Okay— it’s not ready for five starsI’m leaving my original review below, but the reason I am upgrading from 4 to 5 stars is that google continues to improve Sheets so much that it really is starting to compete with Microsoft Excel. I still think the Microsoft VBA capabilities are superior to the scripting in sheets (few realize how much you can do with the VBA), but I have to admit you can do some pretty cool things with google’s scripting. Also must be admitted that Microsoft has allowed Excel to become bloated and slower compared to the simple snappy interface it had years ago. I hope Sheets avoids that fate. ====== original review =======Very nice in terms of collaboration, but it's not Excel by any means. Since it's in development there are some obvious "seams" -- ie it's not seamless!! Examples: The mobile app has separate interfaces for viewing and editing, when you're in the editing app you can't chat with the others you're collaborating with, and since it's not Excel you can't work with Excel docs unless its the simplest of spreadsheets -- and even then you're forced to convert in order to be able to collaborate. Hopefully one day there really will be something as powerful as (the Windows version of) Excel (including macros of course!!!) and then that will be incredibly useful with all the collaboration features Google offers. By then however Microsoft might be smart enough to move into that territory to take this away from Google. Either way I'm waiting for that day to give up my five stars!!

Google Sheets and other programs like it are flexible, able to be used for multiple purpose across many different fields. As such Google Sheets for IPAD may work fine for you but for my job and how I use it I spend more time hitting roadblocks and having to open my computer to accomplish tasks than I should. It leads to the essential question of why even have an app if it will be missing so many core features and have many more that are broken or flawed. The most recent examples include freezing vertical columns doing the opposite of the intended function, the complete lack of in cell text formatting, the lack of advanced sorting features and the inability to open two windows of google sheets at the same time. These are just the broken or missing features that have interrupted my workflow today, I am sure that more will occur in the future. With an app this unfinished I would look to Excel or Apple’s Numbers as alternatives if my work didn’t rely on GSuite for the sharing functionality. If the only reason a user continues to use an app is being locked into the ecosystem, it is not a good app. If you are able avoid Google Sheets and all other Google apps to avoid getting trapped in their ecosystem, especially if you plan to try and use your IPAD as a main work device.

Google Sheets on the desktop is an absolute powerhouse for productivity, but the mobile app feels like a "lite" version designed only for viewing, not for actual heavy lifting. If Google wants this to be a serious workforce tool, they need to stop prioritizing the "fancy," minimalist mobile UI and actually port over the functional power of the desktop version. • Missing Core Features: You can’t bulk-add rows or columns efficiently, and major data tools like Pivot Table editing, Conditional Formatting rules, and Data Validation (dropdown) management are either hidden or completely non-existent.• Poor Navigation: Navigating frozen columns or large datasets is a nightmare compared to the desktop experience. The "fancy" touch interface often gets in the way of precision when selecting specific cell ranges.  • No Apps Script Support: For a "workforce" app, the lack of ability to run or even view basic scripts on mobile is a huge bottleneck. I shouldn't have to wait until I’m back at a computer to trigger a simple automation.• Formatting Limitations: Basic things like custom fill colors or advanced chart customization are stripped out. It makes the app feel like a toy rather than a professional spreadsheet tool.

I try to go as mobile as possible, because opening up a computer all the time sometimes is just too much of a hassle or takes way too much time for something that should be done so quickly, such as signing up for a meeting time. Whenever I try to edit a spreadsheet for something like signing up, there’s always an annoying pop-up that says I need to download the app in order to edit at all. And even when I already have it downloaded, I still have to press the only “accept” button on that pop-up, which says “get the app”. It takes me back to the app store, where I then have to press “open”, and opens up to the Google Sheets app, but the sheets I would be trying to edit wouldn’t automatically come up. Checking the “Shared with Me” tab doesn’t do anything, trying the process over again doesn’t do anything, and nor does completely closing the App Store or Google Sheets app then starting the process over again do anything. This practically makes the Sheets app useless for me, because this is pretty much the only reason I need it. When using Sheets, I’m usually just trying to open someone else’s Sheets page, which they linked somewhere, and edit it rather than creating one myself.