One of the only things that I am still disappointed about with the iPad is the inability to edit Google Docs natively on Safari or through another program. At the moment, there are a number of workaround (Office 2 HD, Docs to Go, etc) apps that allow you to basically download the latest version of the Google Doc edit it on the iPad and then save it back up to the cloud. While this works great for documents that you have penned yourself, it really takes away one of the biggest reasons to use Google Docs in the first place: Collaboration. So, since I got an iPad a few weeks ago, I have been trying to figure out how to edit Docs within the browser itself. Well, now I can. There is a free iPhone app (they have the iPad upgrade coming according to an e-mail correspondence I had with the developers) called Cloud Browse. This basically creates an anonymous instance of Firefox on a remote computer and then displays that firefox browser on your iPhone or iPad.
This app will allow you to play flash and edit previously uneditable text areas, from Google Docs, to wikis, to Moodle. All of these things are now well within the bounds of things you can do on the iPad.
So, go and download the app here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cloud-browse/id346618309?mt=8
And this is how Google Docs looks in Cloud Browse (again, the iPad-only version is coming soon):
Click the Web button so that you can type in an address or search quickly.
Here, I zoomed in on my document list and then clicked on one.
Here is the way the document looks in portrait mode zoomed all the way out.
Here is how it looks zoomed in. Just touch the keyboard in order to start typing in the google doc. I have tried out the chat and commenting and that all works as well. Good stuff.
