Anyone Using iPad Pro as Main Device?

[johnbalash]

I couldn't disagree with you more here! What's more simple than having documents in the apps you used to create them, and if you really insist, most times you can create folders within those apps for further management. And just to make things even simpler, iCloud Drive allows you to find any file/folder you want, stored neatly within the origin app and on iCloud for safe keeping. And just for kicks you can search them all in one place if you like?

Is this not far more simple, safe, and fast to pull up, than creating a million different files entrenched within folders within folders in different file types in your own complex filing system arranged in your head, on a machine that allows any file to be created /duplicated, renamed, reformatted, and stored absolutely anywhere on your whole machine, and often with no back up whatsoever.

Totally agree. iOS often gets knocked for having all the files in app silos but I find it easier to find what I'm looking for. It's much easier to open between apps now too in iOS 10.

 

[Synergie]

Strange because the physical keyboard is the reason why my imac is still my main device. Way faster to type, and more confortable as well.

Try the apple wireless keyboard with the iPad Pro. It's the same keyboard used by iMacs so you will still have the same feel typing. Way better than the apple Smart Keyboard for iPad Pro. For the amount I actually require a full keyboard I use the BT wireless one. And it's still apple so you get the same feel and such. It's fully compatible even the audio controls etc.

 

[stlredbird]

I do a lot of work on my 12.9, but I still need the main Adobe Suite for the bulk of my work. So it's not my main computer, but I could see for the majority of the population it would be all they need.

 

[Mr_Killjoy]

I do a lot of work on my 12.9, but I still need the main Adobe Suite for the bulk of my work. So it's not my main computer, but I could see for the majority of the population it would be all they need.

You should check out iOS alternatives. Ditching Adobe was the easiest part of my now nearly complete move.

 

[johnbalash]

You should check out iOS alternatives. Ditching Adobe was the easiest part of my now nearly complete move.

I've become a big fan of Procreate! Some of the Adobe iOS apps are good but most require you to move to a Mac (or PC) to export in HD.

 

[alecgold]

Have you guys tried to do real work on iPad? by real work I mean:
- to work on excel spreadsheets
- to have opened side by side a couple of word documents to compare
- to make a folder with various types of files relating to project and to quickly drag and drop them between folders to reorganize the contents
- to have software to enter your citations in a scientific article
etc etc

let me tell you, I have tried hard to find a workflow, which would allow me to do the above things on an iPad, but it is just not worth the effort. Too much frustration, too much wasted time for something I can do really fast and easy on my 12in MacBook.

I am very disappointed that I came to this conclusion, because I love the pencil on my 12.9IPP. I wish there was a way to be able to do my work on the iPad. But as I said, there isn't.

It is obviously a software limitation. By software I mean both the sandboxing feature of iOS, but also the software from the developers.

It's so easy.
- Excel on my 13" Macbook pro is the same cramped space as it is on my 12.9" iPad Pro, I get it done, but even a 27" can feel cramped. Quiet, calm and nose to the grindstone will usually get it done.
- I have split screen for comparing word documents. The one I work in is in Word, the one I'm comparing to is in Documents 5. To be totally honest, I have a second 9.7 iPad that I use for reading books, googling referencing. Know what is nice? If I select and copy some text on the 9.7 I can paste it on the 12.9. That's brilliant!
- I have thousands of folders with mixed file-types next to each other, I can organize them quick and easily with Documents 5, don't see your problem as there must be dozens of other apps that can do this for you.
- if you like Zotero for citations, there is PaperShip, but there is also the app called EndNote or Paper3 for citations. Never used them, have done it so far with Word on the bottom of the page. I know there is a build in plugin called RefME for Word that I could use when it comes to that.

Google can be your friend or ask in these forums if you have a specific problem and usually you'll get really good advice.

I'm really sorry you're disappointed, I certainly believe you want it to work, but it looks like you're too set in your ways of doing it the laptop/old-style-OS way. I'm not saying it's easy, I was on Powerbooks and Macbooks for 15 years or so. It took me about 5 days of reinventing almost everything. The apps I need, the workflow, the tricks to get repetitive work done fast. I hardly did any work at all in these days and I planned them accordingly. After the 5 day period I took my iPad Pro 12.9" everywhere, but almost always also had my macbook pro as a backup. Just in case. After 3 weeks I was confident I could do everything I encounter when I'm away with my iPad. Rare situations could be resolved with Jump Desktop so I could login into my Macbook Pro at home, do the things I need and get back. Al the documents are in iCloud and the sync is quick and good.

AFter a year of iOS and iPad's I think Macbook Pro's are big, clumsy, have no touch, pencil, GPS, TouchID or LTE. Reading letter sized is awkward on a horizontal screen. It's soooo much more logic to rotate the screen. Which dummy ever thought it a good idea to have a horizontal wide-screen for reading and writing???

