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Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

andrewbrookins.com

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Re: Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

#141

Post by openIce »

abrookins wrote: post #101
hessproject wrote: post #81

This is the reason I ditched the iPad for a Surface. Windows isn't my preferred environment but the ability to run my normal tools (IDEs, command line tools, etc) really was a game changer. iPad Pro is great for creative workflows, but it's a shame it leaves programmers in the dust. It would be really great even to see something like XCode come to iOS

I own a Surface device, an iPad Pro, and a Macbook Pro. While I write code on all of them, macOS is still the king of development environments. On macOS, you can just work. That's what the end goal should be in other platforms. I doubt iOS will ever get there. I mean, how are you supposed to copy and paste code from Vim running in tmux inside of Blink? With your finger? Hell's bells! Windows is just too weird. If you…

Maybe the fault is due to the user. Windows just works for me and is only desktop OS that allows you to be productive without spending countless hours debugging compatibility issues. And no real development happens with Python anyhow.

Re: Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

#142

Post by Fnoord »

rixrax wrote: post #136
cageface wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They wanted to take my 2017 MBP for a week to replace the faulty keyboard. I was forced to buy a new machine because I can’t afford to be unproductive for a week. Having a $3000 machine sidelined for a week by a design flaw that oringinates from Apple’s obsession with making pretty and thin devices over any practical considerations means I will be taking a very serious look at a windows laptop for the first time in o…

Exactly same story here. Second time that 2017MBP went for a repair I drove to a Best Buy and got a 2017 Razer Stealth. Life is suffering: on Razer I replaced Windows 10 with Ubuntu (which at that time wouldn’t work without long list of patches and tweaks; it’s better now with recent kernels), I hate the touch display, I would have preferred 1080p display over 4K, but at least modern Linuxes mostly do display scaling…

Get a 2015 MBP instead. They have a force touch touchpad yet not the larger ones, not the broken keyboard, still work decent, are cheaper (some 2nd hand in good state provided you don't search for exotic hardware combinations), don't have touchbar, still have magsafe (though you can make USB-C magnetic). I have a 15" MBP2015 and a 13" MBP2014 (the 13" MBP2015 would've been a better choice). I love them both. Only downside is the coating, and they're getting a bit aged. Apple even warn that the screen on MBP2016 and later can get damaged from debris on the keybaord, especially with keyboard protector enabled. My MBP2010 has been mistreated badly with debris and did not ever suffer from this. The MBP2014/2015 have it slightly more difficult already.

If you fancy the newer series, the 2018 versions don't suffer from the keyboard getting stuck problems (cause Apple's clever hack). If you don't mind a portable trackpad the Apple Magic Trackpad 2 works native on Linux 4.20 [1] (which works on Ubuntu 18.10 at least) and the driver can be backported via DKMS. Fedora however has the module compiled into the kernel so you gotta recompile the kernel if you're running Fedora.

[1] https://github.com/robotrovsky/Linux-Magic-Trackpad-2-Driver

Re: Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

#143

Post by kalleboo »

groby_b wrote: post #114
voltagex_ wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dislike Apple, but one thing I'll say in their favour is that I can wander into any Apple store and get a replacement device when it breaks (or maybe even a repair if I'm lucky). Lenovo, on the other hand took weeks to get back to me and then quoted $400AUD to replace the display backlight - with someone else's name on the quote. If I've got LTE connectivity, I'm probably going to remote in to some other box with a…

Have you actually brought a device to be repaired within the last few years? They take it in the back to diagnose it, come back with a sad expression and tell you they need to send it in, and you can pick it up in a week. (And that's not even mentioning the fact that most Apple stores are a zoo, and you can easily spend an hour waiting for your 'Genius' appointment)

I turned my 2017 MBP in with a bad keyboard and a bad USB-C port. Get it back after 10 days with a new keyboard... they forgot the USB-C port. Another round trip, 10 days later... they replaced the IO board on the wrong side of the laptop, the USB-C port is still bad. Screw it I have 3 other USB-C ports now I'm just living with it, I was without my laptop for a month (during which I used my old 2012 MBP which still works fine). Horrible experience.

