iPad as a laptop replacement

[1BadManVan]

As much as I love my iPad with the magic keyboard, it still doesn’t feel like my macbook air for usability, even just simple things like trying to scroll comments on facebook with the trackpad won’t work on the iPad lol. Can‘t imagine some of the walls people hit that use these for more productive tasks. Still love it for its intended usage, but to me its not a proper laptop replacement yet.

Though it’s definitely a nice hybrid for those that travel a lot and want to pack something smaller. I shove mine in the front pocket of my lunch kit for work, the 11” just barely fits but its the perfect size lol

 

[NastyMatt]

As much as I love my iPad with the magic keyboard, it still doesn’t feel like my macbook air for usability, even just simple things like trying to scroll comments on facebook with the trackpad won’t work on the iPad lol. Can‘t imagine some of the walls people hit that use these for more productive tasks. Still love it for its intended usage, but to me its not a proper laptop replacement yet.

Though it’s definitely a nice hybrid for those that travel a lot and want to pack something smaller. I shove mine in the front pocket of my lunch kit for work, the 11” just barely fits but its the perfect size lol

Re Facebook scrolling - the app has a known bug. Whereas on the MBA you are using a web browser to view FB. Scrolling works on a browser too on an iPad.

Not saying a known bug is great but you need to compare like for like i.e both(IPP and MBA) on a browser.

 

[Webcat86]

I do backup my photos and files from my iPhone and iPad. And I don’t need a Mac to do it. I don’t view it as a ticking time bomb, because like I said, I back my photos up and it’s a very simple process. And a lot of other people do the same.

Can you elaborate on your process? I do iCloud backup, and my Mac has Time Machine, but I 100% have photos that I would be devastated to lose

 

[Basic75]

I think I mostly agree with that, though I still don’t get why people claim iPadOS doesn’t have a “competent” file system. The Files app is nearly identical to Finder in most ways anymore.

Ignoring the differences between the Finder and Files.app (neither of which are "file systems" btw), you are forgetting the most powerful file management tool, one that is built-in to macOS but impossible to install on iPadOS: Terminal.app and the Unix shell.

 

[Webcat86]

Ignoring the differences between the Finder and Files.app (neither of which are "file systems" btw), you are forgetting the most powerful file management tool, one that is built-in to macOS but impossible to install on iPadOS: Terminal.app and the Unix shell.

True but let's also not kid ourselves that Terminal is a mainstream Mac usage feature

 

[Kal Madda]

The main issue I have with Files is I can't see any way to can't tell it which app should open a particular file type, which sometimes means it opens with the wrong app and I can't do anything to stop it.

You can use the share sheet to open the file in the app of your choice. I hope this helps you out. 👍🏻

 

[Kal Madda]

OH MY GOD

So now with iPadOS 18 you can FINALLY drag and drop apps from the iPad to the external monitor, and viceversa? Wow

This has worked since iPadOS 16. I personally did it several times without issue. There are position settings for where the iPad is in relation to the monitor, just like there is on the Mac. If that is set correctly, then drag and dropping app windows between the two screens has always worked from day one of the Stage Manager feature in iPadOS 16.

 

[Populus]

This has worked since iPadOS 16. I personally did it several times without issue. There are position settings for where the iPad is in relation to the monitor, just like there is on the Mac. If that is set correctly, then drag and dropping app windows between the two screens has always worked from day one of the Stage Manager feature in iPadOS 16.

I… have never been able to, and I’ve tried. I don’t want to argue because I’m not sure but I’d swear this is new on iPadOS 18 or, at least, they made it more seamless and easy now.

 

[Kal Madda]

As much as I love my iPad with the magic keyboard, it still doesn’t feel like my macbook air for usability, even just simple things like trying to scroll comments on facebook with the trackpad won’t work on the iPad lol. Can‘t imagine some of the walls people hit that use these for more productive tasks. Still love it for its intended usage, but to me its not a proper laptop replacement yet.

Though it’s definitely a nice hybrid for those that travel a lot and want to pack something smaller. I shove mine in the front pocket of my lunch kit for work, the 11” just barely fits but its the perfect size lol

That’s strange. I scroll in Facebook just fine with the trackpad. It sounds like it must be a bug? Hopefully that gets resolved soon. 👍🏻

 

[Kal Madda]

Can you elaborate on your process? I do iCloud backup, and my Mac has Time Machine, but I 100% have photos that I would be devastated to lose

I connect an external storage drive to my iPad, go to Photos, select the photos I want to backup, click the share button, select “Save to Files”, and then save them into a folder on that external drive. 👍🏻. That’s what I’ve found to work well for me. I do use iCloud, so it’s technically also backed up on the cloud, but it’s nice to have local backups as well. From there, I keep backup copies of that external drive as well, that way I have multiples in case one corrupts. But honestly, I’ve never had an issue with one of my drives corrupting. 👍🏻

 

[Kal Madda]

Ignoring the differences between the Finder and Files.app (neither of which are "file systems" btw), you are forgetting the most powerful file management tool, one that is built-in to macOS but impossible to install on iPadOS: Terminal.app and the Unix shell.

If I really cared to, I could install a terminal shell app on the iPad. So I don’t really see the difference to be honest. Besides, I don’t think most people use a terminal app anymore, let alone know what it is… It’s incredibly niche. Saying that modern system’s file system is not competent merely for the lack of an antiquated terminal app doesn’t seem very fair. Even differences between Finder and Files don’t make Files “incompetent”, it just means it’s different. I have no problem with people pointing out that Finder has a few more features than Files (though I don’t think it’s that big of a difference), but I’m just tired of people who prefer the Mac claiming that the iPad “lacks a competent file system”.

