I was wrong about the iPad Pro(char.gd)
char.gd
I was wrong about the iPad Pro
https://char.gd/blog/2019/i-was-wrong-about-the-ipad-pro
131 comments
You need a Pixelbook. I switched to a Pixelbook recently and haven't looked back. It's great for note-taking, email (way better keyboard than an iPad keyboard, Mac (eww)), etc. Has a terminal that runs whatever I want (<signaling>I get to continue using emacs</signaling>) and use it in tablet mode for reading (I read on the kindle a lot). I'm going to try out the pen soon. I'd kill for the ability to write down notes in cursive or draw boxes. Cons are keyboard getting dirty in tablet mode and Slack randomly crashing.
I have a Pixelbook too, and agree it is a really great tablet and laptop. I love that it runs Debian Linux in a container, along with Android apps too. The security model keeps random Android apps from messing with my shell, and X11 apps from Linux run nicely (installed by apt get, or ones I've developed for myself). I can also charge it from the 12V cigarette plug in my car.
Whenever it becomes time to upgrade or replace it, I'll be disappointed if it's been discontinued.
Whenever it becomes time to upgrade or replace it, I'll be disappointed if it's been discontinued.
Don't forget the Pixel Slate, which I own. It is Pixelbook for people that prefer the tablet form factor.
https://www.reddit.com/r/chromeos/comments/a1rltn/why_i_chos...
I hope Pixel Slate 2 comes with LTE.
https://www.reddit.com/r/chromeos/comments/a1rltn/why_i_chos...
I hope Pixel Slate 2 comes with LTE.
I thought pixelbook is being discontinued?
It may or may not. It’s more that google has a poor track record of investing in niche hardware.
Google's hardware division (phone hardware is a different division) was scaled back and people were sent elsewhere in the company. However, the Pixelbook line being discontinued is not confirmed, just speculated.
You're reasonable to assume so - after the news that Google was scaling back that team, there was rampant speculation and deafening silence from Google. They really ought to say something. I actually avoided buying a Pixelbook that same day despite a pressing need for that very reason.
There are a number of alternatives from other manufacturers:
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/professional-series/ac...
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/lenovo-n-series/...
https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-chromebook-x2-12-f015nr
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/professional-series/ac...
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/lenovo-n-series/...
https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-chromebook-x2-12-f015nr
Does it really matter? In it's current form it hits the mark for note taking and is a really nice piece of hardware and software.
Pythonista has you covered for Python, although you are limited to its selection of third party modules and source only modules. It has great integration with iOS features and even has a simple but useful GUI designer built in.
It’s a solution to programming for the iPad though, not on it but for another platform, unless it’s mix of modules and capabilities happen to match your off-device needs.
It’s a solution to programming for the iPad though, not on it but for another platform, unless it’s mix of modules and capabilities happen to match your off-device needs.
I'm a big user of Pythonista on an iPad. I also use Continuous[0] for editing C# files, and occasionally play around with Replete[1] (a ClojureScript REPL for iOS).
Obviously they aren't JetBrains/Visual Studio class, but for the specific things they do while I'm on the go they're fantastic. This is increasingly the way I'm doing things with code and text. When I want to open Excel, however- that's when things start falling down for me.
[0]: http://continuous.codes/ [1]: https://replete-repl.org/
Obviously they aren't JetBrains/Visual Studio class, but for the specific things they do while I'm on the go they're fantastic. This is increasingly the way I'm doing things with code and text. When I want to open Excel, however- that's when things start falling down for me.
[0]: http://continuous.codes/ [1]: https://replete-repl.org/
Something like crostini for the iPad would be amazing. I picked up a Lenovo Yoga 630 not too long ago, was planning to see if I could blow away ChromeOS and get Linux running on it, but discovered instead that I could spin up containers.
Crostini completely changed my mind around Chromebooks/ChromeOS as passive, consumption oriented, disposable hardware. I could have the best of both worlds - a nice shiny UI for surfing and Netflix, and a terminal with everything I'd need to get things done. All while not having to turn on dev-mode (wonky) and still playing within Google's ChromeOS confines.
Something like that on iOS would be wild. ChromeOS has the advantage in that it's fundamentally Linux, but the idea of having something like a little BSD container complete with shell and filesystem access would be pretty great.
Crostini completely changed my mind around Chromebooks/ChromeOS as passive, consumption oriented, disposable hardware. I could have the best of both worlds - a nice shiny UI for surfing and Netflix, and a terminal with everything I'd need to get things done. All while not having to turn on dev-mode (wonky) and still playing within Google's ChromeOS confines.
Something like that on iOS would be wild. ChromeOS has the advantage in that it's fundamentally Linux, but the idea of having something like a little BSD container complete with shell and filesystem access would be pretty great.
ChromeOS being fundamentally Linux has nothing to do with it. Crostini is containers running on a VM under a hypervisor (<signalling>written in Rust!</signalling>). Apple could easily do the same thing with bhyve on the iPad.
But, I bet they won't.
But, I bet they won't.
Don't containers destroy your battery life?
By "desktop grade" do you mean you prefer the Blink renderer to Webkit, or that you prefer a desktop browser UX (extensions, full JS execution in background tabs, etc) to the mobile UX?
WebKit, but WebKit identifying itself as a desktop Safari implementation rather than a mobile implementation. For example: I should be able to open docs.google.com in iPad Safari and not have the site reject me.
I think this is largely Google Docs's fault, even if it's something that Safari can fix.