Re: Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

#144

Post by Joeri »

cageface wrote: post #130
groby_b wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you actually brought a device to be repaired within the last few years? They take it in the back to diagnose it, come back with a sad expression and tell you they need to send it in, and you can pick it up in a week. (And that's not even mentioning the fact that most Apple stores are a zoo, and you can easily spend an hour waiting for your 'Genius' appointment)

They wanted to take my 2017 MBP for a week to replace the faulty keyboard. I was forced to buy a new machine because I can’t afford to be unproductive for a week. Having a $3000 machine sidelined for a week by a design flaw that oringinates from Apple’s obsession with making pretty and thin devices over any practical considerations means I will be taking a very serious look at a windows laptop for the first time in o…

If your laptop is that critical you should have a spare on hand. My advice would be to get that windows laptop now, so you can dip a toe in without the pressure of switching completely.

If it’s a secondary device it also doesn’t need to be as expensive, just good enough to get the basics done. E.g. you’re probably fine with i5, 8gb ram, 256 gb ssd, which in windows land means you can get an ultrabook form factor for around $1000. If you haven’t used windows in a while, get a 2-in-1 touch screen model to get the full difference in experience windows has on offer. It’s interesting to have a machine that can switch from full windowed development environment to ipad and back again with a flip of the lid. (Note that I said interesting, not flawless.)

Re: Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

#145

Post by [deleted] »

a-ve wrote: post #106

This seems like an exercise in masochism. Why would you want to code on an OS targeted for smartphones and without any native compiler support? To those who want LTE connectivity, I don't think you know there's a device called the Thinkpad X1 with this functionality built in. Or is it that coding on tablets is considered "hip" these days?

[deleted]

Re: Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

#146

Post by sudhirj »

I’m doing the second setup mentioned a little bit. I have an iMac at home, and my router has a VPN option that I use to SSH from the iPad.

I open all files remotely off the iMac, so Git and tools are not a problem.

The apps I work on hot reload in Safari in a side window. But the lack of JS debug tools is a problem.

Basically it works fine for writing copy, project planning, code review, JS, Ruby, but not so much for static languages (none of the editors use autocomplete servers).

Keyboard is a problem, but because I use a mechanical keyboard on the Mac I can carry around the Mac keyboard in my bag.

This works great if you have a dedicated machine at home, and want to carry around a tablet for doing tablet things (books, Netflix, reading the web, copywriting, UI sketches and some basic dynamic languages).

Re: Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

#147

Post by Rygu »

cgb223 wrote: post #4

If I could code on an iPad Pro, I’d finally get rid of my MacBook Pro. I think that’s exactly why apple doesn’t allow this at all...

If you do web development, you should definitely try out the MacBook 12 inch.

Re: Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

#148

Post by cageface »

Joeri wrote: post #144
cageface wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They wanted to take my 2017 MBP for a week to replace the faulty keyboard. I was forced to buy a new machine because I can’t afford to be unproductive for a week. Having a $3000 machine sidelined for a week by a design flaw that oringinates from Apple’s obsession with making pretty and thin devices over any practical considerations means I will be taking a very serious look at a windows laptop for the first time in o…

If your laptop is that critical you should have a spare on hand. My advice would be to get that windows laptop now, so you can dip a toe in without the pressure of switching completely. If it’s a secondary device it also doesn’t need to be as expensive, just good enough to get the basics done. E.g. you’re probably fine with i5, 8gb ram, 256 gb ssd, which in windows land means you can get an ultrabook form factor for…

Until very recently I was mainly an iOS developer so a Mac and Xcode were mandatory. Now that I’ve very happily gone back to web development keeping a cheaper backup machine on hand is more feasible.

Re: Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

#149

Post by akhilcacharya »

a-ve wrote: post #106

This seems like an exercise in masochism. Why would you want to code on an OS targeted for smartphones and without any native compiler support? To those who want LTE connectivity, I don't think you know there's a device called the Thinkpad X1 with this functionality built in. Or is it that coding on tablets is considered "hip" these days?

Sidebar - why do people even want built in LTE? It makes no sense to me when tethering is so fast, convenient, and doesn’t require an extra bill!

Re: Coding on an iPad Pro in 2019

#150

Post by epynonymous »

amasad wrote: post #134
epynonymous wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i checked out your jobs site, that is the coolest thing ever, a command line terminal with links as directories and files, very nice work.

Thanks so much! Please refer people :)

i will be referring myself and others, thanks!
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