 

[Kal Madda]

I… have never been able to, and I’ve tried. I don’t want to argue because I’m not sure but I’d swear this is new on iPadOS 18 or, at least, they made it more seamless and easy now.

Perhaps you were running into a bug. I’m not trying to argue, and I understand there was some confusion about it. I’m not faulting you or saying that you didn’t try hard enough or anything like that, I just happen to know that I was using that from day one, and it was working the exact same way for me then as it is now. 👍🏻. Also, I live in the US, so maybe that has something to do with it? I wasn’t trying to upset you, so I hope you didn’t take offense. 👍🏻

 

[Apple_Robert]

The main issue I have with Files is I can't see any way to can't tell it which app should open a particular file type, which sometimes means it opens with the wrong app and I can't do anything to stop it.

Take a look at the app FileBrowser Pro. It does what the Files app should.

 

[NastyMatt]

Perhaps you were running into a bug. I’m not trying to argue, and I understand there was some confusion about it. I’m not faulting you or saying that you didn’t try hard enough or anything like that, I just happen to know that I was using that from day one, and it was working the exact same way for me then as it is now. 👍🏻. Also, I live in the US, so maybe that has something to do with it? I wasn’t trying to upset you, so I hope you didn’t take offense. 👍🏻

It works just fine for me and always has done - granted I only started using it when I got my IPP M4 - so iPadOS 17. I am based in Europe so it’s not a US only feature!

 

[Populus]

Perhaps you were running into a bug. I’m not trying to argue, and I understand there was some confusion about it. I’m not faulting you or saying that you didn’t try hard enough or anything like that, I just happen to know that I was using that from day one, and it was working the exact same way for me then as it is now. 👍🏻. Also, I live in the US, so maybe that has something to do with it? I wasn’t trying to upset you, so I hope you didn’t take offense. 👍🏻

No, no offense taken.

It’s just that maybe I never discovered that feature, and I saw it on this YouTube video the other day:

Minute 11:25

 

[Basic75]

If I really cared to, I could install a terminal shell app on the iPad.

Really? How can you run a local shell on a non-jailbroken iPad? One where you can install brew.sh and access all apps' documents?

 

[JamesMay82]

I connect an external storage drive to my iPad, go to Photos, select the photos I want to backup, click the share button, select “Save to Files”, and then save them into a folder on that external drive. 👍🏻. That’s what I’ve found to work well for me. I do use iCloud, so it’s technically also backed up on the cloud, but it’s nice to have local backups as well. From there, I keep backup copies of that external drive as well, that way I have multiples in case one corrupts. But honestly, I’ve never had an issue with one of my drives corrupting. 👍🏻

Does it export in the correct format doing it that way? Sometimes I’ve found it only exports in jpeg as opposed to the original format which might be raw

 

[Kal Madda]

Does it export in the correct format doing it that way? Sometimes I’ve found it only exports in jpeg as opposed to the original format which might be raw

If you use the “Save to Files” option, then I think they normally export as JPEG, but I don’t really take any RAW photos, so I don’t know how it exports those. I don’t mind storing my photos in the JPEG format because that’s what I predominantly use for everything else, and I don’t have native RAW functionality on my iPhone. 👍🏻

PS I just checked, and there’s an option for “Export Unmodified Originals”. This will export the photos in their original format. 👍🏻

 

[1BadManVan]

That’s strange. I scroll in Facebook just fine with the trackpad. It sounds like it must be a bug? Hopefully that gets resolved soon. 👍🏻

Scrolling Facebook is ok until I click on the comments. When I try to scroll the comments it won’t do anything. Works fine if I use the touchscreen though

 

[Kal Madda]

Scrolling Facebook is ok until I click on the comments. When I try to scroll the comments it won’t do anything. Works fine if I use the touchscreen though

Still strange. Do you use the website or the app? I use the website like I would on a Mac, and I can scroll comments and everything fine with the trackpad. 👍🏻

 

[kupkakez]

Scrolling Facebook is ok until I click on the comments. When I try to scroll the comments it won’t do anything. Works fine if I use the touchscreen though

I’ve had this problem for a couple months too in the iPad app with my magic keyboard. I just have to use safari/chrome for it to work. Mildly annoying

 

[1BadManVan]

Still strange. Do you use the website or the app? I use the website like I would on a Mac, and I can scroll comments and everything fine with the trackpad. 👍🏻

I use the app for the iPad, which I’m sure its an app issue but seems its been one for awhile now according to other reports I’ve found about it

 

[Kal Madda]

I use the app for the iPad, which I’m sure its an app issue but seems its been one for awhile now according to other reports I’ve found about it

Ok, that would explain it, I heard that’s a bug with the app. I just use the website like I would on my Mac, because I prefer the layout and the tools. 👍🏻

 

[1BadManVan]

Ok, that would explain it, I heard that’s a bug with the app. I just use the website like I would on my Mac, because I prefer the layout and the tools. 👍🏻

Yea I don’t mind the website, I generally use facebook on my iPhone so I got pretty used to the app layout that way vs the website but it is a work around for now atleast

 

[whitestar27]

The worst part of the Facebook experience on any device I've found is the utter cesspool of garbage people post, I don't know how you all still use it without going insane!