Google releases Docs viewer for Android and iOS devices

The updated Google Docs viewer works with the iPad

Google has rolled out mobile versions of its Docs viewer for Android, iPhone and iPad devices that let users view documents including PDFs, .ppt, .doc and .docx files without having to download them first.

The move follows an update to standard Google Docs that lets users view – and edit – the contents of Word documents from within their Gmail inbox.

However, the updated mobile viewer does not give users the ability to edit documents on their handsets – something that has drawn a negative response from users.

In a comment under the Google blog post announcing the new viewer, one user wrote: "Don't care a thing about viewing docs on my mobile device. I want to edit docs from my iPhone... Docs is pretty useless to me until I have that."

Another complained: "Reading is all well and fine, but when will we see editing on mobile devices? It's bloody silly that iPad can't do even so much as add text."

This issue aside, the updated viewer does make use of some of the touch features found in new handsets, for example allowing users to pinch to zoom in or out on the iPhone or iPad.