According to fairly reliable sources, iPad Safari on the next version of iOS will pretend to be Mac Safari for certain sites. The only things that don't work perfectly on mobile Safari that I know of involve hoverovers, naturally. The next version of iOS will also have optional mouse/trackpad support, so that might be taken care of as well.
Exactly this. Also some SASS sites have mysterious bugs that don’t occur on desktop safari on a mac. Am talking about layout bugs, or buttons not working, or a text cursor vanishing.
You can get around this with icab mobile, but having desktop safari would fix a lot.
You can get around this with icab mobile, but having desktop safari would fix a lot.
I didn’t know iCab was still around. Fond memories.
The issue with Safari on iPad is that you get mobile/tablet versions of pages.
I believe this is rumored to change soon (particularly on larger iPads).
You should pay attention to the upcoming WWDC on June 3rd. The rumors I've heard were that the iOS update would specifically address 2. and 3. on your wishlist.
I thought the files app was supposed to help with that (2) but is near totally useless.
You can do a lot of the things you want, just not necessarily in an ergonomic way. I think eventually it will be a decent platform for the kind of user who writes excel macros and basic automation scripts, but not for actual programming unless they make radical changes to what's allowed in the app store.
iSH gives you an Alpine linux environment, running in x86 usermode emulation. It's still only a beta though, I have no idea if it would even be allowed on the app store.
Pythonista gives you a python environment, it's good for automation type things. You can do stuff like run an HTTP server locally and access it from the browser.
Inspect is a neat web browser with some basic dev tools.
Scriptable is a bit like Workflow/Shortcuts, but in Javascript.
iSH gives you an Alpine linux environment, running in x86 usermode emulation. It's still only a beta though, I have no idea if it would even be allowed on the app store.
Pythonista gives you a python environment, it's good for automation type things. You can do stuff like run an HTTP server locally and access it from the browser.
Inspect is a neat web browser with some basic dev tools.
Scriptable is a bit like Workflow/Shortcuts, but in Javascript.
Hopefully it should be allowed on the app store, as a clone full of adware[1] has apparently shown up. It is definitely the best shell emulator I have come across for my iPad.
[1] https://github.com/tbodt/ish/issues/371
[1] https://github.com/tbodt/ish/issues/371
Scriptable is also easy to use as a de facto Shortcuts extension using in-app links and similar.
For a *nix shell you can checkout this: https://github.com/tbodt/ish
I do nodejs work on iPad with digitalocean + tmux. I don't know if on-device setup will ever match a true nix environment.
To me the iPad 2018 is better I got the iPad 2018 and a Lenovo I converted to Ubuntu for less than the cost of one iPad pro. Now I can test my work across all browsers since edge will be chrome based I have no need for windows for testing.
I agree with this. I have the 2018 and the killer feature is it can use the pencil. Being able to do basic sketching and notes means it goes from just a media consummation device to something you can be productive with. The battery life is great as well.
get a surface pro
> 4. some way to actually code natively on the ipad
Why did you choose an iOS device instead of a computer with the same form factor that runs a full operating system? e.g. Surface Pro.
Why did you choose an iOS device instead of a computer with the same form factor that runs a full operating system? e.g. Surface Pro.
This is addressed directly in the article.
I read the article which is mostly spent making excuses for iOS and how it will eventually get better. Maybe one day and Esc key. And ending with:
> In the past, I've written about how devices like Surface Go are the perfect venn diagram of productivity and portability—and remain convinced that Microsoft's approach is the right one, allowing a tiny tablet to do run full desktop apps.
> But, what Microsoft still doesn't have is a good enough dedicated tablet software story yet: Surface Go is one of my favorite devices in years, but its problem is a lack of tablet-mode apps worth using. If it had better battery life, that might be worth the compromise in the opposite direction, but that'll need to be addressed in future revisions.
This last bit didn't really fit with what was being done on the iPad, writing. Was it also supposed to play casual touch-screen games, I don't know. As for the battery life, I can code all day running Chrome, VS Code or IntelliJ, and a WSL session before consuming a full charge.
> In the past, I've written about how devices like Surface Go are the perfect venn diagram of productivity and portability—and remain convinced that Microsoft's approach is the right one, allowing a tiny tablet to do run full desktop apps.
> But, what Microsoft still doesn't have is a good enough dedicated tablet software story yet: Surface Go is one of my favorite devices in years, but its problem is a lack of tablet-mode apps worth using. If it had better battery life, that might be worth the compromise in the opposite direction, but that'll need to be addressed in future revisions.
This last bit didn't really fit with what was being done on the iPad, writing. Was it also supposed to play casual touch-screen games, I don't know. As for the battery life, I can code all day running Chrome, VS Code or IntelliJ, and a WSL session before consuming a full charge.
Which Surface Pro model is getting you all-day battery life? I had a SP3 (which, granted is pretty old now), and things like Chrome made it run so hot that the battery would run down to 0 in about 5-6 hours. Even with Firefox, it would run so hot that it'd become unusable in your hands as a tablet.
Looking up the specs of the SP6, it looks like it still weighs around 800g, which is nearly double that of the 11" iPad Pro. The SP3 had the same weight, and that hurt its usability as a tablet as well.
Looking up the specs of the SP6, it looks like it still weighs around 800g, which is nearly double that of the 11" iPad Pro. The SP3 had the same weight, and that hurt its usability as a tablet as well.
Surface Go. The Surface Pro 6 should be comparable. Reviews say 6h for the Go and 5.5h for the Pro 6.
