LibreOffice is a free and open source office suite for Linux, Mac, and Windows computers. Now the software, which is one of the most popular alternatives to Microsoft Office, is on its way to Android.

Late last year the LibreOffice team announced an Android version was in the works. While it’s still very much a work in progress, developer Michael Meeks posted a progress update with a few photos today.

They don’t look like much yet. Few parts of the operating system are optimized for touchscreen phones and tablets yet. But Meeks’ update does help show where LibreOffice for Android is heading.

LibreOffice Android prototype

While the user interface isn’t really optimized for Android yet, the good news is that the LibreOffice team is now able to cross-compile new builds of the office suite for Android.

In fact, the software can also be compiled for iOS, but I’m not aware of any plans to release LibreOffice for the iPad anytime soon.

Ian Billet is also working on a Java viewer user interface to make LibreOffice a little more Android friendly.

The file manager actually looks pretty good so far — although not quite as nice as the concept artwork the Document Foundation created for a LibreOffice file manager earlier this year.

It’ll probably be a while before LibreOffice is officially released for Android. Right now there are a number of alternatives including Google Drive, Documents To Go, QuickOffice, and OfficeSuite Pro. But while some of those apps are fairly full-featured office applications, none are open source apps capable of handling open document formats such as .odt files.

via Muktware

 

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,546 other subscribers

12 replies on “LibreOffice coming to Android… here’s what it looks like so far”

  1. While Androids are mostly content consumption, not content creation devices, it is useful to be able to carry docs around with you and at least display them from time to time. Also useful for meeting notes, drawings etc on the fly.

  2. Seems like it would already work on something like a Transformer, if they would release a beta.

  3. I use an old version of Open Office at home, so I need the ability to open ODF files. I can’t wait until this is released!

    1. There is already an app that can open (although only read mode) odf files. Just look for it on the Play Store.

    1. Writer:
      Input file formats: Word (97/2000/2003/2007/2010) doc, dot, docx, .rtf, .wps and .wpt formats
      Output file formats: Word (97/2000/2003) .doc, .dot, .wps and .wpt format.

      Spreadsheets:
      Input file formats: Excel (97/2000/2003/2007/2010) .xls, .xlsx, .xlt, .csv, .xml, .et and .ett
      Output file formats: Excel (97/2000/2003) .xls, xlt, .csv, .xml, .et, .ett and more.

      Presentation:
      Input file formats: PowerPoint (97/2000/2003/2007/2010) .ppt, .pptx, .pps, .pot, .dps and .dpt formats
      Output file formats: PowerPoint (97/2000/2003) .ppt, .pps, .pot, .dps and .dpt format.

      I don’t see anything USABLE in there. We need a proper wordprocessor and spreadsheet that works on STANDARDS COMPLIANT document formats, not MSVENDORLOCK-IN formats.

    2. Try changing a font in Kingsoft office writer, or work with tables, or set the paragraph settings to double spaced. Or how about adding notes to a powerpoint slide?

      Are you kidding me? While I applaud the Kingsoft devs for supporting a free office suite while others cost upwards of $10, it’s really not usable for any serious document authoring.

  4. I would put a finger friendly vertical dock instead of a mice menu.

    This dock with icons and with the submenu icons nested as it were a android folder.

    And of course being able to use the voice to text or to number from android.

  5. Android really needs a full fledged office suite!

    This is looking promising.

    Best of luck guys!

Comments are closed.