
Working on iPad - tosh
https://www.notion.so/vercel/Working-on-iPad-ccefea4f9e06455da169c97b3fe054c1
======
znpy

        Opening my iPad anywhere and having LTE internet feels
        absolutely God-damn magical. It feels like I'm living
        inside the Matrix. I'm constantly plugged in.
    

I smiled at this. Non-apple laptops have had a sim slot for years. On
ThinkPads, there has been a sim slot on most models for at least ten years. On
my dell Latitude 7390 (13") i have one too.

I mean... This is why Apple users are often joked upon: Apple comes ten years
late to the party and users joy and spam the web as if it brought the greatest
innovation since hot water.

~~~
jiofih
I haven’t ever met a ThinkPad owner. Can’t remember ever seeing a consumer
grade laptop with a SIM card on a store.

That sound of joy is the feature coming into mainstream tech.

~~~
brokenkebab
>I haven’t ever met a ThinkPad owner.

There's always a huge world outside of one's bubble.

~~~
jiofih
I say that as a software dev in the business for over a decade. Couldn’t it be
that the ThinkPad crowd is a smaller bubble? At least the ones with a SIM
card.

~~~
znpy
I don't know, Lenovo and Dell constantly compete for the spot of first
supplier of business laptops.

------
jrockway
I am in the same place. My iPad Pro is my favorite portable computer of all
time. It's super light, the battery lasts forever, and there is very little
surface for customization. It has a terminal, it has a browser, so there is
nothing to do on it except the work that I want to do. There are very few
"utilities" and nothing that needs to be customized and sync'd across to other
machines. (I also use it as a piece of scratch paper -- the pencil is great
for sketches, collecting measurements before I put them in CAD, solving
equations... basically anything that you'd use a sheet of paper for, without
having to kill any trees.)

I would really like a proper local development environment, though. SSHing
somewhere is fine... but leaves so much power on the table. It is also insane
to me that Safari still can't expose the 120Hz display to Javascript.

I hope to never own another laptop. All I want is a dumb terminal, and the
iPad is the best I've found.

~~~
drcongo
What do you use for the terminal?

~~~
tosh
Blink is quite popular on iOS

[https://blink.sh/](https://blink.sh/)

~~~
jrockway
Blink looks good. I happen to use Prompt.

~~~
drcongo
Thanks both!

------
raviisoccupied
> App creators will be quite motivated to support Magic Keyboard and improve
> interactions via shortcuts

I'm skeptical about just how many users will adopt an iPad as their primary
productivity device. Of course, there are a huge number of iPads in the world,
but how many of those are iPad Pros compatible with the magic keyboard? And
how many of those users are 'power users' looking to improve their experience
using shortcuts?

I still feel the device has been quite niche and expensive, and therefore
adoption has been proportionally low. I don't expect companies to feel the
need to support iPad until Apple makes an inexpensive 'iPad Pro' type device,
there simply is too much fragmentation in the product line at the moment.

~~~
johannes1234321
Considering that Apple just this week anounced to essentially consolidate iOS
and MacOS (moving MacOS devices to ARM and adding capability to run iOS apps)
in a near future the boundraries between iPad Pro and MacBook will diminish
and work on a hybrid will be the norm. (Windows 8 was just a few years early,
missed the proper mobile device and had too many compromises)

------
MDWolinski
If we went back to 1984..maybe even earlier, the iPad is probably the
quintessential idea that Steve Jobs would have had for what a "computer"
should be. It is a device that's pretty much invisible to the user in that all
of functionality is software based (ignoring, of course, input devices like
keyboards, etc).

The iPad (and iOS by extension) was built to have single purpose apps that
work better than monolithic apps that do multiple functions. The problem
was/is, getting the communication between those apps working seamlessly, which
is getting better with dual screen, etc.

Today, I'm willing to bet that 90% of computer users could easily use an iPad
and be happy and productive with it. This is why, in the last couple of years,
development focus seemed to be iOS, iPad related.

Of course, Big Sur changes things a bit. Watching the keynote, the feeling I
walked away with was 'refined.' macOS, iOS and iPad OS all got more refined
and inline with each other in this release so users can jump between devices
more seamlessly. I think we'll see progress move towards the Mac side of
things a little bit quicker in the next few years because of the move to Apple
Silicon.

And before anyone replies, yes, there are things you need a Mac for that can't
be done on an iPad...yet. I do development work, so I certainly couldn't live
100% on an iPad. I'm not advocating on the Mac going away, in fact, I think
Apple Silicon is going to breath new life into it.

