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  3. I Tried Doing Work In Apple's New Spreadsheet App And It Was Awful

I Tried Doing Work In Apple's New Spreadsheet App And It Was Awful

The data I'm working with are Twitter metrics from a friend's startup.

I Tried Doing Work In Apple's New Spreadsheet App And It Was Awful

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.

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.

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

That big button sure makes it easier to see what I should do next.

That big button sure makes it easier to see what I should do next.

The directions make it seem simple enough.

The directions make it seem simple enough.

Wait, I may have spoken too soon. I clicked the "retweet" column, but nothing happened.

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.

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 delete the chart and tap above the "retweet" column again. This time, I tap on the "Create Chart" option.

Well, that was useless.

Well, that was useless.

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.

I try to add the time of each tweet with the "Edit References" option, but I can

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.

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.

Now we

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.

The formatting is a bit jumbled at first glance. Oh well, at least I

I click on the chart and... oh. That's not good. "Chart editing is coming soon."

I click on the chart and... oh. That

I click on the "Help" button within the Tools menu. Browsing around, I find that Numbers for iCloud doesn't even support editing charts.

I click on the "Help" button within the Tools menu. Browsing around, I find that Numbers for iCloud doesn

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.

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

See where else Apple isn't up to snuff...

See where else Apple isn

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