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iPad for web designers

B

benj07

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
57
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Any other web designers using the iPad for work-related tasks?

There are a few apps that are useful, like iMockups and various FTP apps, but I still think better ones are coming.

The WordPress app is also extremely useful, although I wish it had rich text editing.

What would you like to see? I think some sort of tabbed coding/FTP interface would be awesome!

Please share relevant tips and tricks.
 
What would you use to create HTML pages besides a text editor? Javascript? php? Actionscript? PC monitor preview? Testing any browser besides Mobile Safari? Unless your app has a browser preview that sits side by side with the code window any project would take significantly longer. Heck, just getting your graphics on the Pad would involve a bunch of steps.

This just isn't a task its suited to.
 
darngooddesign said:
What would you use to create HTML pages besides a text editor? Javascript? php? Actionscript? PC monitor preview? Testing any browser besides Mobile Safari? Unless your app has a browser preview that sits side by side with the code window any project would take significantly longer. Heck, just getting your graphics on the Pad would involve a bunch of steps.

This just isn't a task its suited to.
Click to expand...

iPad will never replace a computer for coding. The point of my post was that there are certain tasks that can be done on the iPad, i.e. wire-framing, reviewing code.

This thread isn't meant to discuss the negatives of getting work done on the iPad, it's meant to discuss the ways design tasks can be accomplished on the iPad.

Whether you like it or not, there are going to be developers designing apps that allow designers to do more work on the iPad.
 
darngooddesign said:
What would you use to create HTML pages besides a text editor?
Click to expand...

A good text editor would be nice on the iPad, or at least a proper shell client—something that resembles Apple's Terminal.

darngooddesign said:
Testing any browser besides Mobile Safari?
Click to expand...

I don't have every version of every web browser on my desktop either. I use http://browsershots.org/ . It'd be nice if an app could integrate with this service. :)

darngooddesign said:
Unless your app has a browser preview that sits side by side with the code window any project would take significantly longer.
Click to expand...

Certainly, but this is a design issue—and it doesn't sound like an insurmountable one.

darngooddesign said:
Heck, just getting your graphics on the Pad would involve a bunch of steps.
Click to expand...

I could imagine two solutions: (1) web "projects" can be be bundled together and synced by WiFi (tarballed by some application with metadata, perhaps); (2) the app could simply be an enhanced text editor with a ssh/ftp client embedded.

darngooddesign said:
This just isn't a task its suited to.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be too sure about that. I imagine that a good text editor with assorted tools would be great for me when I want to toss around ideas.
 
The biggest thing I'm looking forward to with my 3G iPad is using it at client meetings to show off my websites. I think the iPad would make a perfect portfolio, much better than sliding a laptop across the table.
 
Great thing about iPad is it's scalable Safari Browser interface, which is similar to having true Resolution Independence, which allows a designer to zoom in very close to have a great view of each and every pixel you are pushing around. This is less true for bitmapped images and more true for vector images, fonts, and any GUI element created with CSS or any other scripting languages.
 
I have a mobilme account but haven't made a website but would like to for my family. IS there an easy way to do it on the ipad?
 
keyofnight said:
A good text editor would be nice on the iPad, or at least a proper shell client—something that resembles Apple's Terminal.
Click to expand...
Currently the iPad is not suited to web work.

I don't have every version of every web browser on my desktop either. I use http://browsershots.org/ . It'd be nice if an app could integrate with this service. :)
Click to expand...
You don't have to have all, just the important one. Currently the iPad is not suited to web work.

Certainly, but this is a design issue—and it doesnt sound like an insurmountable one.
Click to expand...
Currently the iPad is not suited to web work.

I could imagine two solutions: (1) web "projects" can be be bundled together and synced by WiFi (tarballed by some application with metadata, perhaps); (2) the app could simply be an enhanced text editor with a ssh/ftp client embedded.
Click to expand...
Currently, the tools aren't really there especially iof the Op needs a WSYWIG solution.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. I imagine that a good text editor with assorted tools would be great for me when I want to toss around ideas.
Click to expand...
Tossing around ideas is not getting work done, and thats what I thought the OP was talking about.


Maybe I should have said currently it isn't suited to the task, but sure once Dreamweaver is ported to the iPad it will be awesome for web development.

