One more alternative has been added to the growing catalogue of office IT suites for Android devices after the recent release of Microsoft Office for tablets and the new Gmail feature to edit such files online. The well-known LibreOffice has now also released its own Android image viewer in its first beta as a first step toward rolling out its full range of editing tools on mobile devices.
For the moment, at least, miracles can’t be expected from the app and its functionality is rather erratic, such that the only thing you’ll see when you open the app is an explorer to browse through your device’s file tree (it still can’t read SD cards), where you’ll see all compatible files listed from among the following formats:
- Open Document Format (.odt, .odp, .ods, .ots, .ott, .otp)
- Microsoft Office 2007/2010/2013 (.docx, .pptx, .xlsx, .dotx, .xltx, .ppsx)
- Microsoft Office 97/2000/XP/2003 (.doc, .ppt, .xls, .dot, .xlt, .pps)
The viewing process and document refresh during zooms is still rather slow, and certain basic features that are still missing, such as interaction with hyperlinks, are sorely missed. That said, just as with its desktop counterpart, the app is free and open-source.
