No iOS is still lacking in many ways and the form factor means it's not ideal for most things.
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iPad as a laptop replacement
- Thread starter Omar Comin' Yo
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No iOS is still lacking in many ways and the form factor means it's not ideal for most things.
That’s what people said about laptops vs desktops lol.
Actually the iPad Pro benches higher than the MacBook Pro 13” and has a slightly larger screen overall.
Fact is, an iPad Pro CAN do everything a laptop can do, maybe not in exactly the same way. (Touch vs trackpad, different apps, etc). But a laptop CAN NOT do everything an iPad Pro can, that being touch screen, augmented reality, built in LTE, Document markups using pencil, signing Forms / having customer directly sign the screen, being able to instantly flip to landscape vs portrait or back and for working on graphics or in documents that means in portrait you don’t have a zoomed in view or waste of screen space. Don’t forget ridiculous battery life, light weight, no super heated laptop on your lap.
The things people mention as a reason iPad Pro ‘cant’ replace a laptop has nothing to do with hardware 99% of the time it’s software. Whinge at the developers not Apple. Affinity Photo shows us that Apple is not limiting performance. Adobe is. (In question of Lightroom and PS etc).
Trackpad? That’s what it comes down to for some??? I bet some are still hanging on to their old ball mouses saying track pads are evil LOL
Yes, it does come down to trackpad (mouse for me) for some - for me due to manual dexterity problems. Not lol.
While we’re at it, can anybody show me a good way(app) to deal with zip files in iOS? I need to unpack zip files containing multiple folders, which contain multiple files, and load the unzipped package into a Box account. This is where iOS falls short for me still.
The limiting factor is the software not the hardware... iOS is just dating badly and the apps are seriously limited.
For most workflows you have to do crappy work arounds, but if you want light youtube, web usage and note taking iPad is your baby.
File browser or similar app. File explorer I think as well. Correct me if I am wrong but I don’t think Mac OS does this natively either? I think you require a third party program on the Mac as well.
I actually don’t find the workaround to be crappy. It’s all how you look at it.
Before I saw my digital ‘identity’ as the physical hard drive I controlled and always had with me.
Now my digital identity is no longer ‘local’ it’s everywhere. I’ve stopped fighting with the ‘must save everything locally’ mentality and allowed my identity to grow into something larger. Use cloud services. This is not a workaround. It’s not crappy. It’s called evolution. For those who still fight to control local storage and run everything locally they are the ones struggling but even then there is an easy way. Apps like File Browser or File Explorer put everything in one place. They also create a ‘local’ drive of sorts. All clouds and NAS drives etc plus that local storage can be accessed thru one app. You can copy or move between any of them to any of them.
This is not a workaround. I agree apples files app should have had this capability and does to some extend minus NAS storage but maybe they will add in an update if enough people request.
For an all in one storage I use File Browser. It’s own folder in iCloud is where I put my general ‘stuff’ that I want full control over organizing and accessible to everything else. From in the app I can access it, and easily copy files or move between there and google Drive or to the local drive on the device etc.
Only catch? Use ‘share’ menu rather than save when saving from within apps. It makes sense. Now content is being shared to multiple places and apps. It’s no longer just saved which implies locally. But using share over save doesn’t actually take any more time. It’s not complicated or ‘crappy’ either.
Just shift your thinking and evolve...
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Nope, or at least not for me. I use plenty of cloud services on and across all my devices..
It's not really about that, work arounds existing in many ways and forms for the IPP and they pretty much all slow productivity down and build frustration. Simple example, things like copy and paste, selecting text - every day basic things.
It's not really about that, work arounds existing in many ways and forms for the IPP and they pretty much all slow productivity down and build frustration. Simple example, things like copy and paste, selecting text - every day basic things.
Hmmm sorry to hear
for you I would suggest keyboard short cuts using the Apple BT magic keyboard which you can position away from the screen. The arrow keys work well for navigating the icons. In apps like word etc have you tried either Apple Pencil or just a regular capacitive stylus? You can use a capacitive stylus to navigate home page too... which would remove the need for dexterity. But just as a side note. There WAS a mouse which worked through BT and worked on iPad awhile back. I think you had to jailbreak though. But that shows it IS possible. And Citrix mouse does work now but only for Remote Desktops.
