My frustration from iWork (Pages 8) is getting bigger and bigger

[cavi]

I really don't know how to write it, but I'm getting the feeling that Apple don't put a damn thing on iWork users...
I'm not talking anymore about features which I believe are basic for word processors such as track changes in tables, cross-references etc., but on the basic thing, making the application work as expected.
for a long time now I'm sending the iWork team files demonstrating bugs in Pages (such as text that is overriding tables etc.), and time after time, update after update, they just not fixing it... yesterday was a new level; I updated to Pages 8.2 expecting to see that the bugs I repeatedly reported were fixed, but not just they didn't fix the bugs I reported, they created new ones! just UNBELIEVABLE!
I love the concept of Pages (and iWork in general), but it's seems like Apple is pushing me as hard as they can to make the switch to MS Office (which will give me a good reason to switch to PC and also give a try to an Android phone...).

 

[sunapple]

I really don't know how to write it, but I'm getting the feeling that Apple don't put a damn thing on iWork users...
I'm not talking anymore about features which I believe are basic for word processors such as track changes in tables, cross-references etc., but on the basic thing, making the application work as expected.
for a long time now I'm sending the iWork team files demonstrating bugs in Pages (such as text that is overriding tables etc.), and time after time, update after update, they just not fixing it... yesterday was a new level; I updated to Pages 8.2 expecting to see that the bugs I repeatedly reported were fixed, but not just they didn't fix the bugs I reported, they created new ones! just UNBELIEVABLE!
I love the concept of Pages (and iWork in general), but it's seems like Apple is pushing me as hard as they can to make the switch to MS Office (which will give me a good reason to switch to PC and also give a try to an Android phone...).

That escalated quickly from seeing some bugs to switching to Android 😅

Anyway, if you need more reliability and functionality, a switch to Office is a no-brainer. Except that Word is not without its bugs either, but at least it’s used by more people and professionals so you would think support is better.

To me iWork as always been a basic and free version of Office that’s good enough for school or personal use. It’s ‘more pleasant’ to use IMO too. Are the bugs that bad?

 

[mkelly]

That’s frustrating and I really can’t offer any suggestions beyond looking at an alternative productivity suite if Pages/Numbers/Keynote isn’t working for you.

However I will say that if you *are* thinking about giving PCs and Android phones a try, don’t sell your Mac to do so. You may not like what you find on the other side of the fence. If at all possible try out the alternatives without giving away your Mac & iPhone (for that matter, you can just install Windows on your Mac). That way, if it turns out that you’re even unhappier on the PC side of things, you can always go back.

(spoken as someone who got fed up with a few things on the Apple side, tried to use Windows 10 and a Galaxy S9+ full-time, and switched back to Apple because as buggy as some things were on the Mac side, Windows 10 & Android were far worse)

 

[cavi]

By writing about switching to PC and Android I meant that I have nothing which "ties" me to macOS or iOS... there are a lot of advantages to PC / Android (and a lot of disadvantages too...), but it isn't the issue in this thread.

To me iWork as always been a basic and free version of Office that’s good enough for school or personal use. It’s ‘more pleasant’ to use IMO too. Are the bugs that bad?

it depends how you define bad... for example, some times when I add table to a document and the table settings are to be inline with text, the table is overriding the text (see the image attached). so, in order to overcome this bug I'm changing the table settings to "stay in page" but then, if I make changes to the document which resulting in replacing paragraph places I finding myself fixing the tables position all over the document... and this is just one bug...

 

[sgtaylor5]

Nisus Writer Express 4 is $20 and works with right to left languages natively. Very solid word processor.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Just use Google Apps works in the Browers, online and offline. And works very well. But there is no such thing as software without bugs.

 

[cavi]

Nisus Writer Express 4 is $20 and works with right to left languages natively. Very solid word processor.

Prior moving to Pages, I used Mellel. honestly, I believe that it is the best word processor out there, but it has some "illness" which made me switch to Pages (bad .doc export, no legal numbering and more).

Just use Google Apps works in the Browers, online and offline. And works very well. But there is no such thing as software without bugs.

Google's solutions are just isn't good enough... too many features missing...

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Features you actually use?
In that case I would just go for standard Office 365 of you are a power user. The compatibility with Pages to office is still not good enough especially in formatting.

 

[JoeInMilwaukee]

You may want to give LibreOffice a try with a few Pages or Numbers files. You will first need to export the files from within the iWork applications to their corresponding Office formats so that LibreOffice can open them.

 

[StellarVixen]

I gave up a long time ago, and switched to Microsoft Office. It wasn't an easy decision, but it had to be done. Yes, Office is not free, but you get what you pay for.

 

[sgtaylor5]

Prior moving to Pages, I used Mellel. honestly, I believe that it is the best word processor out there, but it has some "illness" which made me switch to Pages (bad .doc export, no legal numbering and more).


Google's solutions are just isn't good enough... too many features missing...

Legal line numbering? Nisus Writer Pro, then. Uses LibreOffice-based .doc and .docx import. Worth a try.

 

[sosumi99]

Prior moving to Pages, I used Mellel. honestly, I believe that it is the best word processor out there, but it has some "illness" which made me switch to Pages (bad .doc export, no legal numbering and more).


Google's solutions are just isn't good enough... too many features missing...

If your favorite word processor was Mellel, I think I understand what you’re looking for. You won’t find MS Office satisfactory — it’s not aimed at users like us, and it won’t give you the control you need. iWork will, unfortunately, not work either because it’s aimed at a user base that cares about *some* of the things we care about, but not all. The sort of bugs that drive you nuts really are low priority for the team; it’s just the way it is.

I don’t have a good answer for you. I would suggest looking into LaTeX-based solutions again and see if you can live with the tradeoffs.

I don’t believe the situation on Windows is any better — frankly I think software on Windows is even less likely to satisfy your needs. There’s nothing even close to Mellel.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Actually thinking about that, I missed the RTL and technical requirements.
Perhaps just Markdown is really good. Got lots of technical extensions and styles allow RTL.

 

[cavi]

Surprisingly, I received email from the iWork team and they are looking into the issue. Hope they fix the bugs soon...