Actual chrome is impossible, unless somehow a12 can run x86 instructions(efficiently).
Aren’t there ARM Chromebooks out there?
But Android?
>I initially grabbed the smaller iPad without the keyboard case, but in doing so, I realized Apple actually made a mistake: the iPad Pro needs it to really make the most of the device.
I actually prefer a $20 bluetooth keyboard. It’s easy to use away from the ipad if I’m doing video or audio editing, and I can also raise the ipad in a stand and use the keyboard detached. I find the keys better too, and it has media shortcuts.
$20 anker keyboard: https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Wireless-Bluetooth-Keyboard-Rec...
Viozon ipad stand: https://www.amazon.com/Viozon-Rotatable-Aluminum-Desktop-Sur...
The stand is nice too. Super easy to rotate, or remove it.
My experience with the ipad pro is much as the OP describes. I find it really helps focussed work, and in general is much more a joy to use than a computer. I think the 120hz screen helps.
It cannot do everything thought. So there’s a certain category of stuff that’s hard on ipad, and I do from an imac. This category is shrinking however.
I may switch to a USB keyboard with a dongle, as I do find a full fledged computer keyboard more comfortable. The one downside there is you can’t remap keys, so you need one made for mac.
I actually prefer a $20 bluetooth keyboard. It’s easy to use away from the ipad if I’m doing video or audio editing, and I can also raise the ipad in a stand and use the keyboard detached. I find the keys better too, and it has media shortcuts.
$20 anker keyboard: https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Wireless-Bluetooth-Keyboard-Rec...
Viozon ipad stand: https://www.amazon.com/Viozon-Rotatable-Aluminum-Desktop-Sur...
The stand is nice too. Super easy to rotate, or remove it.
My experience with the ipad pro is much as the OP describes. I find it really helps focussed work, and in general is much more a joy to use than a computer. I think the 120hz screen helps.
It cannot do everything thought. So there’s a certain category of stuff that’s hard on ipad, and I do from an imac. This category is shrinking however.
I may switch to a USB keyboard with a dongle, as I do find a full fledged computer keyboard more comfortable. The one downside there is you can’t remap keys, so you need one made for mac.
That's my preference as well.
I love the Microsoft Universal Mobile Keyboard. The cover of this keyboard also acts as stand for any mobile/tablet device and is magnetically attached to the keyboard, but obviously can be detached and placed wherever you want. Unfortunately the latest iPad Pro 11 redesign renders the stand unusable for the device as it doesn't hold the new iPad Pro securely. Before I was able to use it with several generations of iPads.
I love the Microsoft Universal Mobile Keyboard. The cover of this keyboard also acts as stand for any mobile/tablet device and is magnetically attached to the keyboard, but obviously can be detached and placed wherever you want. Unfortunately the latest iPad Pro 11 redesign renders the stand unusable for the device as it doesn't hold the new iPad Pro securely. Before I was able to use it with several generations of iPads.
I use the Studio Neat Canopy case for the Apple Magic Keyboard with my iPad, mostly because 1) I use my iPad as pure tablet a lot of the time, and doing this with the keyboard attached, or removing the keyboard each time, is a pain in the ass, and 2) I like writing with the iPad in portrait mode, but the smart connector doesn’t allow this. I have found that typing on a full-size software keyboard is not so bad (I have a 12.9” iPad, maybe it’s much worse on the smaller ones).
I work most of the time from an iPad and when I can’t, an iMac. My iMac at home though is now mostly just a glorified Plex server.
I work most of the time from an iPad and when I can’t, an iMac. My iMac at home though is now mostly just a glorified Plex server.
Oh, and the Canopy specifically is what allows me to write in portrait without needing a separate stand.
I really wish there was better pencil support in apps on the iPad. I'm working remotely from the rest of the team which means I can't sit with someone and draw out a diagram when I'm trying to explain things. If you're communicating with Slack there's pretty much no support at all for it. Is there any chat app that has first party support for pen? I don't want to crawl the web for some sketch webapp and go through hoops just to sketch a couple of boxes and send them.
Even a Surface Go beats a iPad Pro. I had one and changed it out, couldn't be happier. For more juice I'll get a Surface Pro. WSL beats anything but native linux.
I love my little Surface Go, using it to write this reply now! I hope they release a new one this year with a better CPU, and with WSL2 right around the corner, it'll be the perfect tool for coding on the go.
Not only that but VS Code can now run 'Remote' in WSL with the UI in Windows 10 and everything else in WSL.
If you want a simplified desktop experience for non-coding tasks, a Chromebook will coat about 1/5 of an iPad pro plus peripherals.
That’s not what people use an iPad for though.
Can a user of a Chromebook completely opt out of sending any and all information to Google while still getting updates and internet access?
From Google? No. But you can get updates and internet access if you install Linux on the device.
If you install Linux, it's not exactly a "simplified desktop experience".
Depends. It's entirely possible to have a simplified Linux desktop experience (after all, that's what Chrome OS is…)
You can put Linux on top of Chrome OS, I believe.
No.
No 1 thing the iPad needs to do is coding. Its got such a long battery life, I would have loved to use it to make code edits on the go. That's pretty much my main grip with it at the moment.
I felt the same, until I realized that you don't WANT to code ON the iPad.
Just grab Blink, a really nice Mosh client for iOs, and rent a small linux box from whatever cloud provider you like (I use scaleway, because they are dirt cheap and super convenient).
Thanks to LTE you've now got an always on remote terminal, that can perform arbitrarily heavy compute tasks, without having any impact on portability or battery life.