~~~
jankotek
> single purpose apps that work better than monolithic apps that do multiple
> functions

I would argue that iphone apps are monolithic and do multiple functions. For
example Booking, Airbnb and Uber all have messenger, mapping, reservation
system, calendar and scheduling function...

Why I have to use dozen different messaging system? Or several maps, each with
different search and overlays. I want single experience, consistent across all
apps. It should respect my usability settings, theme and other tweaks.

~~~
scarface74
On the other hand, Google separated out Drive, Sheets, and Docs out years ago.
They were one monolithic app in the beginning

Also Facebook split Messenger off.

------
igammarays
Funny that the author wrote this on Notion, an app famous for being a bit slow
and clunky on the iPad - just a primitive web wrapper. Regarding the author's
wish for better "productivity tools", I get it. Making a good tablet touch
interface is really, really hard. One example of a really good app that takes
full advantage of the touch interface without sacrificing any of the core
functionality and speed of a mouse/keyboard setup is OmniOutliner Pro for
iPad. I've long since used outliners like WorkFlowy/Roam/Dynalist, but the
iPad experience is uninspiring. OmniOutliner (and Documents by Readdle)
absolutely convinced me that the iPad can be a game-changing tool -
OmniOutliner is probably the only "serious work" app which I actually prefer
on my iPad over my MacBook because of the higher productivity, not just
because of the sleeker looks.

The iPad has become good enough that I've sold my Macbook. I still do coding
and other activities that require a lot of screen real estate on my iMac Pro,
but I use the iPad Pro exclusively on the road. I've found that gives me the
best of both worlds - the full power and size of a desktop (as opposed to the
compromises of a laptop), and the full portability and touchability of an iPad
(as opposed to the compromises of a powerful laptop).

------
uniqueid
This blog post is more a statement on the sorry state of the Mac than it is a
reflection of iOS's improvements. I don't mean that as a wise-crack, though
I'm sure it sounds like one. On the Mac, sandboxing limits what a user can
comfortably do, while the UI is increasingly ugly and inconsistent. Meanwhile
developers focus on iOS, since that's where the big numbers are. Sigh.

~~~
jamil7
With the push for Universal / SwiftUI apps coming I imagine we will see a lot
more apps on the mac, if developers are easily able to port and test the
waters they might improve the experience for macOS.

~~~
uniqueid

        > we will see a lot more apps on the mac
    

I agree, but I worry they'll be a lot more _bad_ apps :( Apps that are
hermetically sealed off in a little rectangle, apps that make you click-and-
hold to bring up hamburger menus, apps that are missing Menubar commands, apps
with GUIs that are framed oddly, apps that only save documents to "the cloud",
apps that nag you to "sign up" to their service, etc.

I liked Mac apps, especially when they followed the HIG. Too many iOS apps
reinvent the wheel.

~~~
jamil7
> I liked Mac apps, especially when they followed the HIG

Me too, I think there is a niche group of people who will always prefer native
(in the UI sense) apps on Mac, there is a small market catering to those
people so I hope that doesn't disappear completely.

------
amerkhalid
I am in the same space for my personal computing needs. But it took a while to
get there.

I bought iPad Pro at the end of 2017 after reading various blog posts of
programmers using their iPad for programming. I loved the form factor and
snappiness of apps but it was pain to do real programming on it. Yes, I was
using Blink shell to login to remote VPS but debugging JavaScript was tedious.
I was having buyer's remorse but I kept it because I enjoyed drawing and
reading on it.

