Not surprising given Google's acquisition of QuickOffice. There are a few interesting angles to this story.
One the one hand there's the native app versus web app issue. Modern mobile devices have a ton of horsepower compared to the early devices, but Google continues to heavily invest in native client apps on mobile. Do they still see this as being a stopgap before device performance and mobile browser capability make native apps unnecessary or are native apps here to stay? What impact does this have on Google's web app strategy generally? I'm wondering what Google's long game is for these productivity apps. Are they a strategic play in themselves, or are they supporting services to somehow complement and protect Google's revenue generating services? I'd love to understand how Google's own understanding of the role these apps play in Google's portfolio has evolved, and how that has mapped to reality over that time.
The other issue is platform support. I understand these capabilities have been available on Android for some weeks now, so how does iOS support fit into Google's plans? I know Google wants to support and promote Android, but ultimately Android makes them no money. It's only purpose is to try to ensure there's always a web and Google services friendly option available in the Mobile world, so of course Google will support those services on competing platforms with significant market share. However, to what extent is platform support a political football within Google?
One the one hand there's the native app versus web app issue. Modern mobile devices have a ton of horsepower compared to the early devices, but Google continues to heavily invest in native client apps on mobile. Do they still see this as being a stopgap before device performance and mobile browser capability make native apps unnecessary or are native apps here to stay? What impact does this have on Google's web app strategy generally? I'm wondering what Google's long game is for these productivity apps. Are they a strategic play in themselves, or are they supporting services to somehow complement and protect Google's revenue generating services? I'd love to understand how Google's own understanding of the role these apps play in Google's portfolio has evolved, and how that has mapped to reality over that time.
The other issue is platform support. I understand these capabilities have been available on Android for some weeks now, so how does iOS support fit into Google's plans? I know Google wants to support and promote Android, but ultimately Android makes them no money. It's only purpose is to try to ensure there's always a web and Google services friendly option available in the Mobile world, so of course Google will support those services on competing platforms with significant market share. However, to what extent is platform support a political football within Google?