It's even good for you as a dev, because you'll get better at your CLI Foo, and because you're SSH'd into a remote machine all day anyways, having to do it in production when something goes wrong is a lot less stressful.
Also if you wanna do pair programming, you can simply share your TMux session with somebody else, or give them access to whatever web frontent, notebook, whatever, port you're running.
It feels strange at first but it's amazing once you get aclimated.
Just grab Blink, a really nice Mosh client for iOs, and rent a small linux box from whatever cloud provider you like (I use scaleway, because they are dirt cheap and super convenient).
Thanks to LTE you've now got an always on remote terminal, that can perform arbitrarily heavy compute tasks, without having any impact on portability or battery life.
It's even good for you as a dev, because you'll get better at your CLI Foo, and because you're SSH'd into a remote machine all day anyways, having to do it in production when something goes wrong is a lot less stressful.
Also if you wanna do pair programming, you can simply share your TMux session with somebody else, or give them access to whatever web frontent, notebook, whatever, port you're running.
It feels strange at first but it's amazing once you get aclimated.
If it helps anyone any I use the following for iPad and code stuffs. I doubt you'll ever be able to write something from scratch but the odd change here and there works fine. Especially if you have a CI/CD process. I still feel futuristic when I push code from the iPad
- Working Copy [1] for git repos and quick edits to things like static sites on Netlify
- Coda iOS [2] for anything more heavy lifting. I use SFTP to edit files on my desktop computer and have it run preview sites, commit to git repos, etc
- blink [3] for plain old SSH. Coda does have an SSH client too but I usually SSH via mosh to my home PC and from there to whatever I need. Better experience when on shoddy connections
[1] https://workingcopyapp.com/ [2] https://www.panic.com/coda-ios/ [3] https://www.blink.sh/
- Working Copy [1] for git repos and quick edits to things like static sites on Netlify
- Coda iOS [2] for anything more heavy lifting. I use SFTP to edit files on my desktop computer and have it run preview sites, commit to git repos, etc
- blink [3] for plain old SSH. Coda does have an SSH client too but I usually SSH via mosh to my home PC and from there to whatever I need. Better experience when on shoddy connections
[1] https://workingcopyapp.com/ [2] https://www.panic.com/coda-ios/ [3] https://www.blink.sh/
The macbooks last just as long as the ipad pro now. All models can hit 10 hours if you tried.
Wouldn't terminal based environments excel here?
"It feels backwards to say it, but because the iPad doesn't have multiple floating windows, and no mouse, I'm able to focus on one thing at a time."
Uh, isn't that what tablet mode in win8/10 is for? It removes much of the distractions and with an appropriate WP/text editor just sort of behaves like a tablet, but with the option to flip back into desktop mode and run all those "desktop" apps the Op is complaining about.
As much as I despise some of the crap MS forced on people with W10, the convertible idea has a lot of merit. Particularly if your lugging a keyboard around with the tablet all the time anyway. What MS needs is for dell/hp/etc to start making little 7" tablets again, and then force some portion of their workforce to use them so they understand why it was a miserable experience. The result will be better for everyone.
Uh, isn't that what tablet mode in win8/10 is for? It removes much of the distractions and with an appropriate WP/text editor just sort of behaves like a tablet, but with the option to flip back into desktop mode and run all those "desktop" apps the Op is complaining about.
As much as I despise some of the crap MS forced on people with W10, the convertible idea has a lot of merit. Particularly if your lugging a keyboard around with the tablet all the time anyway. What MS needs is for dell/hp/etc to start making little 7" tablets again, and then force some portion of their workforce to use them so they understand why it was a miserable experience. The result will be better for everyone.
I can’t disagree with your observations but you make it sound like the article is debating the merit of an Apple product against a Microsoft product. It’s not.
I think you misinterpreted what I tried to write, to me it feels the article is written more from the perspective of someone who hasn't actually worked with tablet based MS product...
It’s like if someone told you they just had a great trip to France and you said, “What, have you never even tried going to Spain? You sound like someone who has never even tried going to Spain.” The author could prefer an MS tablet for all we know, it’s beside the point. This is a retraction of a previous opinion on a product that has nothing to do with any other product. This article is neither a universal endorsement of Apple nor an universal or incidental dismissal of MS.
I don't think that's a good analogy: in terms of technology you usually settle for a single device to fulfill a given purpose. Travelling fits in the same category as music, films and so on: you want to have different, often uncomparable, experiences.
The article above is a bit like someone saying that they have settled for driving between, say, Paris and London, despite the time commitment and other inconveniences. All while never having tried or even considered flying between the two. The goal here is to get from London to Paris, the goal in the article is to find a produce that best suits their workflow.
The article above is a bit like someone saying that they have settled for driving between, say, Paris and London, despite the time commitment and other inconveniences. All while never having tried or even considered flying between the two. The goal here is to get from London to Paris, the goal in the article is to find a produce that best suits their workflow.
> to me it feels the article is written more from the perspective of someone who hasn't actually worked with tablet based MS product...
I don't get how you can make this claim when they actually talk about Microsoft products specifically in the article:
> In the past, I've written about how devices like Surface Go are the perfect venn diagram of productivity and portability—and remain convinced that Microsoft's approach is the right one, allowing a tiny tablet to do run full desktop apps.
> But, what Microsoft still doesn't have is a good enough dedicated tablet software story yet: Surface Go is one of my favorite devices in years, but its problem is a lack of tablet-mode apps worth using. If it had better battery life, that might be worth the compromise in the opposite direction, but that'll need to be addressed in future revisions.