However, after 2 years or so, this iPad has become my default device for my
personal projects. What is crazy that iPad has changed the type of projects I
start at home.

Before I was mostly focused on building webapps build using Laravel and
Vuejs/Reactjs. Now most of my personal projects are command-line only such as
using python/data science, algo trading. I am working on a command-line based
CRM.

Going forward, I might still keep personal desktop or laptop but not upgrade
as often as I used to. (unless iPad changes for worse).

------
michaelbuckbee
Lots of good points but this one jumped out to me as a larger issue with the
iOS ecosystem:

\- In-app browsers are hell. This ruins the delightful "open in Safari
quickly" experience I outlined above. I also can never figure out what the
scope of my cookies and tokens are, which is very frustrating.

~~~
jmuguy
I don’t even understand why this is allowed. If I choose an option to open in
browser - that’s what should happen.

------
chadlavi
> The integration between FaceID and autocompletion from Keychain makes
> 1Password feel absolutely ancient. Never going back to that again

Huh?? Does the author not know that 1P can also autocomplete with Face ID?

------
whatever1
One main feature of the iPad that was not mentioned, is its instant-on
capability. It is something that has not been replicated successfully in any
intel-inside device (pc or mac), despite the serious efforts there from intel,
OEMs and OS developers. I don’t know what the reason is, but when I click the
power button on my iPad, I get back instantly to whatever I was doing. No lag,
no loading, no lost app state, no staring at a black screen. Once I am done,
it instantly and reliably sleeps.

------
kinghtown
I’ve used the 12.9 pro for three years now. A (very) small business owner and
part time teacher. iPad OS is becoming more and more of a joy to use. Some
thoughts:

1\. Dock behaviour is a little annoying since iPhone X was released. I hate
that dragging up triggers app exposé when four fingers works just fine.

2\. Apple needs to kill this whole notion of syncing media libraries. I have
only ever hated it.

3\. If Apple wants to get serious with iPad Pro then they need to put Logic
and Final Cut on it. Full versions.

4\. I really hope to live and see the day when Blender is on it.

5\. iPads are such exceedingly wonderful tools for self education. A large
part is due to online learning in general becoming wonderful but PDF reader
split view with something like good notes and using the pencil is such a joy.

6\. I feel like gaming is in a sad state on iPads. I really hope that having
PlayStation and Xbox gamepads working on them opens up the platform. It’s a
kick in the teeth to have a portable machine which is just about as good as an
Xbox one not having games to match it’s potential.

7\. It’s been ten years and so many people still don’t get it. iPads are in a
weird spot between power users who need more for their professional work (like
CGI, developers, working with ridiculous size PS files) who understandably see
them as toys and on the other side are most people who don’t use their
computers for work, art, study, whatever just Facebook and Netflix. These guys
would be better off with an iPad instead of a laptop but they find them too
expensive anyways.

------
dddddaviddddd
It's the little things like (mentioned by the author) not having an email
client where you can easily copy-paste addresses or format text that keep me
moving back to a MacBook. It's frustrating that these types of issues could
possibly be fixed by using a different (usually paid) app, so the easier
solution is just to hop back to macOS.

~~~
jiofih
Spark app, can copy & paste just fine.

------
diffeomorphism
Many of the "high"s seem fairly generic:

\- LTE has been a standard feature in business laptops for decades and feels
less "magical" and more like work.

\- Faceid vs windows hello vs bluetooth tokens vs ... . Maybe neat, but not
particularly distinct.

\- Clipboard sharing. Yeah, kdeconnect is neat and apple's copy is as well.

\- Apple pencil. Windows convertibles with pen have been around since windows
XP and usually used pretty good pens by Wacom. The difference is that the
software is more "fun", e.g. apple notes makes more use of tilt, animations
etc.

\- The magic keyboard is still a keyboard and start at $300. For that price
one could get much better mechanical keyboards and this even makes the HHKB
seem reasonably priced.