How do you say it in English? Horses for courses? An iPad work style and workflow certainly isn't for everybody, but the work you've asked about is done by me on a daily basis with my iPad Pro 12.9" (and since 2 weeks with the addition of an iPad Pro 9.7).

 

[Traverse]

This is either poor writing, or it's just being deliberately provocative. There are computing tasks which require legacy computer operating systems and legacy I/O ports. And there are computing tasks that do not. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the word "real".

I must say that you worded this very well.

And there are tasks that can be accomplished on both, but it may be more practical on one than the other. For instance, I like to work with Excel on a traditional computer with a mouse and keyboard.

I don't like the wording "real computer" - I think it's more fitting to say iPad versus a "traditional computer."

 

[SoYoung]

I think a traditional computer is realy a "real" computer. It have the operating system to do multitask as it should be, no limitation of what you can do etc.

Of course the iPad can do everyday task for many, many people, but its still a tablet and it comes with limitations and I can't name it a "computer" because for now tablets have too many little limitations. The only tablet I can consider a real computer is the surface pro one.

That said, I used my iPad as my main computer for a while between 2013 to mid-2016 (because my old computer had many problems) and it was okay, but since I'm back to my computer now, I feel like I can do everything I do on my iPad, but faster and more convenient for me. But I still use my iPad a lot. I think it can replace a laptop for me.

 

[Synergie]

I've used a variety of AirPrint enabled printers with mine - including some quite high end laser printers. My only issue, which is simply a minor niggle that's more exclusive in my situation, is having to connect to the printer or a respective wifi network to access the printer. Now, for someone with a normal home wifi network this is a non-issue. But as I use LTE as my main internet source, I have to connect to a different option to access the printer I currently have.

In reality though, I've had far less issues printing via iPad or even iPhone than I did on mac or windows.
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I know you backtracked a bit/rephrased after the fact on some of this, but I'm not really quoting for the pissing match on whether or not the iPad is enough for ALL people. It's not - but it is for some, and that's who this thread is for.

Regarding photoshop though, I'll weigh in on that, because it's actually relevant to my career and usage. I'm a professional designer and it's my main income.

I work daily with graphic design, and used Photoshop for around a decade. This is the one thing I need most in my career, and an absolute, non negotiable necessity. I can't go without the ability to create and edit elaborate files, large resolution professional photos, etc. My job simply wouldn't be possible without it.

However - despite my intense usage of Photoshop, I find that there are not only full featured options for the same work on iPad, but ones that I enjoy using far, far more than Photoshop. They're more fluid, they're more feature-rich in some cases, and they give better results on a platform that's, quite frankly, more enjoyable to use.

For me, it takes that separation between me and my designs away. It's no longer something that has a distance there - it's hands on. It's direct. My fingers blurring a section on a photo, or the Pencil drawing a line or wireframe right there on the screen. It breathed new life into design for me - not just by a little, but by a lot. It changed how I see my work, how I approach it, and it's made me enjoy it again as if it's fresh - even after a decade of it.

So while some may be dedicated to photoshop, as someone who relied on it for so long, and relies on that kind of work so heavily? I'd say that most photohop users could be perfectly happy on an iPad Pro.

Fully agree 100% plus the adobe apps do work. Lightroom works very well on IPP and the PS apps do work but for some reason they split them into several apps instead of one app. Probably so they also work on smaller devices without being too complicated. But they still get everything done.

I really like procreate and Pixelmator both as well.

 

[M. Gustave]

Fully agree 100% plus the adobe apps do work. Lightroom works very well on IPP and the PS apps do work but for some reason they split them into several apps instead of one app. Probably so they also work on smaller devices without being too complicated. But they still get everything done.

I think Adobe is in the same boat as Nintendo, i.e. people aren't buying the hardware that runs their software anymore. They're going to have to port everything to iOS and Android, or die. It's already happening, and only a matter of time before every Ps and Lr feature is in their various iOS apps.

 

[Channan]

I think a traditional computer is realy a "real" computer. It have the operating system to do multitask as it should be, no limitation of what you can do etc.

Of course the iPad can do everyday task for many, many people, but its still a tablet and it comes with limitations and I can't name it a "computer" because for now tablets have too many little limitations. The only tablet I can consider a real computer is the surface pro one.

That said, I used my iPad as my main computer for a while between 2013 to mid-2016 (because my old computer had many problems) and it was okay, but since I'm back to my computer now, I feel like I can do everything I do on my iPad, but faster and more convenient for me. But I still use my iPad a lot. I think it can replace a laptop for me.

