What do you realistically use your iPad for?

[sjleworthy]

on the day to day admin side, running my business -

diaries
alerts/todos/reminders
address books
note pad
sketching pad
messenger
email
web
skype
numbers/pager
camera
calculator

all together with the Pencil, smart keyboard and wireless laser printer.

i'd now struggle without it.

 

[linkgx1]

What do people use an iPad for? I think this isn't the entire question.

I would contend that the use case for a tablet alone is different than one for a tablet with a keyboard. Once you attach a keyboard, you leave the use case for a touch-based device and enter into, or at least overlap with, the use case for a laptop.

For a tablet without a keyboard, I use an iPad for content consumption only. I don't do anything requiring typing because, frankly, the soft keyboard still sucks. A real, physical keyboard changes the usage dynamics entirely. I can see how a pen makes a huge difference, too, but only for a narrow set of apps. But without a physical keyboard, I can't imagine doing spreadsheets or presentations or especially word processing. I'm a writer and using an iPad for that would be... well, highly counterproductive. Text-based apps or apps which require lots of alphanumeric input are tedious at best on a tablet without a keyboard. And once you realize that you really do need a keyboard to do what you want to do, why not get a laptop? And price is not really a strong factor in that decision. Productivity far outweighs it.

But for me, the iPad is truly magical for consuming media. I don't watch movies on it, but videos are great. Reading books is one of my main uses. I don't listen to music on that or any device, but I can see how it would be a good experience. Web browsing is great, except that it seems like there's less and less on the web that's actually worth reading these days. I think people who say they do computationally intensive work on a tablet are very few and most are probably kidding themselves that it's better than on a high-end laptop or desktop.

To each their own, of course. But for me, anything that requires a lot of textual input is not meant for tablets.

I was thinking this. This is what kind of prompted my question.

I love to write too. Sometimes my tasks involve writing only or sometimes I don't need my computer for everything. And I like how distraction free an iPad can be from time to time.

I downloaded a Japanese Anki textbook and realized how awkward it was to read on my laptop/desktop. I put it on my kindle, but it was too small. But I feel like the iPad would be just right.
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After sitting at a desk with a PC at work all day, I use my iPad 90% of the time from the moment I get home to do all non-work related stuff.

Taking my MacBook all around my home and laying on the couch with it just isn’t as convenient as my iPad. And when I get home the last thing I want to do is sit at a desk some more.

Are those Bose QuietComforts in your profile pic?

 

[Jimbo Limbo]

I use my iPads for lots of real work.

My work place provided me with in iPad air 2 that I use for tracking student attendance, learning skills, marks and more. I use google classroom on the ipad to send out and receive and mark student work. I use google slides to create daily agendas which are projected on the screen when the students arrive, indicating the learning goals for the day, and the activities planned. On rare occasions that we actually use paper in class, mainly for drawing ie, visual communication tasks, I collect examples of student work using the iPad camera, and prepare Google slideshows of examples which add clarity to my instructions.

In another part of my day, my students are learning about musical for using the loops mode of Garageband 2.2.2 on iPad Pro 12.9s. After learning about how to perform from live loops, they explored the performance FX that were added fairly recently. Now, they are assembling their own collections to show their awareness of musical form. Later, they will performing backing tracks using the virtual instruments, creating their own loops, and then assembling music into various styles, such as blues. To top things off, they will be improvising live to the backing track piano, guitar, bass, and drums tracks that they have assembled.

An iPad Pro, with additional audio interface hardware, can record multiple tracks from multiple inputs at once. An iPad Pro 12.9 with 256 or esp 512 Gb of storage can be a quite powerful studio in your hands.

I have an old windows pc, which I use on occasion when I have to do a lot of typing on a long document. If I personally had an iPad Pro, I would get the pencil and a keyboard, and would be quite sufficient there.

On my personal iPad mini 2, outside the work day, I play mainly Star Trek Timelines! My mini 2 is bogging down under the enormity of that game. I may purchase an iPad Pro for myself.

I do not own or use a phone. My mini 2 has LTE and I make phone calls and send SMS using the FreeTone App.

 

[ah1488]

my wife got me a 9.7 pro for my birthday earlier this year and so far all i have used it for is emails, web browsing and to read books and magazines on. since i have a lot of free time with my job i am considering doing cfi again in which case my ipad will get more use.