\- Blink and iSH to me seem to say that the ipad is not good enough and you
hence have to connect to something better.

That said, I can see that all the animations make working on an ipad feel more
"fun" and the form factor and display are indeed nice.

~~~
scarface74
_LTE has been a standard feature in business laptops for decades and feels
less "magical" and more like work._

LTE hasn’t existed for “decades”. The iPad had a cellular option since day 1
and stayed current with cellular standards.

 _Apple pencil. Windows convertibles with pen have been around since windows
XP and usually used pretty good pens by Wacom. The difference is that the
software is more "fun", e.g. apple notes makes more use of tilt, animations
etc._

Pens on Windows were and still are a horrible experience.

------
graeme
Good overview. Having used an ipad for a while though, I think I am indeed
faster on a mac for a lot of tasks. Particularly admin stuff that involves
switching between several apps. Eg email, browser, task manager, messaging
app, etc

Anything involving moving files is much faster on mac too.

I use a mix of both now. I prefer the ipad for anything editing related, the
apple pencil is much nicer to use. Also prefer it for the limited vector work
I do.

One hope I have is that Apple improves the external monitor experience. With
the new mouse support and hardware keyboard customizability, there are a lot
more possibilities to run ipados on a larger screen. Except the ipad is stuck
in a small 4:3 window on the larger screen.

One thing I really like on ipad is the shortcuts app. It’s incredibly flexible
and simple for automation. Also the time tracker Timery.

------
jasonsync
This article is bi-polar, which summarizes my feelings on the topic as well.

I'm in the same boat as the author and have been trying (slowly) to move
towards using an iPad full time. Compared to a couple years ago the apps and
UX have improved significantly, however, (for me) using the iPad still feels
more like a very specialized tool, compared to the more general utility of a
Macbook.

I realize that for general productivity the iPad works best with a keyboard
attached, a mouse, external storage. Adding more hardware. But then you have a
MacBook in disguise ...

I'm guessing we'll never get a Macbook with touch screen and Apple Pencil
support? But it does seem like the iPad has been slowly optimizing itself to
fill that role.

------
ascorbic
It's great that he's donating to Hack Club, but it seems an odd choice of
hardware when he's specifically calls out the poor support for development as
one of the drawbacks.

------
gazelleeatslion
We really need a web inspector.

The buttery speed, lack of a howling fan, and the simplicity of apps is like a
“zen mode” operating system.

It has been TEN YEARS since iPad came out and we still have nothing remotely
useful.

------
alphagrep12345
> A native VS Code-like experience for iPad is sorely needed.

Why not just use a MacBook? Why use iPad?

------
twoodfin
iSH is indeed very impressive. Given Apple’s Unix chops and their evident
desire to see more “pros” adopt the iPad, I’d be surprised if we’re more than
a year or two from iPadOS with a Terminal app.

~~~
jamil7
I will jump on it if we see Xcode for ipad, being able to build apps and
seemless use sensors and the touch screen while testing would be a massive
productivity win for some of the apps I work on.

------
TheSpiceIsLife
I’m in the market for laptop and thought for a minute “maybe I’ll get an iPad
Pro before I get another laptop”.

And then I try to select some text on my iPhone. Also no clipboard manger.

I sometimes wonder if anyone who works at Apple ever tries to select text on
an iPhone.

------
gozzoo
> After using it, I've become so excited about its possibilities that I
> donated 15 combos of iPad + Magic Keyboard + Pencil to Hack Club to
> distributed to Black teens and other disadvantaged folks in America.

Am I the only one who thinks that the author is showing off here.

For the price of 15 iPad setups he could have bought 100 second hand Thinkpads
in great condition and his donation would have much bigger impact.

~~~
throwaway_jobs
> Am I the only one who thinks that the author is showing off here.

It is a little unusual to criticize someone who donated to the needy, just to
say the donor was showing off and to point out what they could have donated
instead to make a much bigger impact.

Let’s say you donated 100 Thinkpads (you should), but then you were criticized
for showing off when you could have donated 5,000 meals to children who lost
access to free school breakfast/lunches due to covid school closures. It’s a
real issue, but you should pick and choose your battles (probably just like I
should).