But see, traditional computers have limitations as well. My MacBook Pro doesn't have a touchscreen, so I'm limited to pen and mouse input. It also doesn't have the literal millions of apps available on iOS.

"Traditional" is definitely a much better word to describe Macs and Windows computers than "real".

 

[Traverse]

I think Adobe is in the same boat as Nintendo, i.e. people aren't buying the hardware that runs their software anymore. They're going to have to port everything to iOS and Android, or die.

Mmmmm, if I could play classic Nintendo games on an iPad with a nintendo controller...

I'd buy a 12.9" iPad Pro just to be semi-portable game screen! (Whilst keeping my 9.7" for regular use of course )

 

[Night Spring]

But see, traditional computers have limitations as well. My MacBook Pro doesn't have a touchscreen, so I'm limited to pen and mouse input. It also doesn't have the literal millions of apps available on iOS.

"Traditional" is definitely a much better word to describe Macs and Windows computers than "real".

I think @SoYoung was referring to the sandboxing and wall garden restrictions of iOS. And I sort of have to agree with that -- the hardware is capable, but there are artificial limitations placed on it. I don't know if I'd call it real/not real, but the limitations are there.

 

[Channan]

I think @SoYoung was referring to the sandboxing and wall garden restrictions of iOS. And I sort of have to agree with that -- the hardware is capable, but there are artificial limitations placed on it. I don't know if I'd call it real/not real, but the limitations are there.

I acknowledge there are limitations, but nobody has come up with a good reason for why these mobile devices aren't also considered "real" computers. A lot of the limitations iOS has are not present on Android, but Android tablets aren't considered "real" computers any more than the iPad.

 

[MacKinvan]

I use my IPP12.9 for as much as I can. My corporate environment still relies pretty heavy on a Microsoft AD file share. I wish that Apple would figure out a way to integrate with that better. I have to go to my Windows PC and copy files up to the cloud to access...edit said document and then download it back. Frustrating...I know that there are so many companies that utilize cloud storage, but ours is not one of them and I do not see it happening anytime soon.

 

[Night Spring]

I use my IPP12.9 for as much as I can. My corporate environment still relies pretty heavy on a Microsoft AD file share. I wish that Apple would figure out a way to integrate with that better. I have to go to my Windows PC and copy files up to the cloud to access...edit said document and then download it back. Frustrating...I know that there are so many companies that utilize cloud storage, but ours is not one of them and I do not see it happening anytime soon.

I don't know what AD file share is. Is that like shared files on a network? If so, apps like FileBrowser and GoodReader might be able to access those files directly. No need to go through cloud.

 

[Brammy]

I don't know what AD file share is. Is that like shared files on a network? If so, apps like FileBrowser and GoodReader might be able to access those files directly. No need to go through cloud.

Active Directory file share.

Yeah, this is a place it falls down. GoodReader and FileBrowser aren't ideal if you need to do a lot of edits to the files. In this instance, I just use Citrix Receiver which is our VDI.

 

[MacKinvan]

I don't know what AD file share is. Is that like shared files on a network? If so, apps like FileBrowser and GoodReader might be able to access those files directly. No need to go through cloud.

Think of a SAN attached enterprise Microsoft File server hosted in multiple datacenter around the country.
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Active Directory file share.

Yeah, this is a place it falls down. GoodReader and FileBrowser aren't ideal if you need to do a lot of edits to the files. In this instance, I just use Citrix Receiver which is our VDI.

I use that too. Citrix even gave use beta mice that will work inside of the VDI. Makes it so much easier.

 

[Brammy]

Think of a SAN attached enterprise Microsoft File server hosted in multiple datacenter around the country.
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I use that too. Citrix even gave use beta mice that will work inside of the VDI. Makes it so much easier.

Oh snap, I need one of those mice.

 

[TigerMSTR]

Since I got my iPad Pro in the summer, my usage of my MacBook Pro has plummeted. Multiple days go by where I don't use it. The iPad is a lot faster and more pleasant to use than the MBP, and iOS has progressed to the point where it's of basically no resistance to my workflow. My last iPad was an iPad to with iOS 7, which was a struggle; the software has progressed a lot since then, it's really taken me by surprise. Very seldom do I run into situations where I can't do something on the iPad.

Is the iPad a Mac replacement for me? No. But it's gotten really, really close. Apple has done a heck of a good job making the iOS software powerful enough for "real work".

 

[emembee]

I think one of the biggest problems with iPad only is moving multiple files around if desired, perhaps for use on a desktop or somewhere else. Say I have 200 docs in Editorial app I want to put in a different folder in Dropbox, then I have to select one at a a time? No way is this usable, so it means working in a different way by limiting the documents or using a cloud system you trust enough.

