Sharing Software?

Granny Sue

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I'm not sure where to post this, so I opted for here. I have been using LibreOffice for a few days and have come up with some nice spreadsheets I want to use thoughout each day. Of course, I won't be carrying my PC around, and my tablets (I have 3) are all Android and my phone is an iPhone. I'm trying to figure out how I can access the spreadsheets on my portable devices and update the spreadsheets on my PC at the same time. I thought about adding LibreOffice to each of my devices, but it's not available on the Google Playstore, and I'm not even sure that would work. Is there some kind of work around that I could use here? Thanks!

Granny Sue
 


G'day Sue, fair question :)

Googling with keywords

libreoffice spreadsheets to android

reveals some promise, both for android and Apple

mqoRGph.png


See the libreoffice for iOS reference above as well.

Someone else may have better ideas.

Good luck

Wiz
 
I'm trying to figure out how I can access the spreadsheets on my portable devices and update the spreadsheets on my PC at the same time.
Hi Sue! Your question is a two-parter, as I see it. First, what program will work in Linux, Android, and iPhone to read and write changes to a spreadsheet. Part two is about networking... how can these devices all access the same file (not each device storing a separate copy).

Part One is I think fairly easy. When you create spreadsheets in LibreOffice... save them as Microsoft Excel files instead of the LibreOffice .ods format. I strongly prefer the older Microsoft format (.xls instead of .xlsx). I think that the older .xls is better compatible with LibreOffice. Also, do not use macros in your spreadsheets. Formulas should be fine between devices, but macros can be a problem. Once your spreadsheet is in Microsoft format, you can use a free Microsoft Excel app on Android and iPhone.

Part Two is the more tricky problem, or it can be. You can set up a home network so that the master spreadsheet file is on your Linux computer, and that file (or folder) would be shared to your other devices. But network sharing can be a real pain, and especially when you throw Apple into the mix.

I think the more simple solution would be to use a Dropbox cloud storage for your spreadsheets. You can have up to 2GB of storage space for free, and Dropbox can work with Linux, Android, and iPhone. The apps for Android/iPhone should be fairly easy to setup after you create an account. But with Linux you have a couple of options. This article describes installing Dropbox in Ubuntu (should be same for Mint)... and this creates a special folder that is automatically synchronized with the Dropbox cloud, so it would always be current for your Android/iPhone devices to use. This is probably what you want. I only mention another option because I use Dropbox (only rarely) but I do not install their software.... I just go to their website and log in, and then I manually copy/delete files in my storage space there. It works well enough for me this way, but it's on me to keep my files current. I don't share with other devices of my own... I share with other family members (genealogy data).

With Linux, there is always more than one way to do anything. I think Dropbox is about the easiest way to go, or the easiest that I can think of off the top of my head. And the 2GB limit should be plenty for spreadsheets... it's photos and videos that get people to buy more storage space.

Cheers
 
Hi Sue,
I have Libre Office on my PC, which is where I do all my work.
I have an android phone which has Google Sheets on it.
I downloaded the app from Play Store but get better results with using Sheets. I don't try to add anything using my phone, just being able to look at my spreadsheets when I'm away from the PC is enough.
I'll go back into my phone and see if I can manipulate the files. I'll let you know what happens.
Old Geezer
TC
 
Hi again Sue,
I was able to enter data in the 'Sheets' spreadsheet, but compared to using the cp, it is very difficult, and much slower. On the Android phone, I am given 3 choices as to what I want to open the spreadsheet with - Sheets, Libre Office Viewer and Open Document. Sheets was the best.
What I do is download my spreadsheet to my phone via the usb cord that came with the phone for charging. To me, that seems like the least amount of trouble and frustration.
As far as your I-phone is concerned, I don't have one so can't comment on it.
Old Geezer
TC
 
Hi Sue! Your question is a two-parter, as I see it. First, what program will work in Linux, Android, and iPhone to read and write changes to a spreadsheet. Part two is about networking... how can these devices all access the same file (not each device storing a separate copy).

