The data I'm working with are Twitter metrics from a friend's startup.
The comma-separated values file loaded fine in Numbers on the iPad, though it would be nice if the columns were a bit wider by default.
I tap the button that looks like it might let me add a chart. It gives me a pretty wide range chart types to work with. I pick a simple scatter plot so I can easily see what I'm working with.
That big button sure makes it easier to see what I should do next.
The directions make it seem simple enough.
Wait, I may have spoken too soon. I clicked the "retweet" column, but nothing happened.
Okay, so if you tap *above* a column, it selects it entirely. Good to know.
I delete the chart and tap above the "retweet" column again. This time, I tap on the "Create Chart" option.
I try to add the time of each tweet with the "Edit References" option, but I can't find a way to say which column goes to which axis — it seems to assign it based on the order you select them.
So I delete the chart and select them in the proper order: creating the chart with the times first, then adding in the retweet count. I scroll all the way down to the bottom to make sure that all of the tweets are accounted for.
Now we're getting somewhere. However, I *really* don't want to do any more work on this chart on the iPad, so I switch over to Numbers for iCloud.
The formatting is a bit jumbled at first glance. Oh well, at least I've gained more screen real estate and the precision of a mouse.
I click on the chart and... oh. That's not good. "Chart editing is coming soon."
I click on the "Help" button within the Tools menu. Browsing around, I find that Numbers for iCloud doesn't even support editing charts.
Lesson learned: those interested in doing some real number crunching are better off going with the native Mac version of Numbers. While the iPad version has a decent number of features, it's not even close to being intuitive. The version for iCloud barely has enough features to be considered a Beta release.
See where else Apple isn't up to snuff...
