On Thursday, Google announced that they are bringing their popular Chrome browser as well as their Cloud service, Google Drive to iOS. Following the announcement, Google released an iOS app, condensing a number of features from the full sized browser and packing them into the app. Some of the main features brought over include incognito mode and tab syncing across devices.

The browser, although being entirely developed by Google still relies on Apple’s WebKit-based engine, which is required by Apple’s SDK. Google Chrome for iOS seems like the perfect addition to Apple’s successful iPhone, however, according to a report from NextWeb, the one setback of the app is that users cannot use Google Chrome as the default browser on the iPhone.

The biggest hurdle that Chrome features, of course, is that it cannot be set to be the default browser on iOS devices, a capability that Apple also reserves for Safari. So, while you can use the browser to your heart’s content, it will not be the default handler for any URLs clicked. That’s a huge hurdle to overcome.

Google’s Chrome Browser is great for users that also use the Chrome browser on their computer and want an easy way to transfer their bookmarks or want to be able to access their computer settings on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. Alongside the Chrome browser, Google also released a Google Drive app, the cloud service the company introduced several months ago. Both the Chrome browser and the Google Drive app are currently available in the App Store.

{via MacRumors}

The latest update from GoDocs appears to have resolved this issue in a few keys areas, it’s not perfect but it provides a valid way to manage your Google Docs on the go.

The interface is clear and concise, once you’ve added your Google account your docs will be displayed in the left hand panel and you can click any of them to download locally and another to open and view it. The files are color coded to so that you can tell at a glance if the file is local, online or is currently downloading.

All Google Doc file types are supported and are easy to read when displayed on the right side of the screen. You can also collapse the left hand panel to take the document into full screen mode. It even has a built in multimedia player for any audio or video files that you have stored in your Google Docs or Google Drive if you’ve converted over, something that not all mobile apps can claim at present.

The weakest part of the GoDocs experience is the editing, which you could argue is a pretty significant part of the application. The applications uses the standard Google mobile and Desktop interfaces for editing which while functional aren’t the easiest to use but for basic editing the interface does suffice.

Where GoDocs does excel though, at least for me, is in the sharing, push notifications and multiple accounts handling.

I frequently find myself having to share files when I’m not at my desk and sharing them with GoDocs is very easy, as is revoking or editing sharing rights. With any file open you can simply click the ‘information’ icon to access the sharing screen and anyone that you share the doc with will be emailed as you would expect.

The ‘information’ page will also provide you with access to opening the file in another application, downloading the file, moving it, emailing, printing, viewing revisions and more all and the touch of the screen. You can also mass edit files to move, download, mail and delete them.

Push Notifications will alert you to changes to files that you share which can be a nice alternative to a bucket load of emails, however, it didn’t always work 100% of the time so may not be something you can rely on if it’s important to you.

You can’t view docs from multiple accounts at the same time but switching between them is really easy, once you’ve enabled them you can switch accounts at the touch of a button which is both quick and easy.

If you are a heavy Google Docs user and need to access them on the go then GoDocs is a great app for you, editing is basic but it works and sharing and notifications sets this apart from other similar apps in the App Store. It’s not the cheapest app in the App Store but still at $4.99 it’s not going to break the bank.

What we like

• Share your docs on the go
• Mass manage your docs
• Color coded document status
• Push Notifications

What to know

• Editing uses the built in Google Mobile and Desktop options

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been leading the market for quite some time with web based services, including search, email and documents. On Tuesday, Google Inc. released a more streamlined cloud experience for its users, the long-awaited Google Drive. The service provides users with 5GB of free storage, which is also integrated with Google Docs and many of Google’s other online services.

This initial 5GB offering is similar to Apple’s iCloud which also gives users a free 5GB of storage. Following the initial 5GB, users can then upgrade to a higher tier of storage, and for GOOG, that means up to as much as 16TB of storage which is far more than the amount of storage on any computer hard drive.

Today, we’re introducing Google Drive—a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. Whether you’re working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond.

The storage can be accessed directly through Google Docs, or through clients on PC, Mac, Android and very soon, iOS devices. Google promised that the iOS app would be available “very soon”, with it being very likely that the search giant is still waiting for approval from Apple. Google Drive operates very differently than other cloud solutions, including a feature that allows users to open up as many as 30 different file types directly in the browser.

This allows users of the service to open up and view files such as images and documents, regardless of its format. Google Drive has the potential to be one of the next reliable cloud solutions available online. With its availability on numerous platforms, including iOS, it brings into question, whether this service will compete with iCloud.

{via MacRumors}