Since Google announced that Chrome OS is merging with Android I guess that means there will soon be a whole bunch of laptop-sized devices that run Android. These would probably be very comfortable to run LibreOffice on if we had a good Android app.
I canât speak for Mike and the channels on which he gets these request. But as I think I mentioned in another discussion earlier already, the request for better editing capabilities is one of the main things mentioned in reviews in Google Play for the current LibreOffice Viewer (for Android).
I donât know how to link to individual review comments, but if you go to https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.documentfoundation.libreoffice , then click on the arrow next to âRatings and Reviewsâ to expand them, then sort by âNewestâ, the latest 3 review comments read:
Of June 2:
Experimental mode is still very experimental! Text doesnât appear or delete unless I double tap to zoom in or out, and UI just feels buggy. I love LibreOffice on desktop, but until this app is improved, I guess Iâll be stuck with Google Docs on mobile. Hope this improves in the future.
Of May 28:
please bring the whole editor experience of desktop to mobile asap. libre is my default office suite now. Mobile version will impact massively on users engagement and ease of use.
Of May 26:
OK for viewing doc files but canât edit any doc files properly. Donât have good keyboard control. Not a mature APP and shouldnât be on the market yet. To try it was just a waste of my time. Use free Google DOCs instead of Microsoft expensive Office products.
(As I mentioned in the other discussion earlier, I personally much prefer doing âactual workâ like editing documents on a laptop and not a mobile device, but apparently others have a different perspective on this.)
To balance that a bit, the next one would be, of May 21:
People complaining about not being able to edit files are so dumb. Itâs literally called âLibreOffice VIEWERâ. Although sometimes it has some UI issues, really great app
Michael, thatâs feedback on the experimental editing mode that we have apparently introduced (recently?), that is solicited by the app store, rather than people reaching out to us (before this experiment) to ask for a mobile editor.
However - it is enough for me to amend what I had written.
The experimental editing mode has been there for many years. Itâs disabled by default, but can be enabled in the app settings - and itâs indeed very experimental still.
The point was to show that there is interest in/request for a document editor on mobile devices. Various of the reviews received are also from people who didnât find the option to enable experimental editing mode and say something similar to âOK, this is a nice viewer. But I need an editor.â (You can go through more of the reviews to find more of those comments.)
Donât know. 
To keep it short: ~2014 Samsung Dex and Microsoft⌠âMobile Somethingâ was introduced. Looked promising. This will eventually fly. My father is getting old and this is def. an option for him to get all files, passwords and UI at the same device, no matter wgich screen or hid device he would use. I might even use it: i have pdf, audio, vimage, vdeo file format converters (and downloaders), attach external drives, etcpp installed for various reasons on my android devices. I needed this for doing everyday work while waiting for my old dog outside or beeing on the road/at my parents home (i do not bring any laptop any longer). Hence many workflows are working. OTOH i had a problem last april to get a simple image of a screw driver with some note under that (âuse that one!â) to get created and printed for attaching to some maschine.
Nothing really special. No fancy stuff.
Hence most worklows work. Either using your smartphone, your android tablet, your TV, or fridge. Whatever. The os is not the problem, the UI or the availability. And on ios and android there is no availabilities
The pedantic repetitive criticism has moved on from being constructive to tiresome and regressive. Let dead issues rest and let the foundation evolve.
I did not understand half the sentences in this paragraph, Iâm sorry T_TâŚ
I will claim that there is absolutely no way an older person would hold a smartphone and do long editing sessions on it. I donât know your father of course, but that kind of activity is very tiring even for younger people.
Regarding your own aspiration to everyday work on a smartphone or tablet: Same question: Have you ever sat at a mobile phone to work on a document for a longer period of time? You can already try it, e.g. with COOL or Google Docs or maybe even MS 365 (?)
So, my bottom line is that the âmaybe it would be nice ifâ sentiment about full-fledged LO on a smartphone is not a well-established user base need. And IMNSHO, it will not materialize. And even if you donât share my assessment - it is definitely less of sure-thing to invest effort in, as opposed to long-standing needs and repeated requests we actually do know for certain will satisfy user needs. Or even just focusing more resources on the online collaboration avenue. It is magically assumed that network collaboration and a mobile version are intertwined somehow, when they really are not.
probably like years ago the very common question would be where is OO 
no wonder why people would ask : Collabora Office for Mobile - Collabora Online and Collabora Office
the same way frequent questions come up about fresh and still and unstable versions âŚ
https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/wayland-kubuntu-only-1-version-of-libreoffice-works-with-no-crash-how-to-download-this-version/135355
https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/update-available-question/135233
https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/linux-default-app-store-behind-on-vesions/135187
https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/resolu-installation-aide-integree-en-erreur/135265
https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/installation-fehlgeschlagen/135380
âŚ
Iâd say my mother is 92 and she does everything on it. But itâs not about her. Haris and Rania from the Indonesian community worked on a prototype on their own already, did you ask them why when they spoke about it on Telegram? I told you in the past already, several refugees camps I worked in used tablets for education. But as you wonât believe me, here is a recent example:
https://www.unhcr.org/ke/news/stories/how-digital-learning-strengthening-education-dadaab-refugee-camps
I told you already also that nurses in Africa are using mobile to send and edit data.