You don't have to have every browser on your machine, just the important ones, but no platform will be good for web development without an assortment of browsers. Sure you can use it for playing with code, but I thought the OP was interested in its use for serious web work.

It really comes down to how you work, if all you need to code HTML5 is a text editor then the iPad will do just fine, once you have an FTP client and provided you don't mind changing applications just to check your preview (admittedly 4.0 makes this easier, but its still not as good as side by side display) , but if you require more of a WSYWIG solution CURRENTLY the iPad is not a good choice for this task.

It boils down to this, you can make the iPad get the job done, but you will burn more time with workarounds than getting actual work done. Perhaps in a year there will be more mature tools, but currently it is not suite to web work.
 
benj07 said:
Any other web designers using the iPad for work-related tasks?

There are a few apps that are useful, like iMockups and various FTP apps, but I still think better ones are coming.

The WordPress app is also extremely useful, although I wish it had rich text editing.

What would you like to see? I think some sort of tabbed coding/FTP interface would be awesome!

Please share relevant tips and tricks.
Click to expand...

I am trying to understand your question. "Work-related tasks"? This implies that you can not actually do your work on iPad but you are looking at ways to do something useful and work-related. So, you'd still do the main work on a laptop/desktop. And, obviously you can do all your work there. Why would you then even start thinking about using iPad for this? Buyers's remorse? Trying to find justification for buying an iPad. Or perhaps you think touch interface (and this is the only thing that iPad has on desktop) can somehow provide for a better tool in some situations? Maybe. But for WEB design? I'd be curious if someone came up with an idea :)
 
In time there will be a couple of decent lightweight code editors. There are already two in the store now, but the reviews indicate too many bugs for me to try them.

All I want, personally, is a way to do some quick fixes/edits now and then... not full development. But I love the idea of using the iPad as a portfolio of sorts, to show your work to prospective clients, or work-in-progress, etc. I already used mine to do that -- show off a site I'm working on. I was pleasantly surprised when Safari didn't choke, since it's entirely AJAX-based and uses a fair amount of jQuery animations. :)

Rob
 
lilo777 said:
So, you'd still do the main work on a laptop/desktop. And, obviously you can do all your work there. Why would you then even start thinking about using iPad for this?
Click to expand...

I can do all my web browsing on my laptop/desktop. I can even keep multiple tabs open at the same time w/o reloading. Guess I don't need my iPad.

I can do all my email on my laptop/desktop, with much better functionality. Guess I don't need my iPad.

I can do all my word-processing on my laptop/desktop, and can type much faster. Guess I don't need my iPad.

If we're only considering the best tools for a job, I guess we can toss the iPad out right there. Just wondering, have you even seen/used one yet? ;)

lilo777 said:
Or perhaps you think touch interface (and this is the only thing that iPad has on desktop) can somehow provide for a better tool in some situations?
Click to expand...

I think you're on to something here... :)
 
Rob.G said:
But I love the idea of using the iPad as a portfolio of sorts, to show your work to prospective clients, or work-in-progress, etc. I already used mine to do that -- show off a site I'm working on.
Click to expand...

By the way... using an iPad around prospective clients is a guaranteed way to boost your designer cred and land you work... :)

Just hang out at Starbucks for awhile... Make sure you hand out business cards to everyone whom you give an iPad tutorial.
 
I would like to see something like TextMate on the ipad with a built in Apache Server for local use. I personnally think you can use the browser on the ipad to give you an idea, I mean if your a coder, you pretty mch know what works.

When your with you client you can use the software to show the layout if needed.

The alternative, if you have a hosting provider you can edit the page from the Code Editor within the CPanel. If CPanel created an iPad version, like the iPhone version I think that would work well. Or, you could VPN in and use your ipad as a desktop.

There is always a solution, just don't look to hard... And try not to be negative to the op's question. If you don't agree just comment, not rant. This was a valid questionand a lot of people are trying to adapt the ipad to their environment.
 
Real Work doesn't necessarily mean the nitty-gritty of banging out code. One thing I keep meaning to do is find a subversion client that works with the iPad. Being able to quickly look at my code and change log in a meeting without having a laptop blocking everyone's view would be pretty cool.

An offline native App would be great but i haven't heard of one yet. I'm not surprised as a web app would be 80% as good with a lot less effort. I guess I need to try some stuff out.
 
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