Google Docs: Does it deserve the Hype?

 

With the rate at which we're adopting technology and literally embracing remote work, the need to document has also transitioned digitally, which is a blessing to us. We now carry less and less papers and physical documents around, we can simply document anything we want with just our smartphones.

With this new style of living, we crave more simplicity and advancement; a tool that can help us document whatever we want in any format.

Yearly, lots of new writing tools emerge with their own features, competing against themselves, but in spite of all these numerous tools, one of them seems to stand out.

The Google Docs Application or Web App.

This tool, owned by Tech Giant, Google LLC, part of Google Workspace is a writing tool used by millions of people on a regular basis, why is it so? We'd find out below.

It's so popular that on the Google Play Store, it has accumulated over 1 billion downloads and on the Apple App Store, as at the time of writing this article.

For a writing tool to have such acceptance, it means that there's something which they're doing better than others in the industry. 

Let's explore the features of this Application that has made it generate so much hype over the years.

Features Of Google Docs.

For a tech product or service to gain user acceptance, the features must be one area that should not be joked with. Why? The benefits of using those products can only be derived from the features, let's go through that of Google Docs.

The UI:

This is a building block of any tech product. When it comes to the area of UI and navigation, Google Docs has done a really good job there. Based on comparisons drawn from other products, The UI of Google Docs stands tall among the rest. You get to choose how you want your documents positioned, there's the grid and list method of arrangement. The quick settings while writing can be found just above your keyboard making it easy to use in mobile phones, unlike many other similar products that you'll have to select the quick settings from the top of the screen, thereby straining the fingers.

Automatic Backup and Syncing: 

As you create your document, it automatically backs it up to Google Drive so that you can access it from any device that your Google account is signed in or if your phone crashes.

Spell Check: 

Another excellent feature of this product from Google is the ability to use AI to scan your contents and check for both grammatical and spelling errors which are highlighted as you type. This feature utilizes your device language in suggesting corrections.

Note: The grammatical and spell check only works on Android phones and that's if your device is connected to the internet.

Browser In App Explore Feature: 

This feature is not really common, that's because it's not often used, but for content writers that have to conduct research while writing, this feature is indispensable and a time saver.

It's found on the menu of your writing tab under the name ‘Explore’. This allows one to simply make a Google search or navigate through websites right there on the App. For people whose phones have low tolerance to multitasking, they don't have to worry about leaving the App to make a Google search, all of it can be done within the app.

Supports Up To Seven Document Format:

The seven formats supported by Google Docs are among the most popular document formats available today. 

 PDF

TXT

WORD

EPUB

ZIP/HTML

RTF

ODT

With availability of these formats, your document can be opened by almost all document readers.

Supports 25 different Fonts.

The special thing about this particular feature is that all the fonts can be accessed for free and you don't need to download them like in many other writing apps. With Google Docs, you can style your write-ups with as many fonts as you wish.

Privacy & Sharing Orientated.

This is one area where they've done amazingly well, you can share your documents with anyone while setting limits to what they can do with your documents. These limits can be revoked at any time without their consent. You own your document and have the ultimate decision on who should get access to it.

With this feature also, you can collaborate as a team to create an article without being physically present.

Image Editing: 

With Google Docs, you can import images from your device to your document and edit it on the app.

URL Customization:

This feature is good for those who want to use Google Docs to create eBooks, I know you'd be wondering right now if it's possible to create eBooks with Google Docs, yes, it's possible to create an eBook from start to finish with Google Docs, and you can insert and customise links in your eBook or document as the case may be.

Comments: 

For those sharing their document with friends, family or teammates, you can permit them to comment their opinions using the App and you'd get an email of their comments. By simply double tapping on a word, you can add a comment or suggestion on it.

Offline Work:

With Google Docs, you can work both online and offline, but offline doesn't support auto syncing, so you have to connect to the internet to sync documents created offline.

From our analysis of this product and that gathered from both satisfied and unsatisfied users, Google Docs is worth the Hype. 

Though, there is a need for adjustments.

You can't edit documents from the web in mobile phones unless one gets the App, making the accessibility of the app limited.

Also, grammatical and spell check should be incorporated in iOS devices, this will increase the acceptance of Google Docs from Apple users.

Currently, it has support for over sixty different languages, but some languages still need to be added. Despite that, we still believe that more language support will be added as this is one area they are conscious of as seen from their updates and they constantly add more languages with each new update.

On a scale of 10, we'd rate this product an amazing 9/10. The hype is well deserved!

We recommend this product to everyone with a smartphone. Write your thoughts, create your eBooks, make your presentation, share or keep. Whatever way you desire, Google Docs will surely be of great help to you.