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LaTeX Workflow on iPad

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Re: LaTeX Workflow on iPad

#21

Post by drej »

I was an early adopter, I got an iPad back in the summer of 2010 and have used various models ever since. I've read quite a few of these "replacing a laptop with an iPad" articles and pretty much all of them involve a lot of bending over backwards to make it all work.

I've tried it a few times and it's not just worth it (to me). What I do instead is that I embrace the platform for what it is and don't do any of this remote machine kung fu to mimick a real computer. What I do instead is that I setup applications that sync data through the cloud, so that I can do draft work on my iPad (mostly text, some very light programming), but I never worry about runtimes, compilation etc. Ever since I stopped worrying and just used one of the many text apps (I mostly use iA or Google Keep), I've been much happier - I can focus on text, not on complex workflows.

Re: LaTeX Workflow on iPad

#22

Post by _ph_ »

pjmlp wrote: post #18
tuananh wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The file manager improves but not by a lot. I think iPadOS is only usable as an actual computer when they finally make the Terminal app on iPad and a much better File app

So all Macs up to OS X weren't usable it seems.

While I never used a Mac before OS X, they probably were quite usable, and your question was both rethorical and snarky. There is more than one way to use a "computer". Incidentally, I only switched to the Mac after they added a shell to it with the switch to OS X. And one of the reasons I disliked Windows was the crummy shell and lack of a terminal. Also, it is 2019 and it is no problem to get a full Linux installation on a smartphone, while Apple sets up artificial limitations to prevent that.

There are certainly other ways to make the iPad a computing device - like the Macs before OS X, but Apple steps into the way of that in many places too. An app like Termux would not only make a lot of potential users happy, it would be something which could provide this in a way which could be nicely sandboxed in the iPadOS/iOS.

Re: LaTeX Workflow on iPad

#23

Post by _ph_ »

macintux wrote: post #7
wanderfowl wrote: post #4

This is great to see, but also really frustrating. I see Apple pushing to make iPadOS feel more 'real computer', but these sorts of basic Unixy workflows still feel very hacky, particularly when it comes time to save things to the 'File system', as it were. I look forward to a day when I can someday actually use things like XeLaTeX and Pandoc on an iPad to accomplish my actual work, but for now, I'm finding myself ed…

Apple doesn’t care about minuscule lost revenue because some people would want to run containers of free software. Drop in the bucket.

The number of iPads bought by those users might be just a drop in the bucket, but that is too shortsighted to look at those users. Those users are the ones who might push development of more advanced apps on the iPad, be it as developers themselves or because they would attract new app development to the iPad. Engineers and scientists might be a small market, but I think it was vital for OS X, that early on Apple laptops started to appear at conferences, slowly growing in share.

Re: LaTeX Workflow on iPad

#24

Post by jakobegger »

macintux wrote: post #7
wanderfowl wrote: post #4

This is great to see, but also really frustrating. I see Apple pushing to make iPadOS feel more 'real computer', but these sorts of basic Unixy workflows still feel very hacky, particularly when it comes time to save things to the 'File system', as it were. I look forward to a day when I can someday actually use things like XeLaTeX and Pandoc on an iPad to accomplish my actual work, but for now, I'm finding myself ed…

Apple doesn’t care about minuscule lost revenue because some people would want to run containers of free software. Drop in the bucket.

If those users are so unimportant, why did Apple bother to introduce the Hypervisor framework on macOS? If there's a big, important market for virtualisation on macOS, surely it would be worthwhile to also address that market on iPadOS? Especially since Apple is trying hard to convince all kinds of professional users to adopt the iPad.

Re: LaTeX Workflow on iPad

#25

Post by pjmlp »

_ph_ wrote: post #22
pjmlp wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So all Macs up to OS X weren't usable it seems.

While I never used a Mac before OS X, they probably were quite usable, and your question was both rethorical and snarky. There is more than one way to use a "computer". Incidentally, I only switched to the Mac after they added a shell to it with the switch to OS X. And one of the reasons I disliked Windows was the crummy shell and lack of a terminal. Also, it is 2019 and it is no problem to get a full Linux installat…

Naturally it was snarky, because having a CLI to be an usable computer is not something that one can generalize and largely proven in the market that consumers don't give a damn about it.

Which phone is sold with a full Linux distribution, with any kind of market relevance?

Android certainly not, as regular Linux APIs aren't part of the NDK stable API list, which Termux actually needs to work within the constraints of ISO C, ISO C++ and NDK APIs.

Re: LaTeX Workflow on iPad

#26

Post by m0zg »

Or you can just get a ThinkPad X1 (a generation or two behind) for sub-$1k, install Linux on it, and work in comfort with almost the same weight and battery life. I'm really pleased with mine.

Re: LaTeX Workflow on iPad

#28

Post by pvmcos »

I love my iPad. Compared to windows at work it's way more reliable and polished. I've been shifting over my computer interaction to the iPad with good results and improvements in convenience, independence and efficiency. Migrating rss, mail, web browsing and content consummation has been successful. I too started using the calendar, to do list and notes app to great effect.

Only programming I wasn't able to change yet. An attempt was made with a ssh app, but it wasn't able to compete with a proper ide/text editor yet. For unix as an ide fans it would be enough though. I want to learn that, but sadly I still have to write native apps, though I'll change that when I have the chance.

The best thing about iPadOS is control. It feels so relaxing not having to worry about discord scanning all your processes and files just because you want to chat with your friends. I hope they'll never go back to allowing unsigned code.

Re: LaTeX Workflow on iPad

#29

Post by chj »

TeX Writer developer here. Very flattered to be included in the author's workflow. Sitting at the core of this process is WorkingCopy, which has the most sensible integration with Files app that it simply keeps all files local. After one or two emails with its developer, we managed to get the coordination working rather quickly. The intersection of LaTeX & git & ipad users are very small, but it is a joy to see that apps can work well together with just a little bit of effort.

For iPad to function as a real computer, I think what we need most is a shared file system that can be accessed by all apps alike, with some sort of access control.

btw: Never expected that someone would dump the TeXLive tree into texmf-local. Nevertheless, glad that it works.

Re: LaTeX Workflow on iPad

#30

Post by yoz-y »

jakobegger wrote: post #24
macintux wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple doesn’t care about minuscule lost revenue because some people would want to run containers of free software. Drop in the bucket.

If those users are so unimportant, why did Apple bother to introduce the Hypervisor framework on macOS? If there's a big, important market for virtualisation on macOS, surely it would be worthwhile to also address that market on iPadOS? Especially since Apple is trying hard to convince all kinds of professional users to adopt the iPad.

I think Apple has a different vision for needs of people who use Macs and iPads for work.

For example the new Sidecar feature (use iPad as a screen) supports the pencil but not touch. Apple believes that touch on macOS interface is not a good experience. I suppose that they feel that text entry and chaining CLI tools on iPad is not one either.

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