I have text files saved in Google Drive. I want to edit those files. Such a basic thing on a real computer, but I’m really struggling to do it with my iPhone! I have tried so many apps that just don’t work.
I thought the Drafts app could work with Google Drive. Am I wrong?
I can select a text file in Drive and tell it to open in Drafts, but how do I click “Save”?
If you have the Google Drive app installed, it makes Google Drive available as a file provider in the iOS “File” app.
Drafts is not a file editor. It has its own notes database. It can import from and export to Google Drive via actions, but it does not edit files in-place.
There are some editors that work directly with files in the Files app - like Runestone - that might be more what you are looking for.
Thank you, good to know about Runestone as I hadn’t seen that one while searching. It does look good but alas, it too fails to save back to Drive. Don’t know who is guilty of this limitation but it’s most frustrating that such a primitive task of editing text is such a difficult thing to do.
I may be that Google Drive does not support in-place editing in their app implementation, I admit I have not researched that and it is not supported by all File providers.
Sounds like you want Documents from Readdle. It supports in-place editing practically everywhere. Its text editor doesn’t have S&R just search, that’s the only thing I miss about it.
Thank you, I just downloaded it and it looks good. It’s necessary to open the file directly from Readdle but that is better than nothing. (If I find the file in Google Drive and choose “Open with…”, the file that opens in Readdle seems to be a copy not the original. So Google Drive’s “Open with” menu really needs to be relabelled as “Copy this file into the app of your choice and then you will have to manually save it back to Drive afterwards”. Or something a little more concise than that 
You’re absolutely right. I’m actually working on a post that will give you extensive tips and tricks, including how you can use the Files app (it’s the simplest for plain text) and Drafts together. But unfortunately I’m very busy in this very moment. I’ll post as soon as it’s ready!