I don't get how you can make this claim when they actually talk about Microsoft products specifically in the article:
> In the past, I've written about how devices like Surface Go are the perfect venn diagram of productivity and portability—and remain convinced that Microsoft's approach is the right one, allowing a tiny tablet to do run full desktop apps.
> But, what Microsoft still doesn't have is a good enough dedicated tablet software story yet: Surface Go is one of my favorite devices in years, but its problem is a lack of tablet-mode apps worth using. If it had better battery life, that might be worth the compromise in the opposite direction, but that'll need to be addressed in future revisions.
Lucky them.
You don't even need tablet mode. When working in Windows when I need to absolutely concentrate, I just maximize the window and mute notifications.
Keeping some music offline and disabling wifi helps too.
How old school! <chuckle>
There is even a key for it with win7+ win-uparrow.
There is also the option in the shortcut to automatically run any random application maximized by default. That has been around for ages (XP/2000 at least).
There is even a key for it with win7+ win-uparrow.
There is also the option in the shortcut to automatically run any random application maximized by default. That has been around for ages (XP/2000 at least).
Hadn't thought of it as old school, but I guess you're right. I've been doing it for a long, long time. Predating tablets by quite a bit. Occasionally get funny looks, but it works for me.
> Uh, isn't that what tablet mode in win8/10 is for?
It's also what i3wm is for. And the latest versions of GNOME ought to be finally usable on touch-enabled tablet- and 2-in-1 PC's. I expect Linux with GNOME to deliver a significantly improved experience compared w/ either ChromeOS, or Windows in its own "tablet mode". Especially so given the recent work by Purism on GNOME-for-mobile, which included quite a few general improvements.
It's also what i3wm is for. And the latest versions of GNOME ought to be finally usable on touch-enabled tablet- and 2-in-1 PC's. I expect Linux with GNOME to deliver a significantly improved experience compared w/ either ChromeOS, or Windows in its own "tablet mode". Especially so given the recent work by Purism on GNOME-for-mobile, which included quite a few general improvements.
I have a theory that the iPad Pro is the perfect college student device. I wish I could use one more for work but it doesn’t fit my use cases well. But as a “college student” device it’s perfect.
-it lasts all day -it’s very light -quick to pull out/put away -no fan noise -it’s cheaper than a MacBook -it’s great for taking notes, recording your class -it’s great for email and other simple tasks -easy to take a picture of a whiteboard/assignment etc
unfortunately my day is spent switching between lots of tasks the iPad doesn’t do well. Like pulling multiple assets from different locations for a 1 minuet edit in photoshop, exporting and slotting into a landing page. The iPad Pro would be abysmal for stuff like that.
-it lasts all day -it’s very light -quick to pull out/put away -no fan noise -it’s cheaper than a MacBook -it’s great for taking notes, recording your class -it’s great for email and other simple tasks -easy to take a picture of a whiteboard/assignment etc
unfortunately my day is spent switching between lots of tasks the iPad doesn’t do well. Like pulling multiple assets from different locations for a 1 minuet edit in photoshop, exporting and slotting into a landing page. The iPad Pro would be abysmal for stuff like that.
It’s funny to me that he needs such a complicated setup to just write some code. It feels like a crutch and in this case he has to wait for someone to come along and add support for something before he can even do any work at all. Crazy.
It makes me glad I’m an old school die hard vim user. Give me a basic SSH client and I can be productive in virtually any environment.
It makes me glad I’m an old school die hard vim user. Give me a basic SSH client and I can be productive in virtually any environment.
I’ve been living off an iPad mini for a long while now (since the very first model, which still works), and it is still my “most personal” computer. I do SSH, drafts, Slack, e-mail, etc. from it, and am using it now. I even have a Citrix X1 mouse for RDP access to servers.
But of late I’ve been eyeing the Surface Go for development, simply because it can give me a local UNIX userland (and I’m already using Surface devices for work anyway), as well as a normal desktop browse with zero compromises.
Sure, the tablet app ecosystem on Windows is... sub-optimal. But most of what I actually need is available as web apps of some sort (I don’t even use Teams, Slack or Outlook, I just use the web UIs in a browser 99% of the time these days...).
Give me a decent terminal, a full browser and a mouse pointer, and I’ll move the Earth :)
But of late I’ve been eyeing the Surface Go for development, simply because it can give me a local UNIX userland (and I’m already using Surface devices for work anyway), as well as a normal desktop browse with zero compromises.
Sure, the tablet app ecosystem on Windows is... sub-optimal. But most of what I actually need is available as web apps of some sort (I don’t even use Teams, Slack or Outlook, I just use the web UIs in a browser 99% of the time these days...).
Give me a decent terminal, a full browser and a mouse pointer, and I’ll move the Earth :)
> There are a few other niggles that still bum me out, like just how poorly the Apple Pencil is supported for any sort of writing task—even OneNote, which is famous for transcribing handwriting, doesn't support it on iPad.
With all the (justifiable) complaints that macOS development lags iOS development, this is an area where the situation is reversed: there's a standard handwriting support, like dictation support, for every text widget. You have to plug a pen tablet in of course (boo -- the huge touchpad should work). But for some reason the handwriting support isn't automatic for iOS apps.
With all the (justifiable) complaints that macOS development lags iOS development, this is an area where the situation is reversed: there's a standard handwriting support, like dictation support, for every text widget. You have to plug a pen tablet in of course (boo -- the huge touchpad should work). But for some reason the handwriting support isn't automatic for iOS apps.
