Google Apps’ online spreadsheet app Google Sheets has received a major update with unlimited columns and formulas, offline editing capabilities and 20 new functions. Users had to select ‘try the new Google Sheets’ in their Google Drive settings or could choose to wait for more updates before switching over.
The new function editing tools for complex formulas included sumifs, countifs and averageif. There were also colored sheet tabs, paste transpose, find and replace, add-ons, easier linking and a number of number formatting options. The function help and examples guided new users as they typed and highlighted errors to fix.
Missing features were spell check, web clipboard and solver, which figured out how to allocate resources to various groups. Others included special autofill using Google Sets.
Offline edits were automatically synced into spreadsheets once users connected to the internet. Google Apps users already editing Google Docs (documents) or Google Slides (presentations) offline automatically were able to edit Sheets offline. Users could turn on offline editing in their Chrome browser by following these instructions.
The upgrade also added speed and filter views to Google Sheets. Filter views allowed users to name, save and share their filters without disrupting how other collaborators viewed the spreadsheet. Data could also be hidden temporarily through the new filter feature.