 

[Atomic1977]

Except for a few games I use my iPad mini 2 for everything I do on my main computer so I can not be just sitting in one room all the time to do stuff.

 

[jetjaguar]

only thing i use my 12.9" for is browsing the web and streaming tv shows / movies

 

[MacGurl111]

Consumption

 

[bluebar]

I'm always confused. Some people say that they legitimately use their iPad to do ''real work'' and some say they barely use it at all.

The iPhone and MacBooks are definitely things that have clear use cases. It seems harder for the iPad. But I'm curious what's your daily use for your iPad, the plus and the challenges of an iPad.

This is coming from someone who has only used a Nexus 7 as a tablet for about 6 months.

I use mine for data collection and signature capture.

 

[Clix Pix]

Early this morning I accompanied a friend to a doctor's appointment, and while the friend was in with the doctor and other medical staff I spent time in the waiting room with my iPad 10.5, first catching up on emails and forum posts which had come in overnight and then began working on a draft of an important email I needed to send out later in the day. Later, at home, I got on the computer and picked up right where I'd left off on the document and tinkered around with it some more before eventually hitting the "send" button..... I love my iPad, can't imagine not having one!

 

[nburwell]

In no particular order:

Video consumption (Netflix, PS VUE, Hulu, Amazon Video)
Email
iMessage
Web browsing

I honestly can't remember the last time I used my MBP. My two primary devices are my iPhone and iPad Mini 4.

 

[Jonathantuba]

I use my iPad Pro for virtually everything when I am out of my office, including emails, spreadsheets, documents, accounts, updating my website, and a lot more to run my business. There is very little I find I can’t do with a bit of research to find out its full capabilities.

I also use it for music playing using Forscore (the 12.9’ is perfect for this purpose) and leisure such as web browsing and watching downloaded TV programs.

For me the iPad Pro is the most useful of all computer devices. I use it more than my iMac or iPhone. I have an MacBook Air which I very rarely use. I find the iPad a lot more useful and pleasurable to use. I find a touch screen a lot more natural than using a touch pad, or even a mouse.

 

[djnigelchung]

Everyone has different uses for whatever they need to do.

My parents: and iPad leans towards their main device, as they do basic things, like emails, browse the web, read articles etc. They recently got the 10.5" IPP
Me: I would consider myself a "power user" so for me an iPad is a consumption device. I can type emails on my mac/phone faster than and iPad (without keyboard). Browsing the web with multiple tabs is slow for me on an iPad. So I prefer my MacBook for that. I day trade stocks, edit videos, use AutoCAD/Solidworks (through bootcamp), casually game with controller.
One could argue I "could" do 90% of my work on an iPad, but for me efficiency is HUGE. I tried but couldn't last on an iPad. However, I still like it, as my 'entertainment' device, casually browse the net/twitter, read magazines, read ebooks. Nothing serious.

So I guess in conclusion it depends on the user. Power users would prefer the ipad as a consumption device, where as basic users could use their ipad as their main device (all IMO, based on my experience).

 

[subjonas]

I think what you might be asking is what does an ipad do that an iphone and macbook reasonably cannot? ie. Why is an ipad necessary?

Well, I think like any device, all you really need is one unique and important role for an ipad to make it "necessary".

For a long time I didn't have an ipad because I couldn't find a single unique important role. Now I have two ipads, a 12.9 and a 7.9, because I found at least one unique important role for each of them (a lot of the reason was the introduction of the pencil).

For my 12.9:
- mobile drawing (for work and personal)
- handwritten note-taking (for work and personal)
- document markup (for work)
- showing people documents on the fly (for work)
- with the smart keyboard it also acts as a carry-with-me-in-my-bag-everywhere laptop--this is because my 15" mbp being much too big and heavy, used to give me shoulder pain from carrying around all the time. And to a lesser extent because the mbp is almost always plugged in to a usb hub, monitor, and power on my desk which makes it a bit of a hassle to unplug and plug in. (work and personal)

The 7.9’s unique role is much simpler--just casual e-reading (fiction and non-fiction).

All other tasks can be done adequately and redundantly by multiple devices, but these are the critical tasks I can (reasonably) only do on my ipads, therefore they are necessary for me.