Part One is I think fairly easy. When you create spreadsheets in LibreOffice... save them as Microsoft Excel files instead of the LibreOffice .ods format. I strongly prefer the older Microsoft format (.xls instead of .xlsx). I think that the older .xls is better compatible with LibreOffice. Also, do not use macros in your spreadsheets. Formulas should be fine between devices, but macros can be a problem. Once your spreadsheet is in Microsoft format, you can use a free Microsoft Excel app on Android and iPhone.

Part Two is the more tricky problem, or it can be. You can set up a home network so that the master spreadsheet file is on your Linux computer, and that file (or folder) would be shared to your other devices. But network sharing can be a real pain, and especially when you throw Apple into the mix.

I think the more simple solution would be to use a Dropbox cloud storage for your spreadsheets. You can have up to 2GB of storage space for free, and Dropbox can work with Linux, Android, and iPhone. The apps for Android/iPhone should be fairly easy to setup after you create an account. But with Linux you have a couple of options. This article describes installing Dropbox in Ubuntu (should be same for Mint)... and this creates a special folder that is automatically synchronized with the Dropbox cloud, so it would always be current for your Android/iPhone devices to use. This is probably what you want. I only mention another option because I use Dropbox (only rarely) but I do not install their software.... I just go to their website and log in, and then I manually copy/delete files in my storage space there. It works well enough for me this way, but it's on me to keep my files current. I don't share with other devices of my own... I share with other family members (genealogy data).

With Linux, there is always more than one way to do anything. I think Dropbox is about the easiest way to go, or the easiest that I can think of off the top of my head. And the 2GB limit should be plenty for spreadsheets... it's photos and videos that get people to buy more storage space.

Cheers
Good idea! That sounds pretty doable.
:)
 
Hi again Sue,
I was able to enter data in the 'Sheets' spreadsheet, but compared to using the cp, it is very difficult, and much slower. On the Android phone, I am given 3 choices as to what I want to open the spreadsheet with - Sheets, Libre Office Viewer and Open Document. Sheets was the best.
What I do is download my spreadsheet to my phone via the usb cord that came with the phone for charging. To me, that seems like the least amount of trouble and frustration.
As far as your I-phone is concerned, I don't have one so can't comment on it.
Old Geezer
TC
Thanks, TC. But I need full access to the spreadsheet or it won't do me any good.
 
Just as an add on thought to atanere's blurb......there is a new feature in Firefox Browser, called 'Firefox Send'

It is really simple to use in firefox itself.....and it works very nicely...transfers your files in an encrypted fashion too.
I am not sure how to access it in firefox for iphone....yet....I have an iphone, just haven't had time to figure it out yet
This would simply be an alternative to dropbox....your call.....whatever works easiest and simplest for you.
 
Just as an add on thought to atanere's blurb......there is a new feature in Firefox Browser, called 'Firefox Send'

It is really simple to use in Firefox itself.....and it works very nicely...transfers your files in an encrypted fashion too.
I am not sure how to access it in firefox for iphone....yet....I have an iphone, just haven't had time to figure it out yet
This would simply be an alternative to dropbox....your call.....whatever works easiest and simplest for you.
I checked the iOS app store and 2 versions of Firefox are available: the regular version and an ad-blocking version. The ad-blocking version seems to me to be the superior version, so I have to ask myself why anyone would choose the basic version? They are both the same price - FREE. (The ad-blocking version 28.5K while the regular is 10.2K. A smidgen of a difference there.) Any thoughts?
 
I did not know that.

i searched and found Firefox Focus privacy Browser.

Looks impressive. I will install....take it for a run.

This is the same as using "Private browsing" in the ordinary Firefox. All cool. nothing to lose.

Note that if you elect to have search suggestion enabled ...that sends what you are searching for to the search engine (probably google), which destroys the built in privacy. Once google have the info...the whole world does !
 
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I checked the iOS app store and 2 versions of Firefox are available: the regular version and an ad-blocking version. The ad-blocking version seems to me to be the superior version, so I have to ask myself why anyone would choose the basic version? They are both the same price - FREE. (The ad-blocking version 28.5K while the regular is 10.2K. A smidgen of a difference there.) Any thoughts?
Is the "ad-blocking" version made by the same developer? I would check. Have to be very careful with iOS app store apps. Apple does a good job curating the store but there are still a few 'bad apples' which get through once in a while.
 


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