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iPad Pro M2

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Re: iPad Pro M2

#481
post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This made me wonder: Why do PDFs feel so much slower and bulkier compared to something like viewing HTML over a browser? When it comes to displaying static images and text, shouldn't PDFs outperform HTML pages by miles?

I don’t think it’s true in general, you may just used bad PDF viewers. I can scroll through a content-rich PDF much faster and smoother, than a similarly resource-packed website.

Yep. You can actually use WebKit to render PDFs in Linux and it works perfectly fine as well. Performance problems seem to be most prevalent when you browse them in a web browser.

Re: iPad Pro M2

#482
post #434

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What do you use for giant PDFs? I have some textbooks on mine, but nothing performs/functions as well as readera does on my android phone.

I’ve found PDF Viewer from PSPDFKit GmbH to perform very well, though I also sometimes use Documents by Readdle which lets me do things like reorder pages without a subscription. Not sure if Documents is still that way for new users or only because I paid for it back before everything under the sun turned into a subscription.

Thanks!

Re: iPad Pro M2

#483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At the price point of the iPad pro with a keyboard and touch-pad.. why not just buy a laptop like the MacBook Air? 1. cellular + eSIM, missing from Air (WHY, Apple, why?) 2. detaches into perfect touchscreen tablet, Air doesn't 3. Apple Pencil (requires "Paperlike" for texture): https://paperlike.com 4. it's a great second screen in either extend desktop or keyboard/mouse mode > Hauling around an iPad pro with a to…

Interesting, I hadn’t heard of Paperlike. I’ll have to give it a try.

Paperlike is pretty pricey. I bought a similar screen cover on Amazon Canada by Bellmond for CAD$20. Works great!

Re: iPad Pro M2

#484

I Work IT in a institution with 290 employees and have had 5 switch to iPad Pro's to "replace" their laptop. I am now 5 for 5 with all asking for their laptop back. iPadOS is nothing more than iPhoneOS renamed and the device is still too heavily crippled for desktop/laptop replacement. In my mini test case scenario I never said a word..simply the employee asked for iPad Pro.. I just handed it to them... waited... the…

On the contrary, I have owned MacBook Pros from the first to the last 17", then again every model since the 16". I also have iPad Pro with magic keyboard and touch pad. I don't travel with the MacBook any more, as I can do anything from the iPad. But it's not just me. I've also been CTO at mega bank and hedge funds where we've rolled these out along side laptops. I've found that after initial objections, folks tend t…

The fact that you can do all your work on an iPad as well as you could do it on a Laptop may say more about your work than the devices. I do not mean this in an insulting way, but perhaps your work is so disconnected from technology or the creative process that you could do it, no matter the device you're using?

Re: iPad Pro M2

#485
post #349

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Well, MacOS won. Silos don't work, and they especially don't work when Apple controls the means of distribution single-handedly. MacOS has clutched onto a shred of relevance by letting the user install package managers, download software from the web, run software compilers, and so much more. There is not a future where iPadOS "wins" and MacOS is slayed in ritual combat, or something. It's obviously not a contest, an…

> There is not a future where iPadOS "wins" and MacOS is slayed in ritual combat, or something. Well, no, it's not about the Operating Systems; it's about the UI paradigms themselves. I believe that Apple is worried that the desktop WIMP UI itself is going to be disrupted and fade into irrelevance due to 1. "do everything on the web" devices like Chromebooks, and 2. VR/AR productivity-workflow paradigms that are yet…

We’re not moving to the web totally unless the web recreates there UI features we already get on desktop. I have to juggle a half dozen apps at a time no matter how much I automate.

VR/AR makes people feel sick and are fundamentally uncomfortable in a way a screen not strapped to your face isn’t.

Re: iPad Pro M2

#486
post #408

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What do you mean with "filesystem" specifically, that isn't available on iPads? There's the Files app.

Does it allow you to have access to the whole fileystem, unrestricted access?

I think the arguments is non-developers don't really need access to it.

You aren't configuring anything or doing anything that needs access to the file system.

You are simply interacting with documents and online systems/applications that you can do the same as on a laptop. Add the greater mobility and the iPad pro really is a better device for most people.

However, as another commenter mentioned, these individuals who SHOULD really benefit from using an iPad primarily also are the group that struggle greatly with the changes to their overall workflow (see Who Moved My Cheese).