And if you need other examples to open your mind on where our mission lies, go to Ushaidi case studies page and see how LibreOffice is relevant in these contexts https://www.ushahidi.com/in-action/case-studies/.
I would have more concrete situation where mobile and tablets are used to empower people in many different sectors, young or old, but thatâs a waste of time as you wonât believe it. And by the way, I wonder why Android is the most used OS in the world if people only give phone calls with it
Could you please stop posting out of topic things in this thread? If you want to discuss with the community, open a new topic and follow the discussion there. Your message above doesnât bring anything to the discussion and will not solve the problems you want to express.
Oh, but - @sophi , that is not at all off-topic. You see, @fpy is suggesting a possible alternative motivation here. He points to the web page of Collabora for Mobile! I didnât realize they had a full-fledged version for smartphones. With that being the case - there is even less of a need to go in this direction. I mean, if Collabora already offer a mobile FOSS office suite - whatâs the great need for us to offer one? Is CO mobile so bad that itâs unusable? Or is it perhaps that we want to focus resources on Web & Mobile because thatâs what Collabora offers, and the intention is to âone-upâ them?
Again, letâs clarify. Does your mother author complex formatted documents on her smartphone? Spreadhseets, presentations? And - what software does she use at the moment to do these things?
Iâm sure they do. But - I doubt they use an office productivity suite on their mobile, to do that. There are decent FOSS text editors and also FOSS Markdown editors for Android, for example.
The UNHCR website link tells us how âStudents use tablets to explore animated diagrams, respond to questions in real time and work in small groups before submitting their answers digitally.â That is important, useful, and - generally not the use case for LibreOffice.
Well,
- I followed that link, and did not find examples of people using an office productivity suite on smartphones. Or tablets. I searched for âLibreOfficeâ, âofficeâ, âdocumentâ, âmobileâ, âtabletâ⌠couldnât find something relevant. I browsed a few of the items, and could not find what you referred to.
- The stategy document/blog post says nothing about deployment in refugee camps; it claims that we need a mobile version since users are asking for it all the time. Given TDFâs focus on European sovereignty rather than digital literacy and capability-building of refugees in Africa and elsewhere - it seems strange that we are suddenly focusing on that; and also, silently focusing on that, i.e. we only here about that in a reply in a discussion thread, rather than a proper statement.
Youâre using a âstraw manâ here, @sophie. The question is not whether LibreOffice should support running on ARM hardware, or even on Android. It sort-of already does. We are talking about adapting LibreOffice for use on small handheld touchscreen devices. That is a huge undertaking. Also, the question isnât whether phones and tablets empower people or not; rather, the question is: âIs there a pressing need for LibreOffice to be usable on handheld Android devices, that merits orienting LO development in this direction? Instead of investing our resources elsewhere?â
But what people in refugee camps are missing is not a full-featured office productivity suite for small handheld devices, and certainly not another such productivity suite when another such FOSS solution, Collabora Office, is already available for mobile.
I donât think that âthere is another softwareâ is a good argument to not do something.
There are also several desktop office suites with ODF, yet there is a good reason to have LibreOffice and an independent foundation.
Regarding tablets, I hear that Google is quite strong in the educational sector and in classrooms.
And to second here: tablets are also used from students at Universities as their main (and only) device for writing documents. And they are not the only ones which use only a mobile device for editing (also complex) documents.
Because those devices could be covered with a keyboard (or a keyboard could be connected via USB), a mouse and a monitor they were used as a replacement of a notebook or PC. I think it would be arrogant to ignore that group of users and donât provide them a full featured FOSS office suite (with ODF as the default file format).
Florian, there are currently 15985 issues to work on in LibreOffice - marked NEW. If we only count enhancements, the number is 4280. Shall we hire developers to work on all of them? There is no good argument against working on any of them, after all.
No, obviously, the question is that of prioritization: Should we devote the TDFâs resources to develop a version for small handheld devices, or to work on some other items from that huge list. But of course - you know that very well. So why make this invalid point?
Iâm sure thatâs true: Students often use Google Docs on their laptops, PCs or classroom computers. But do we have evidence of the popularity of using handheld devices with no keyboards, to author complex documents, in that sector? With Google Docs or otherwise?
AFAICT, we do not. If we had such evidence, it would probably have been cited as a motivation for the new strategy. Same as for helping refugees and aid workers in camps, or with âMaybe my family relative would find this usefulâ. Maybe, maybe not. If that were the motivation we would investigate whether or not these are actual use cases which need catering to, before publishing a strategy (and committing to hire people). And in a functioning foundation, we would discuss this before, not after, a decision is made on the matter.
Yes.
No.
they are not all that small: e.g. they have diagonal bracing up to 14.6 inch. Thatâs a diagonal bracing bigger than those of most often used notebooks for professionals.
Such devices do not need a âmobile versionâ of LibreOffice; they need LO as-is, but built on Android, with a functioning VCL etc. This may already be working today (I donât know; I donât have a tablet to try); or there may be some obstacles to getting there. That limited effort is a legitimate thing to prioritize, and while my priorities might be different, it has a clear gain and the benefit-to-effort ratio is reasonable. But again - that is not what the announced strategy is about.