As people are more experimenting with the iPad and other tables to do some real work I would like to share my findings as about how to use an iPad as an development machine. Therefore I create an youtube channel and twitter account. I try to keep it updated frequently. Feel free to have a look :D
https://twitter.com/schreda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXXtTYYwRKM
https://twitter.com/schreda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXXtTYYwRKM
It was a great device from the get go. the resolution on such a large device is a game changer. detail all the spec you want, but holding it physically in your hands you'd experience what I can't describe. The reading and stylus input is very close to natural paper. Thanks, but I didn't need another shill blogpost about how it works for their coding workflow especially when it was wrong in the first place.
He mentioned Visual Studio Code; have people used Code Server on an iPad? It worked surprisingly well on Safari for Mac (not being Chrome) when I tried it.
I've considered getting an iPad for note taking. It seems a bit overkill for... note taking. And I'm not sure what the experience is like compared to pen and paper. But I hate keeping notebooks organized, have them not be searchable, etc.
I've considered getting an iPad for note taking. It seems a bit overkill for... note taking. And I'm not sure what the experience is like compared to pen and paper. But I hate keeping notebooks organized, have them not be searchable, etc.
It does not. Known issue with the rendering engine that Code uses. I was disappointed too. Apparently a fix is coming at some point.
I used to write my university maths notes with a capacitive pen and my finger on my old iPad 2 using an app called UPad.
It was a pretty good experience all-in-all.
It was a pretty good experience all-in-all.
the iPad's biggest weak point by far is Safari and its inability to do anything in the background (slow pages should load and render even if they're not in focus; I should be able to download things in the background). But it is pretty great for hobby coding.
I use Blink for mosh (ssh connections get closed if you leave the app in the background for too long) and Wireguard for VPN to my Linux VPC (it's so good!). I started using a code folding config in my remote vim so I can fit more stuff on my screen.
I recently started using Juno for Jupyter notebooks on my iPad. It's 15 bucks and requires a bit of work to get SSL certs set up on self-hosted instances, but it's actually usable unlike Safari.
The Logitech smart keyboard is far better than the Apple keyboard IMO but I don't think they've made one for the newest model iPad Pro yet. (I have the 2017 model)
I use Blink for mosh (ssh connections get closed if you leave the app in the background for too long) and Wireguard for VPN to my Linux VPC (it's so good!). I started using a code folding config in my remote vim so I can fit more stuff on my screen.
I recently started using Juno for Jupyter notebooks on my iPad. It's 15 bucks and requires a bit of work to get SSL certs set up on self-hosted instances, but it's actually usable unlike Safari.
The Logitech smart keyboard is far better than the Apple keyboard IMO but I don't think they've made one for the newest model iPad Pro yet. (I have the 2017 model)
I use my personal laptop 80% for coding and maybe 20% for writing, so I guess this isn't for me unfortunately. I definitely can see how the single-tasking and LTE would be beneficial.
I would buy one if it had Bluetooth mouse support I think.
apple_cant(2)
Likely to arrive in iOS 13, already present via "accessibility" interfaces and remote desktop (e.g. when using Windows remotely from iPad), https://9to5mac.com/2019/05/05/ipad-mouse-support/
Multitasking on the iPad is a bit of a lie. Apple is so eager to kill background apps for the sake of thinner lighter devices.
As an example, try downloading a large file in a browser. You will quickly find that the download will stop if you switch apps or let the device go into standby.
As an example, try downloading a large file in a browser. You will quickly find that the download will stop if you switch apps or let the device go into standby.
I have an iPad Pro 13" and I do love it for some tasks, most of all, as a portable photo album, as photography is a big hobby of mine. From the hardware perspective, it could be the portable dream laptop replacement. Perfect screen, great battery life, small device. Where it is completely held back is the software:
- a lot of small things. Picture in picture is a great feature, but it works inconsitently between apps, with some not at all, and why can't I arbitrarily size the video and put it into the corners? While per default watching a video/tv program rather small, I would like to have the ability to enlarge the picture, if something interesting comes up.
- multitasking: haven't really been able to use that. 50:50 works sometimes, 75:25 usually is too small for the 25 part, should allow at least 66:33, if not completely flexible. Same for the hover over app, should allow for larger sizes.
- file management: this is really painful, so many limitations in that area. No ability to copy files from an attached USB stick or SD card into iCloud. No general ability to move files between apps, even if those in principle support the file type. No ability to add a video to the TV app from iCloud, none to add songs to the music app.
- applications: if your productive use of the iPad fits to one app from the app store: congratulations, if not, you are basically out of luck. There does not seem to be even a MUD client available for iPads. "Blink" is a pretty great SSH client, the best I found so far, but based on html rendering...
Why isn't there a version of Termux for the iPad? It allows so many quick usages, it really adds a lot of productivity. If Apple doesn't trust app programmers with such a thing, why don't they offer a port themselves in a proper sandbox? I don't need to access the system files, a small chroot jail would be fine (perhaps with iCloud drive mounted?). Of course, given the power of the iPad, why not a small "Linux" app with a Wayland desktop? Apple, if you think that would be a big replacement for paid apps, that says a lot about the app universe :p
And of course: a development environment. If general software development is too "dangerous" for an iPad, why is there no App creation environment? A self hosted environment would rock. Anyone remembers what Visual Basic 1-6 did for Windows? Why isn't there an equivalent on the iPad? Anyone at Apple ever saw a SmallTalk system? Just give Alan Kay a call, if you can't google it :p
And of course: I like the smart keyboards, but how comes that at Apple no one understands the need for the ESC key and to a lesser extend the function keys, if you are advertising a "professional" device?
