free office suites. On the desktop, it stands out with an interface similar to the Microsoft Office Ribbon, and for many it offers better compatibility with the formats of the Redmond giant.

Like the other options listed in this post, it provides a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation app. At the feature level, it excels at enabling synchronization through ONLYOFFICE’s own cloud, supports collaborative editing and allows you to password protect documentswhich is convenient from the point of view of protecting privacy and ensuring that only authorized persons have access to the content.

Polaris office

And we close the list with Polaris Office, an office suite that includes, as we mentioned several times, a word processor, spreadsheets, presentations and opening PDF files. It is proprietary, in-app ad-supported, and contains in-app purchases for additional features.

Polaris Office boasts that it’s a compact suite, taking up just 60 megabytes of disk space, according to its Play Store listing. It supports Microsoft formats and is available for free for 24 templates, 20 2D/3D charts, 37 slide transition effects, 173 different shapes and 300 spreadsheet formulas.. It also supports cloud integration through services like Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive.

Users who want can upgrade to Smart Plan ($3.99/month or $39.99/year) or Pro Plan ($5.99/month and $59.99/year) to enjoy many premium features .

conclusion

As we can see, there is a lot of life outside Google Docs and Microsoft Office when you want to use the office suite, a set of applications that are still considered essential on a PC, but whose presence on mobile phones is not so widespread.

Google Docs and Microsoft Office are two good solutions, but they have the disadvantage of being proprietary, maintained by large corporations with monopoly aspirations, and generating doubts about the privacy they offer unless you work with them exclusively locally, so here we This list encourages users , to explore and find out which office suite best suits his preferences and needs.