If you are unable to think of at least one unique important role for an ipad (or any device for that matter), it is of my opinion that you probably don't "need" one. On the other hand, if you can afford it, who's to say you can't just get one for added convenience or enjoyment too?

 

[ah1488]

I think what you might be asking is what does an ipad do that an iphone and macbook reasonably cannot? ie. Why is an ipad necessary?

Well, I think like any device, all you really need is one unique and important role for an ipad to make it "necessary".

For a long time I didn't have an ipad because I couldn't find a single unique important role. Now I have two ipads, a 12.9 and a 7.9, because I found at least one unique important role for each of them (a lot of the reason was the introduction of the pencil).

For my 12.9:
- mobile drawing (for work and personal)
- handwritten note-taking (for work and personal)
- document markup (for work)
- showing people documents on the fly (for work)
- with the smart keyboard it also acts as a carry-with-me-in-my-bag-everywhere laptop--this is because my 15" mbp being much too big and heavy, used to give me shoulder pain from carrying around all the time. And to a lesser extent because the mbp is almost always plugged in to a usb hub, monitor, and power on my desk which makes it a bit of a hassle to unplug and plug in. (work and personal)

The 7.9’s unique role is much simpler--just casual e-reading (fiction and non-fiction).

All other tasks can be done adequately and redundantly by multiple devices, but these are the critical tasks I can (reasonably) only do on my ipads, therefore they are necessary for me.

If you are unable to think of at least one unique important role for an ipad (or any device for that matter), it is of my opinion that you probably don't "need" one. On the other hand, if you can afford it, who's to say you can't just get one for added convenience or enjoyment too?

which ipad is the 7.9?

 

[subjonas]

which ipad is the 7.9?

It’s the ipad mini. Mine is the mini 4.

 

[linkgx1]

I think what you might be asking is what does an ipad do that an iphone and macbook reasonably cannot? ie. Why is an ipad necessary?

Well, I think like any device, all you really need is one unique and important role for an ipad to make it "necessary".

For a long time I didn't have an ipad because I couldn't find a single unique important role. Now I have two ipads, a 12.9 and a 7.9, because I found at least one unique important role for each of them (a lot of the reason was the introduction of the pencil).

For my 12.9:
- mobile drawing (for work and personal)
- handwritten note-taking (for work and personal)
- document markup (for work)
- showing people documents on the fly (for work)
- with the smart keyboard it also acts as a carry-with-me-in-my-bag-everywhere laptop--this is because my 15" mbp being much too big and heavy, used to give me shoulder pain from carrying around all the time. And to a lesser extent because the mbp is almost always plugged in to a usb hub, monitor, and power on my desk which makes it a bit of a hassle to unplug and plug in. (work and personal)

The 7.9’s unique role is much simpler--just casual e-reading (fiction and non-fiction).

All other tasks can be done adequately and redundantly by multiple devices, but these are the critical tasks I can (reasonably) only do on my ipads, therefore they are necessary for me.

If you are unable to think of at least one unique important role for an ipad (or any device for that matter), it is of my opinion that you probably don't "need" one. On the other hand, if you can afford it, who's to say you can't just get one for added convenience or enjoyment too?

My main usage would be utilizing PDF documents, having an organizer and a travel computer. I have a work laptop (Air) but I don't necessarily like using it all the time. I don't exactly want to buy a MBP yet do I think an iPad would do well for now.

 

[John67]

I use it mainly for surfing the net when vacationing in areas where there is limited or no wifi through a cellular connection- the speeds are horrible though.

 

[vine-boating]

What's the best app/program to use for editing word documents, PDF's etc...?
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I think what you might be asking is what does an ipad do that an iphone and macbook reasonably cannot? ie. Why is an ipad necessary?

Well, I think like any device, all you really need is one unique and important role for an ipad to make it "necessary".

For a long time I didn't have an ipad because I couldn't find a single unique important role. Now I have two ipads, a 12.9 and a 7.9, because I found at least one unique important role for each of them (a lot of the reason was the introduction of the pencil).