- a lot of small things. Picture in picture is a great feature, but it works inconsitently between apps, with some not at all, and why can't I arbitrarily size the video and put it into the corners? While per default watching a video/tv program rather small, I would like to have the ability to enlarge the picture, if something interesting comes up.
- multitasking: haven't really been able to use that. 50:50 works sometimes, 75:25 usually is too small for the 25 part, should allow at least 66:33, if not completely flexible. Same for the hover over app, should allow for larger sizes.
- file management: this is really painful, so many limitations in that area. No ability to copy files from an attached USB stick or SD card into iCloud. No general ability to move files between apps, even if those in principle support the file type. No ability to add a video to the TV app from iCloud, none to add songs to the music app.
- applications: if your productive use of the iPad fits to one app from the app store: congratulations, if not, you are basically out of luck. There does not seem to be even a MUD client available for iPads. "Blink" is a pretty great SSH client, the best I found so far, but based on html rendering...
Why isn't there a version of Termux for the iPad? It allows so many quick usages, it really adds a lot of productivity. If Apple doesn't trust app programmers with such a thing, why don't they offer a port themselves in a proper sandbox? I don't need to access the system files, a small chroot jail would be fine (perhaps with iCloud drive mounted?). Of course, given the power of the iPad, why not a small "Linux" app with a Wayland desktop? Apple, if you think that would be a big replacement for paid apps, that says a lot about the app universe :p
And of course: a development environment. If general software development is too "dangerous" for an iPad, why is there no App creation environment? A self hosted environment would rock. Anyone remembers what Visual Basic 1-6 did for Windows? Why isn't there an equivalent on the iPad? Anyone at Apple ever saw a SmallTalk system? Just give Alan Kay a call, if you can't google it :p
And of course: I like the smart keyboards, but how comes that at Apple no one understands the need for the ESC key and to a lesser extend the function keys, if you are advertising a "professional" device?
> Picture in picture is a great feature, but it works inconsitently between apps, with some not at all, and why can't I arbitrarily size the video and put it into the corners?
PiP video can be resized, up to a limit of about 1/4 of the screen.
> While per default watching a video/tv program rather small, I would like to have the ability to enlarge the picture, if something interesting comes up.
There's an icon (diagonal arrow) to exit PiP mode and return to full-screen in the original app.
> file management: this is really painful, so many limitations in that area. No ability to copy files from an attached USB stick
iXpand USB drives are supported by some apps (e.g. nPlayer, LumaFusion). There's a rumor that external storage support will arrive in iOS13, hopefully without too many restrictions.
PiP video can be resized, up to a limit of about 1/4 of the screen.
> While per default watching a video/tv program rather small, I would like to have the ability to enlarge the picture, if something interesting comes up.
There's an icon (diagonal arrow) to exit PiP mode and return to full-screen in the original app.
> file management: this is really painful, so many limitations in that area. No ability to copy files from an attached USB stick
iXpand USB drives are supported by some apps (e.g. nPlayer, LumaFusion). There's a rumor that external storage support will arrive in iOS13, hopefully without too many restrictions.
PiP video can be resized, up to a limit of about 1/4 of the screen.
Right, thats the problem. It is nice for keeping track of what happens, but e.g. when watching a football game, you want the ability to magnify, as I wrote, to an arbitrary video size. Also, why can't I put the video into the corner, why does it keep a significant distance to the screen edges, so covering more of my app than necessary for the video size.
There's an icon (diagonal arrow) to exit PiP mode and return to full-screen in the original app.
Which can be slow, and not work at all. Also, it might be impossible to get back to the PIP (depending on the app) and also affects the app you were using with the PIP. Why can't I just enlarge the PIP to cover most of my screen, at least up to 75%?
Right, thats the problem. It is nice for keeping track of what happens, but e.g. when watching a football game, you want the ability to magnify, as I wrote, to an arbitrary video size. Also, why can't I put the video into the corner, why does it keep a significant distance to the screen edges, so covering more of my app than necessary for the video size.
There's an icon (diagonal arrow) to exit PiP mode and return to full-screen in the original app.
Which can be slow, and not work at all. Also, it might be impossible to get back to the PIP (depending on the app) and also affects the app you were using with the PIP. Why can't I just enlarge the PIP to cover most of my screen, at least up to 75%?
I agree - videos should actually support all those split screen modes used by apps.
Windowing will change in iOS13. Hopefully demos will appear at WWDC in a few weeks.
I sincerely hope so, assuming it changes into a really useful UI. The PIP is a prominent example of some iOS restrictions which don't seem to have any technical justifications. Someone seems to have decided it looks cute as it is, without any usability in mind. The macOS version of PIP has the same restrictions - a big reason why I haven't used this feature in years. At least you are allowed to freely position the PIP when pressing the CMD key.
There's an icon (diagonal arrow) to exit PiP mode and return to full-screen in the original app.
Just tested it with the streaming app of a major TV station (ZDF for the German readers) and while it ends PiP, you are not getting to see the program in full screen mode, they overlay it with the apps UI, covering up 1/3 of the stream.
Just tested it with the streaming app of a major TV station (ZDF for the German readers) and while it ends PiP, you are not getting to see the program in full screen mode, they overlay it with the apps UI, covering up 1/3 of the stream.