But I have seen a quadraplegic using an iPad and a capacitive stylus they used with their mouth. The iPad was mounted in front of them on their chair.
Have you tried the keyboard shortcuts? Ctrl V Ctrl C Etc all work and there are keyboard shortcuts for select/ copy word and sentence as well (I’d have to look them up).
Hmmm sorry to hear
But just as a side note. There WAS a mouse which worked through BT and worked on iPad awhile back. I think you had to jailbreak though. But that shows it IS possible. And Citrix mouse does work now but only for Remote Desktops.
But I have seen a quadraplegic using an iPad and a capacitive stylus they used with their mouth. The iPad was mounted in front of them on their chair.
I can't use a stylus - my problem is essential tremors causing shaky hands. A mouse works for me because of the way I can hold it and apply downward pressure (though even that goes a little haywire at times). And shortcuts don't work for things like local adjustment selections in Lightroom. So I use my iPad solely as a consumption device and a laptop or desktop for everything else.
One unintended consequence of pushing the limits of my iPad Pro in an attempt to replace my 11" Macbook Air as a mobile device is...
...that it caused me to seriously look at chromebooks (2-in-1's in particular) as an alternative.
Although no mobile OS and respective apps will be enough to replace my desktop systems, having to "think different" about my various mobile workflows to accomplish tasks in iOS on the iPad, opened up possibilities that I didn't think were initially possible on a chromebook. It's been a fun experiment (Acer R11) and having seen what Apple did and didn't do with iOS 11, I might be ready to take a more serious step and get a Samsung Chromebook Plus.
Android tablets and now chromebooks (w/Android support) have shown that it is possible to offer notebook-like features without compromising the touch experience, so it isn't a matter of being difficult/impossible to offer such a combo, it is simply the lack of desire on Apple's part to do it.
...that it caused me to seriously look at chromebooks (2-in-1's in particular) as an alternative.
Although no mobile OS and respective apps will be enough to replace my desktop systems, having to "think different" about my various mobile workflows to accomplish tasks in iOS on the iPad, opened up possibilities that I didn't think were initially possible on a chromebook. It's been a fun experiment (Acer R11) and having seen what Apple did and didn't do with iOS 11, I might be ready to take a more serious step and get a Samsung Chromebook Plus.
Android tablets and now chromebooks (w/Android support) have shown that it is possible to offer notebook-like features without compromising the touch experience, so it isn't a matter of being difficult/impossible to offer such a combo, it is simply the lack of desire on Apple's part to do it.
If you don’t mind parting with a few dollars download File Browser as it works with everything...including NAS and attached computers as well.
It is a nice app with a lot of functionality. I also use it with a NAS and other computers on my network. It also works quite well with my wireless FileHub with attached storage (flash drives, hard drive, SD cards) and with cloud services.
I’ve tried a few zip apps and none work well. Either the files are stuck in the app sandbox, or the app wants to recompress them before moving. Readdle’s Documents works, but its a cumbersome workaround. Would like a more simple solution but I can get by as-is. Im pretty interested in File Browser and a wireless HD in the future. Could be quite useful.
FileBrowser and a RavPower FileHub work well for me as I travel a lot in places where Internet access is poor or totally unavailable - I never count on cloud availability. I usually use it with a 4TB Western Digital portable drive. It can also bridge to a router, something that recently came in handy at a hotel where number of connected WiFi devices was limited. I used the FileHub to connect to their service and created a local network that my wife and I could use more than the device limit on. The hub has its own app but FileBrowser is better.
I believe I’ve read that post on here somewhere, when I was looking for alternate ways to move files to/from iPad (no usb transfer, etc). Also wondering if it would work well as a media “server” for the kids ipad, like while traveling in a car? I’m probably going to purchase one, eventually.
Works great streaming movies from an attached drive. Different devices can connect to it and each can watch a different movie from the same attached storage simultaneously if desired. Great functionality for only $40 at Amazon.