For my 12.9:
- mobile drawing (for work and personal)
- handwritten note-taking (for work and personal)
- document markup (for work)
- showing people documents on the fly (for work)
- with the smart keyboard it also acts as a carry-with-me-in-my-bag-everywhere laptop--this is because my 15" mbp being much too big and heavy, used to give me shoulder pain from carrying around all the time. And to a lesser extent because the mbp is almost always plugged in to a usb hub, monitor, and power on my desk which makes it a bit of a hassle to unplug and plug in. (work and personal)

The 7.9’s unique role is much simpler--just casual e-reading (fiction and non-fiction).

All other tasks can be done adequately and redundantly by multiple devices, but these are the critical tasks I can (reasonably) only do on my ipads, therefore they are necessary for me.

If you are unable to think of at least one unique important role for an ipad (or any device for that matter), it is of my opinion that you probably don't "need" one. On the other hand, if you can afford it, who's to say you can't just get one for added convenience or enjoyment too?

What programmes/apps do you use for note taking and documents?

 

[Clix Pix]

Another thing I use my iPad for is to quickly look up something if I'm on the computer and don't want to leave the page where I am on the computer.....I keep the iPad right on the desk alongside the computer for quick access.

 

[Jonathantuba]

Another thing I use my iPad for is to quickly look up something if I'm on the computer and don't want to leave the page where I am on the computer.....I keep the iPad right on the desk alongside the computer for quick access.

I do exactly the same. My iPad acts as a second screen when I am at my desk in my office.

 

[subjonas]

What's the best app/program to use for editing word documents, PDF's etc...?
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What programmes/apps do you use for note taking and documents?

For note-taking I switch between apple notes and notibility. I think notes is more straightforward, while notibility has one or two more features.

For documents, I use a combination of google drive and dropbox. Google drive mainly for editing, dropbox mainly for storage.
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My main usage would be utilizing PDF documents, having an organizer and a travel computer. I have a work laptop (Air) but I don't necessarily like using it all the time. I don't exactly want to buy a MBP yet do I think an iPad would do well for now.

I’d say if you think having an ipad would significantly help with those tasks, especially if those tasks are for work, then the ipad would be worth it. But those tasks are also possible to do on a laptop, so it depends how much better you think it would be better on the ipad.
What’s the reason you don’t like using your work mba?

 

[Jonathantuba]

What's the best app/program to use for editing word documents, PDF's etc...?
[doublepost=1509029520][/doublepost]
What programmes/apps do you use for note taking and documents?

Apple's own 'Pages' app is fine for most document editing (and is free), unless you have more demanding requirements, in which case you can download 'Word for iPad'

 

[kristalsoldier]

I develop my university courses--lots of documents, presentations and spreadsheets (Pages, Numbers, Keynote)
I manage my university courses (Canvas learning management system) including teaching one course online.
I create and edit Word documents related to my NSF-funded research project.
I manage my email.
I do digital research. (Safari, Evernote, Notability)
I manage my bank and credit card accounts (Banktivity).
I catalogue and edit my professional photos (my artwork, my project photos) (Mylio, PS Express).
I catalogue and edit my personal photos (Photos).
I keep digital journals (nvALT, Evernote, Notability).
I draw and design (Notability, CC apps).
I take an online design course (UK-based) (Flickr, Safari, Notability, nvALT).
I write for my career (artist statements, project descriptions, etc) and creatively (Ulysses).
I read studio books (image-heavy) (Kindle)
I watch "TV" and movies on Amazon Prime or Netflix.
I watch baseball games on MLB At Bat.

Note: I have the 12.9 iPadPro and the Smart Keyboard and Pencil. The Smart Keyboard is a fantastic input device and I love writing on my iPad.

It's easier to ask what I don't do on my iPadPro which is:
Tricky photo adjustments (I use Photoshop)
Video editing with Final Cut Pro X

You do a lot of work going by that list!!

 

[Jonathantuba]

You do a lot of work going by that list!!

My experience is that most work can be done on an iPad Pro 12.9’, although those with specialist needs (such as programming) may find it is not possible due to lack of suitable software. I agree the Smart Keyboard is a game changer for doing real work. And iOS 11 has made working on an iPad just as fast as on a desktop

 

[BrennanWDavis]

I listen to music via my iPad Mini all day every day at work, I read books or watch a TV show on it during lunch, and take it to view pictures while I travel.

Due its convenient size, I also watch movies on it on the plane when I travel. I've never used it to get work done, but I do use it all the time.