Re: iPad Pro M2

#487
post #366

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Anything in the gSuite is terrible on iPadOS. Excel is also fairly crippled. I can’t see how it’s usable at all. Even just for emailing, GMail at least is a terrible application on iPad. For examples, cannot format anything, or view one email while writing another (that isn’t a reply). I primarily use mine for * Note taking * Browsing/showing PDFs in a construction engineering setting. Nothing is faster or as flexibl…

I gsuite good anywhere ? It's not good in the browser on desktop/laptop devices, certainly. I have noticed they cut tons of features from the iOS versions and keep you from using the site if they're installed (and maybe even if they're not? That's got to be how I ended up with them installed, I wouldn't have done it by choice), which is super annoying and makes no sense since I'm sure it's all the same webtech crap a…

The Gmail app ate multiple gigs of ram and repeatedly crashed on my prior two Android phones. Disabling it and using an alternate mail client works much better.

Re: iPad Pro M2

#488
post #457

I Work IT in a institution with 290 employees and have had 5 switch to iPad Pro's to "replace" their laptop. I am now 5 for 5 with all asking for their laptop back. iPadOS is nothing more than iPhoneOS renamed and the device is still too heavily crippled for desktop/laptop replacement. In my mini test case scenario I never said a word..simply the employee asked for iPad Pro.. I just handed it to them... waited... the…

I don't even understand the advantage of an iPad for non-drawing work. It's just a worse laptop with a too-small keyboard that can fall off and a square screen so it's not good to watch video on and an OS that doesn't do anything well. But Mac laptops are amazing, run all the same software, and don't have any of these problems.

I can't adapt to the workflow on an iPad either, and I have tried. I have really tried. However, I have seen other that have. To them the iPad is easy and macOS is overly complicated.

I am not sure if general computing is changing or there are now two branches, but I have watched other people do things on iPads that I consider impossible. Even simple things, like working in Excel, I find challenging on an iPad. But when I watch someone else who sort of "grew up" on iOS work in Excel on an iPad they are like some kind of wizard. I have found myself more than once now asking someone, "How did you do that?" feelsbadman.jpg

I think a lot comes down to muscle memory and shortcuts. While I know many/most of the shortcuts on iPadOS they are not automatic for me the way they are on macOS. I often have to think, "Wait… how do I do this on the iPad again," for even simple things. I even find drawing applications unintuitive. In the Adobe suite everything is explicit. In Procreate everything is unlabeled. This is even true in consumer applications, like Facebook vs Snapchat. Pinch here, tap there. Swipe from one of the four sides to reveal some function that is completely hidden. But for some people this is intuitive. There is an additional layer (or two) of UI abstraction in iOS/iPadOS that I have not internalized.

There definitely ARE some things you can't do on an iPad, but that list is actually shorter than you might think. There are a lot of things that you can do, they are just done differently… and in a way that, at least for me, seems to take a lot more work. But for others they are like, "Eww, why do I have to look for an icon and move the cursor over to it when I can just…" and then they proceed to input what is essentially sign language into the screen while holding down a modifier key.

Re: iPad Pro M2

#489
post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree, I think there are 4 good GSuite apps on iPadOS: GMail, Meet, Calendar, and Drive. With the magic floaty keyboard, even long emails feel fine on iPad. Unfortunately, Docs, Slides & Sheets are pretty terrible, and fall far short of the desktop experience. For those apps, a Chromebook would be a much better choice. If only they made Chromebooks with trackpads as good as Apple's laptops, or even as good as th…

Meet is in my experience worse than Zoom and Teams, and with the latter that is saying something. Gmail and Calendar are great. Drive is also sub-par in experience when compared to Dropbox (probably Box as well though I've not used it) Oddly Sheets is the only one I like. It is good enough for most use cases and simpler and easier to use than Excel. I've never even considered using Docs or Slides.

Office 365 is hard for most organizations to switch from, since the overall package is a set of tools that are generally better than the Gsuite competition.

Some MSPs I work with make good money just converting businesses from Gsuite to Office 365. I don't use either platform personally or at my work, but I understand why Microsoft is eating the SaaS email & baseline office tools market.

Re: iPad Pro M2

#490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing that really kills iPad for me is the web browsing experience. I just find iOS Safari so limiting. It's also needlessly slow (considering M1). I suspect they have some optimisations designed for memory constrained devices like iPhone tuned in the same way for iPad. Also ad blocker support is limited. Oh and in a lot of video calling apps, if I try and browse something in Safari while the meeting is happening, th…

Orion let’s you run full chrome and Firefox addons in iOS and iPadOS. No joke

That's incredible, thanks for sharing! Looks like it's still working on supporting some APIs (claims to currently support about 70% of Web Extensions APIs), and so far both the Firefox and Chrome NoScript extension don't appear to work for me on iOS, but that's awesome that they're working on adding support for Chrome and Firefox addons. I'll definitely keep an eye on this project.
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