That icon takes you back to the original source app of the video - from there you can initiate fullscreen (I'd assume). I guess it would make sense to allow going from PiP directly to fullscreen, but then you'd need another button to return to the app, or you could just use the multitasking gesture to return that app manually - however I guess that's too confusing for some users.
Double tapping the PiP video to toggle fullscreen would be a nice compromise in my opinion.
Double tapping the PiP video to toggle fullscreen would be a nice compromise in my opinion.
Yes, I get back to the app and from there I can restart full-screen showing. But that is far to slow, if I only quickly want the PiP to be larger (also removes the app which was active before completely from the screen).
But I fail to see why the PiP has any size and position restrictions in the first place.
You can enter full screen in the original app, before switching to PiP.
Then the icon to exit PiP will return to full screen (or the app's video state when PiP was initiated).
Then the icon to exit PiP will return to full screen (or the app's video state when PiP was initiated).
No it doesn't. That is the problem, every app is able to implement their own screwy behavior.
You can also mount iXpands in the Files app via FileBrowser, making them accessible to any modern iOS app just like any other file provider.
steve jobs was soo off with the stylus being out of fashion. totally wrong... the apple pencil is probably THE only strong differentiators for the ipad.
You misunderstand why he said that.
At the time, you effectively could not buy a touchscreen device without a stylus being required. Nintendo DS, Palm Pilot, Windows tablet, etc., it was a bundled experience.
Letting you use not just one, but multiple, fingers on a touchscreen without the need for a stylus was a sea change.
At the time, you effectively could not buy a touchscreen device without a stylus being required. Nintendo DS, Palm Pilot, Windows tablet, etc., it was a bundled experience.
Letting you use not just one, but multiple, fingers on a touchscreen without the need for a stylus was a sea change.
You could buy a touchscreen LG Prada in May 2007
They were announced (Prada: Dec 2006, iPhone: Jan 2007) and released (Prada: May 2007, iPhone: June 2007) at approximately the same time. Further, I don't think the Prada had multi-touch capabilities, like pinch-to-zoom
[deleted]
Steve Jobs was quite right that a stylus is not great for a small portable device with a touch screen. It's clunky, you can easily misplace the stylus and you can't have multi-touch gestures. There are lots of specialized tasks that are better with a stylus but there are a lot of specialized tasks that are better with a combine harvester.
The iPhone popularised capacitive touch.
His comments on styluses should be seen in light of the technology of the time (Newton/Maemo/Palm OS/WinCE etc) whose input was stabbing at a resistive screen.
(That's not to repudiate finger input being superior to pen for many interactions but styluses of 2019 use vastly different tech to those of 2007.)
His comments on styluses should be seen in light of the technology of the time (Newton/Maemo/Palm OS/WinCE etc) whose input was stabbing at a resistive screen.
(That's not to repudiate finger input being superior to pen for many interactions but styluses of 2019 use vastly different tech to those of 2007.)
I'd say Steve Jobs' public comments should be seen in light of his main role as a product pitchman. When the 9.7" iPad was the only model available, he criticized the ergonomics of smaller models by Samsung, claiming that "you'd need sand paper to sand down your finger" to use them [0].
Meanwhile, he was overseeing the development of the 7.9 inch iPad Mini, which wouldn't come out until late 2012.
[0]: https://www.itproportal.com/2010/10/21/steve-jobs-wrong-abou...
Meanwhile, he was overseeing the development of the 7.9 inch iPad Mini, which wouldn't come out until late 2012.
[0]: https://www.itproportal.com/2010/10/21/steve-jobs-wrong-abou...
His comments on styluses should be seen in light of the technology of the time
I think his comments are general, not about the technology of the time. He's arguing that direct manipulation is better than not-that. That's been a central tenet of UI-stuff for a very long time.
I think his comments are general, not about the technology of the time. He's arguing that direct manipulation is better than not-that. That's been a central tenet of UI-stuff for a very long time.
I have a Galaxy Note and you can pry the stylus from my cold dead hands. I love it. The Apple Pencil feels clunky to me - it's so big you can't comfortably do art with it.
He never said the stylus was out of fashion.
He said it shouldn't be the primary method of interaction with a tablet...
He said it shouldn't be the primary method of interaction with a tablet...
Agreed, I have some artist friends using the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil.
I imagined it would be for that usecase. I didn’t understand the “who needs a stylus” statement, but I guess that is for the iPhone.
I imagined it would be for that usecase. I didn’t understand the “who needs a stylus” statement, but I guess that is for the iPhone.
The statement wasn't who needs a stylus, but "if you see a stylus, they blew it" (they being the designers, and in context meaning: if you see a stylus bundled with a tablet as the primary means of interaction).
He was commenting on past tablets that were meant to be used with a small stylus -- and the interface was totally unfriendly (and sometimes unusable) for hand touch.
He was commenting on past tablets that were meant to be used with a small stylus -- and the interface was totally unfriendly (and sometimes unusable) for hand touch.
[deleted]
You shouldn’t need a stylus to use a device. Styluses are great for things you can’t do with your finger, like precision drawing.
It's kind of like using an external mouse with a laptop, it should be an enhancement, not the primary input device.
1. a desktop-grade web browser, e.g. chrome (actual chrome not an iOS chrome)
2. better file system management
3. better multitasking (e.g. multiple windows even from a single app)
4. some way to actually code natively on the ipad, e.g. write and run python code, C code, etc., I guess have a *nix shell. I don't need to "take over the whole device" but I would like to be able to run code even if it's in a sort of sandboxed environment