 

[alecgold]

I think one of the biggest problems with iPad only is moving multiple files around if desired, perhaps for use on a desktop or somewhere else. Say I have 200 docs in Editorial app I want to put in a different folder in Dropbox, then I have to select one at a a time? No way is this usable, so it means working in a different way by limiting the documents or using a cloud system you trust enough.

Once and for all, THAT IS NOT TRUE.
Specially for you I connected my dropbox in Documents 5 by Readdle. I have a folder that contains well over 50 other folders, a 100 files in the folder itself and in total around 180.000 subsequent files and folders. It's about 7gb.
I drew a bit down, tap on "select all", deselected a huge zip-file, then a tap on the copy button, selected a folder on my icloud and copied all those files to my icloud. From dropbox to icloud in seconds (copying took MUCH longer, but that's not the point). From dropbox to the ipad itself, no problem.

So, no pain, no problem, no difficulties at all. So stop whining and first look around, ask around.
Sorry, but all those naysayers that tell me what I do on a daily basis can't be done. Bollocks.







Edit: Documents 5 is an app by Readdle, it's free, but you can support them by buying the excellent PDF expert 5 or one of their other apps they sell like scanner pro, printer pro, pdf converter, calendars or spark. They integrate nicely into Documents 5 and make a nice suite of apps. They even have package deals. No, I have not any affiliation with them, just a happy user. Although they might perhaps update somewhat faster at times. And I'm sure there are many other apps that can do the same, but I'm happy with this so I'm sticking to it.

 

[emembee]

Once and for all, THAT IS NOT TRUE.
Specially for you I connected my dropbox in Documents 5 by Readdle. I have a folder that contains well over 50 other folders, a 100 files in the folder itself and in total around 180.000 subsequent files and folders. It's about 7gb.
I drew a bit down, tap on "select all", deselected a huge zip-file, then a tap on the copy button, selected a folder on my icloud and copied all those files to my icloud. From dropbox to icloud in seconds (copying took MUCH longer, but that's not the point). From dropbox to the ipad itself, no problem.

Yes I know how to do that, I have no issue with doing those things!

More fine grained movement of files to different places may not be so obvious. You may be working in several apps (Excel, Word, Editorial, Textastic, Matcha, omnigraffle) and then decide to push them all into a shared folder on the cloud but they are on ipad storage only. How quick and easy is it to do that? I am not disputing it can't be done, just showing the difference to a so called 'traditional computer'.

 

[alecgold]

I have al my files saved by client, not by app I'm working in. That would be really inconvenient. If i want to transfer a client to a coworker, I need to gather them from all over the place? That would be slowing me down seriously and annoy hell out of me.
I work in icloud, but dropbox et al. is just the same.

I have a main folder "clients", where all clients reside, under client I have years or big project etc. etc.

When I want to do something, I start in Documents, go to the client folder I'm going to work on, open the pdf I want in Documents. Or if I want to make a new word document, I open Word, start a new document, start typing, then save it under the client folder it belongs to in iCloud/dropbox etc. Opening is the same, I can open a word-document in Documents 5 as a quick view, then tap on the icon right top corner to open it in Word and start typing. But I need to save it again as a new file in the cloud. So I usually open the Word app, tap open and the select the file I want to edit in Word itself.
It not thát different from a desktop?!?

What I NEVER do is store a Word file in Word locally on the ipad in the Word-directory. That would be driving anyone bonkers. The maniac who thought it would be handy to have totally separated local directories/folders per app was round the twist (as in I have an independent mind, you're eccentric, he is around the twist), absolute madness. Getting it out of there is a pain in the proverbial place because I can't see that folder anywhere else but in Word. (well I can on my MacBook Pro, but that was just what we're trying not to resort to).

I humbly hope it makes my workflow clear, even if it might not be a solution for yours (but I do certainly hope it offers a new insight or perhaps even a way around your troubles).

 

[riptidewahoo]

Right now, I own a 2016 rMB, iPad Pro 9.7 w/Pencil and ASK, and iPhone 7. I've owned several iPads over the years.

I'm selling my iPad Pro and will probably go without a tablet for the foreseeable future. My experience has been that there are just very few use cases where I needed an iPad-specific iOS app to get things done, so it has been gathering dust. I can get 95% of the same experiences with iOS apps on the iPhone (albeit with a smaller screen) - a device I always have on me. I had no good way to transport both the iPhone and iPad on a daily basis.

There are many things that are handled much better on my rMB (MP3 file management for my DJing, game emulators, web browsing experience, music production programs, Office/iWork, etc.). Some of these are inferior experiences or simply impossible on an iPad, so I will always need a laptop with macOS. I could not make the iPP my main device.

The only thing I am debating at this point is selling the iPhone 7 and getting a 7+ so that I do have a bit more screen real estate for iOS.