To change how files are uploaded

1. click on the settings gear in the top-right corner
2. click on Settings
3. to convert uploaded files to Docs format, check the box for Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format and click Done
   

Why not allow Textastic to open any file extension?

Or is that not possible on iOS?

This is how I reproduce:

1. Open file locally with *.abc extension

2. Click the share icon, select send to > copy to Google drive

3. From Google Drive, select file > open with > copy to Textastic. That works, but it's only a local copy that is under edit.

4. From Textastic select Open ... > Google Drive > browse to the main folder where step 2 saved. The file is grayed out and cannot be open.

When uploading to Google, if the file extension is not a known one (ex. not xml or txt) then it is marked as file type binary. That seems to be the difference when opening on iPad Textastic.

I can upload the exact same text file with .xml extension, then Google marks file type as okay. I can even change the extension to anything after that as the file type does not change now.

Same problem happens with .txt files (known Google extension) IF your Google drive settings are to convert to Google Docs; that gives file type of Google Doc and the file is greyed out.

btw, to view the Google docs file type I had to use a desktop PC. The Google Drive app on iPad does not show the file type detail (as text, binary, Google, etc)