All iPads iPad fatigue?

[Gregg2]

Those who experience joint pain, does using your iPad make any joints hurt after awhile?

I'm right-handed, so I tend to use my right index finger or thumb to scroll. After awhile I notice pain in my wrist, so I'll adjust my position such that I can scroll with minimal wrist action or switch to the left hand for awhile. Maybe it's just a good sign that I need to put the iPad down and do something else!

 

[russell_314]

Those who experience joint pain, does using your iPad make any joints hurt after awhile?

I'm right-handed, so I tend to use my right index finger or thumb to scroll. After awhile I notice pain in my wrist, so I'll adjust my position such that I can scroll with minimal wrist action or switch to the left hand for awhile. Maybe it's just a good sign that I need to put the iPad down and do something else!

I don't have this problem but I don't hold my iPad like I do with my iPhone. I have the iPad Air so it's really too big just to hold it there or at least it feels like that to me. I mostly use mine for watching movies and YouTube videos.

I've heard people say with the iPad mini that it gave them pain in their hands from holding it. I had an iPad mini 4 a while ago and didn't have problems but I didn't use it very much so that could have been why.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Well I don't have this problem because I have an ipad mini and my ipad pro is always used attached to the magic keyboard. However if it were not attached to the magic keyboard it would be too heavy to hold for long periods of time.

 

[Calaveras]

i got an iPad through work a few years ago.
Almost immediately I started noticing that it was not comfortable to use for long period of time.
I reflected on a class I took in college on computer ergonomics (a requirement in CS back then).
One of the statements they made that stuck with me is that the human eyes evolved for close up vision, think foraging, or long distance, identifying threats or hunting.
computer use requires you to focus the eyes at an intermediate distance, for details that we accustomed to looking at up close.
Ipads compound this because we often end up using them at an unnatural angle.
And in my case I'm nearsighted and farsighted.
So my up close viewing range is pretty restricted. Even with my best lenses on I find the iPad is too close sometimes, and too far away at others.
Interacting with it I also find annoying as heck, I never found a good angle which worked for swiping and tapping, and a decent view.
So my iPad ends up being used for a couple virtual instruments, and to watch movies.
I actually find the iPhone better for email and stuff.
I'm sure people with better vision and better flexibility don't encounter any difficulty in usin it upside down with their head hanging off the couch. As my nephew often does. But he is 11.

 

[jm31828]

i got an iPad through work a few years ago.
Almost immediately I started noticing that it was not comfortable to use for long period of time.
I reflected on a class I took in college on computer ergonomics (a requirement in CS back then).
One of the statements they made that stuck with me is that the human eyes evolved for close up vision, think foraging, or long distance, identifying threats or hunting.
computer use requires you to focus the eyes at an intermediate distance, for details that we accustomed to looking at up close.
Ipads compound this because we often end up using them at an unnatural angle.
And in my case I'm nearsighted and farsighted.
So my up close viewing range is pretty restricted. Even with my best lenses on I find the iPad is too close sometimes, and too far away at others.
Interacting with it I also find annoying as heck, I never found a good angle which worked for swiping and tapping, and a decent view.
So my iPad ends up being used for a couple virtual instruments, and to watch movies.
I actually find the iPhone better for email and stuff.
I'm sure people with better vision and better flexibility don't encounter any difficulty in usin it upside down with their head hanging off the couch. As my nephew often does. But he is 11.

Interesting- so do you find that using your phone- or even a laptop that sits on your lap- is better for you for longer sessions?

I find that I can use my phone (13 Mini) for pretty long sessions without any trouble focusing or eye strain, maybe because I can hold it out far enough that it seems natural- but in the brief time I had tried an 11" iPad, it just felt awkward to hold, and to find a good position for tapping/scrolling which isn't as natural as it is on a small phone, etc.

