
The iPad Pro as main computer for a programmer - jayniz
https://jann.is/ipad-pro-for-programming/
======
rallemoose
For frontend web developers like me, the last big thing I miss is the web
inspector. Ain't gonna get anything done without that.

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826836
[https://www.macstories.net/news/web-tools-a-web-inspector-
fo...](https://www.macstories.net/news/web-tools-a-web-inspector-for-ipad/)

Not ideal, but it's one option that's out there.

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nunez
I did this as well last year:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/4db0ce/so_i_used_the...](https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/4db0ce/so_i_used_the_129_ipad_pro_as_a_computer_for_two)

I thought it was going to be perfect since it's much lighter and thinner than
a Surface Pro 4.

You _need_ a remote server for this to work, since you won't get access to the
underlying shell without jailbreaking. Depending on reliable networks was
mistake #1.

Also, while Panic was a good enough terminal emulator, its redrawing was
unreliable when switching from app to app. This might have changed with iOS
11, but it bugged me to no end before.

Lastly, I learned that much of the web (and some apps in particular, namely
Remote Desktop) still thinks that you have a mouse. I used Cloudcraft when it
first came out to draw some diagrams for an interview. I straight-up _could
not_ do it without a mouse, and iOS (stubbornly) does not support mousing.
This on top of buggy CMD+TAB functionality and some apps straight up not
working without a mouse ended the experiment for me.

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danbee
The Apple USB Camera adapter[1] would let you connect your Ergodox to the
iPad. If you need power too there's a USB 3 version with an extra lightning
port.

[1]: [https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD821AM/A/lightning-to-
us...](https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD821AM/A/lightning-to-usb-camera-
adapter)

~~~
jayniz
I wasn't aware, that's pretty cool! Thanks!

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orand
Please tell more about how you find the Apple Pencil useful. It seems like the
exact opposite end of the spectrum from a tmux toolset.

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stfwn
After I returned a MBP ‘17 (twice) because of the horrible keyboard I also
switched to an iPad. I’m still a student so all I need to do is write code in
an editor and SSH into my Mac or Pi to compile/run it. It works great, and
it’s a huge step up from my non-retina MBP that’s now a desktop computer.

The only two things I have not been able to replace is (yup..) the proprietary
Xcode for the occasional venture into iOS development, and oddly enough:
Sketch. You’d expect that the iPad is the perfect device for a Sketch-type app
(bar 3rd-party plugins..), but nothing ticks all the boxes just yet.

An interesting advantage of iOS that I find is the focus gained. It feels as
though switching to a different app requires more deliberate thought than on
macOS. I used to do 9 things at once and completely lose my train of thought
in all of them and I have less of that on iOS. Or I suffer from Stockholm’s
Syndrome, that could also be it.

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daviddumenil
The containerised terminal toolset is really nice idea.

There's some value in using a hybrid approach with a lightweight laptop though
the iPad Pro offers a pencil and probably better battery life.

~~~
jayniz
Yeah, the only really useful thing that came out of this is the my shell
docker image with everything I need. That way you can use the iPad if you
really have (or want) to, and your normal computers otherwise.

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DoodleBuggy
Next up: twisting your environment into a pretzel to use Apple Watch as your
main computer for programming!

~~~
jayniz
Way ahead of you!

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PaulHoule
I wouldn't use it as my main computer, but I've gone to Hackathons with a
cheap Android tablet, wireless mouse, and keyboard. It's a lot of fun unless
you get one (like the 2nd gen Nexus 7) that can't do Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
reliably at the same time.

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EvanKnowles
And running stuff on a server? So the iPad Pro, as an interface to the main
computer?

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akuji1993
Yeah this is not working with the iPad as main computer, it's just routing
stuff to the main computer THROUGH an ipad.

~~~
jayniz
I have almost that sentence in the blog post, search for mainframe or
terminal.

~~~
akuji1993
Then read your title again. You're not using the iPad as a main computer, so
don't name your blog post that.

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pengux
Please share your Dockerfile

~~~
jayniz
[https://github.com/jayniz/zsh-tmux-neovim-
docker](https://github.com/jayniz/zsh-tmux-neovim-docker)