~~~
Fatalist_ma
> you should pick and choose your battles

Well it's the same battle - it's about giving the kids access to information
and an opportunity to learn coding. You can't compare that to free meals(which
is of course important, but as you said it's a different battle).

------
favokus
Man, I've been struggling to integrate my iPad Pro into the rest of my life
since I bought it in 2016. I've given up. There were too many things I still
needed my Thinkpad with Linux for and it was impossible to properly integrate
the iPad into my existing workflows to use practically as a supplemental
device. I've bought a Galaxy Tab instead, because Android at least gives me
the freedom to (for example) sync folders between the devices without any
input from me.

It's particularly frustrating because I _love_ the iPad. Like, it's one of the
few devices I really, really, really enjoy in so many ways and I just wish it
was better than it actually is. It's maybe the only device I own that I really
do love. The Tab is a poor substitute and I really hate using it, but at least
it fits with the rest of my tools in a sane way and gives me the freedom to
customize it according to my needs.

Also, Notion. Another tool that I love the idea of, but hate the
implementation. There are too many restrictions on the data model that make it
frustratingly unlike any normal relational database and frustrating to use,
and makes me wish somebody would just make a lightweight relational database
with a friendly, practical wiki-like UI for building a knowledge base.

~~~
zrobotics
Take a look into the Surface. The interface isn't always 100% touch optimized,
but I'll take that vs being locked into mobile apps. I've been really enjoying
WSL, I have my Linux terminal without having to deal with Linux GUI. I ran
desktop Linux for 10 years, but I just want my computer to work and not spend
all my time playing sysadmin.

This is personal opinion, but I compared the Surface to the iPad pro and to me
the iPad felt much more like a toy than a serious tool for getting work done.

~~~
favokus
My problem with Surface is the lack of apps that properly support a stylus. I
don't like OneNote for a number of reasons and there are no decent
alternatives. Also, from the stories I've heard, QC on Surface Pros is
abysmal, as is support from MS.

~~~
zrobotics
I will agree on the lack of other apps (MS whiteboard is a joke), but I happen
to really like OneNote. I will say, at least from my experience support is
good. My power supply had a failed main cap and was arcing badly when plugged
in. MS support shipped me a new one, and asked I ship the old one back when I
received the new one.

I hate to say it, as I used to be part of the Slashdot anti M$ brigade, but
they made a solid piece of hardware. The only thing I can fault it for is lack
of a trackpoint; I spent too many years getting used to my fingers not leaving
the home row to move the mouse.

------
nikivi
iPad is unusable for true productivity until Karabiner can run on it. So
amazed how few people still use it though. Like it seems no one at Apple uses
it at any capacity as it's broken again with new version of OS.

[https://github.com/pqrs-org/Karabiner-
Elements/issues/2331](https://github.com/pqrs-org/Karabiner-
Elements/issues/2331)

~~~
MDWolinski
Why are you surprised it's broken? Every major OS upgrade changes things and
improves security, so the developers need to see the changes and the needed
fixes. The Beta has only been out 4 days, even if everyone at Apple used it,
they're not going to push the fix for an unreleased/unannounced product, if
they contribute to the project.

~~~
nikivi
I'm surprised that it's such a powerful and game changing tool and yet none of
the devs at Apple use it at any capacity. As from the things I read/saw, devs
are using the new versions of OS before even the betas get released to test
run them.

~~~
MDWolinski
I guess we should expect Apple developers to test every OS against every open
source project out there, then.

~~~
nikivi
I see what you mean. My point is more to the fact that none of the Apple devs
seem to have woken up to how useful it is to remap the keyboard to a high
degree.

I might be wrong of course and there are Apple devs for whom moving to a new
OS and losing Karabiner will be an ok loss.