 

[Calaveras]

I think that is a big part of it.
Unless I am using one of those BT keyboard cases, the act of holding and using an iPad is just awkward.
I guess if it weighed the same as an iphone it would be more manageable. But it's also that gestures are on a bigger surface area.

Funny thing is when I took that ergo course, we were told that normal computer distance from eye to screen is about 12-18". But that optimal is 24" to 3 feet.
Well I tried that a few years ago with a large LCD and it was terrible. Lasted about a week before I went back to a pair of 27" screens and sold it at a loss.

 

[MisterSavage]

My iPad is always either on a stand or a lap pillow. Makes things easier.

 

[rui no onna]

Those who experience joint pain, does using your iPad make any joints hurt after awhile?

I'm right-handed, so I tend to use my right index finger or thumb to scroll. After awhile I notice pain in my wrist, so I'll adjust my position such that I can scroll with minimal wrist action or switch to the left hand for awhile. Maybe it's just a good sign that I need to put the iPad down and do something else!

That's why tap to turn pages is very important for me on reading apps.

Also, I use my 9.7"+ iPads in landscape with the cover folded sitting on my tummy or a pillow. I don't carry the full weight of the iPad, just support the corners/edges.

 

[Gregg2]

That's why tap to turn pages is very important for me on reading apps.

Also, I use my 9.7"+ iPads in landscape with the cover folded sitting on my tummy or a pillow. I don't carry the full weight of the iPad, just support the corners/edges.

Well, I don't do reading on the iPad other than news articles, no books. I also place the iPad on a pillow on my lap, and I have a "stand" intended for a laptop, which can be adjusted to angle the iPad up towards my face. Thus, I have no problem seeing it using my bifocals. (When I do read a real book, I also place it on the pillow.)

So my wrist pain is just from scrolling, not from holding the device, as many have commented on.

 

[Jerry_]

When using the iPad for reading (like this forum) I either hold the iPad with two hands, either have it on the keyboard standing steady and only using the right hand.

In both scenarios (for reading) my right hand has 4 fingers on the back of the device and the thumb on the screen. Thus for scrolling I just move the thumb, but not the wrist.

I have used this method with different sizes of iPads from Mini to 13 inch Pro and never had issues with wrist (nor thumb) pains for scrolling (well the 13 inch put some stress on the wrists for holding for longer, therefore I actually use it in « laptop mode » only, ie put on a table with a keyboard attached)

 

[Gregg2]

When using the iPad for reading (like this forum) I either hold the iPad with two hands, either have it on the keyboard standing steady and only using the right hand.

In both scenarios (for reading) my right hand has 4 fingers on the back of the device and the thumb on the screen. Thus for scrolling I just move the thumb, but not the wrist.

Yeah, I try to scroll with a stiff wrist, moving my whole hand rather than bending the wrist. I'll use either the thumb or index finger this way. That seems to take the stress off of my wrist.

 

[MajorFubar]

Try being the elephant in the room: the one-handed guy.
Yes I mostly use it docked, because both holding it and using it is not an option.

 

[MisterSavage]

.

 

[ndouglas]

Well, I don't do reading on the iPad other than news articles, no books. I also place the iPad on a pillow on my lap, and I have a "stand" intended for a laptop, which can be adjusted to angle the iPad up towards my face. Thus, I have no problem seeing it using my bifocals. (When I do read a real book, I also place it on the pillow.)

So my wrist pain is just from scrolling, not from holding the device, as many have commented on.

I tend to agree that the scrolling gesture or motion is often bothersome to me, for that reason I used the space bar as often as possible on ipad w/ a physical keyboard and on laptops. That doesn’t help with when you don’t have a keyboard, obviously, but just an idea if you’re open to it.

 

[PowerMac5500]

Deleted

 

[Gregg2]

@PowerMac5500
I find myself with my hand in that "iPad ready" position since the iPad is resting on a pillow in my lap. It's subtle, but keeping the hand (or arms) tense is not the best practice. I try to relax whenever I notice the tension.