Android Apps and News

The Google Docs app has been redesigned for Honeycomb tablets with a new 3-panel design on the homescreen. Though some users may be disappointed to learn that the actual page where a user edits and adds to a document still relies on the Google Docs Mobile page, the browsing feature has been given a nice upgrade.

Keeping in line with Google’s more recent design changes that reflect the theme of Google Plus, Docs has been reformatted to have a panel showcasing filtering options (Owned by Me, Starred, All Items, My Collections, Collections shared with me), a list of files, and a preview pane on the far right. The right panel can be accessed by tapping a small arrow; it will then reveal a preview of the document, along with date statistics and which users are able to access the document.

I’m still waiting on Google to give Docs a text entry and editing view that better resembles the web-based app, but the Honeycomb-style improvement to browsing is a welcome change. Other new features of the app include:

• Autocomplete to make it easier to share with contacts
• Available in 46 languages
• Better video playback
• Better performance on Honeycomb (Android 3.0+)
• Landscape or portrait mode