Giving up the iPad-only travel dream

This is always on a case-by-case basis. Just because THIS particular person can't work everything on an iPad doesn't mean EVERYONE is the same.

My mother-in-law, for instance, does everything from an iPad. She doesn't own a computer anymore. She does her emails, bills, spreadsheets, printing, reading...etc etc...from her iPad. She has a keyboard she can hook up to it to write long things, and then puts it away when she doesn't need it.

Could I work like this? No. But again, this doesn't mean everyone is like me. It all has to be taken case-by-case. I would suspect that the vast majority of readers to Hacker News can't work like this either, nor could they think of why anyone would want to...so confirmation bias kicks in big time.

I've tried doing iPad-only several times, but I'm a bit of a digital packrat, a highly-organized packrat, though. So I really miss a solid File Manager.

I know Android is much better at this, but the default "Files" app in iOS just sucks -- I feel like I have to bounce between three or four apps just to get something simple done.

Has anyone found a reasonable way to manage files on iOS?

I had my "single device for everything" experience with the original Galaxy Note. I would plug in a keyboard, mouse, and monitor and use it as a computer (it required a special OTG USB to HDMI adapter). It connected to my car. It had a big enough screen to be a mobile Tv. It was fun for sketching with the included pressure sensitive pencil. I had a game-controller that it could click into, making it into a handheld game machine. And it had a graphics chip that gave it more graphics ability than comparable mobile computing devices of the time. It even had a cool thing where it could emulate and magnetic credit card swipe, making it compatible with credit card readers that didn't yet support tap-to-pay! Truly a miracle device.

Yet for all that, I replaced it with a Moto X just 2 years later, and it's the Moto X that I really miss, with its superior voice control and its preference to remain in my pocket, and the little dimple in its wooden back.

FE File Explorer is most of what I want in a file manager

The iPad software has been lagging behind its hardware for so long now.

My iPad and laptop both have an M1; the laptop has more RAM but they are effectively equally capable on paper. And yet, due to a series of entirely artificial restrictions, my iPad is useless for entire categories of applications. That power sits unavailable for me to ever utilise.

I’m sure the iPad Pro can live up to its name if you’re an artist or designer or maybe even something that involves 3D modelling, but outside of that absolutely not.

It’s a terrible shame because I think there really is value in a computer that fills the space between a phone and a “real” computer. Especially given its modularity (though the obscenely high pricing of Apple’s keyboard cases is another problem).

At this point the thing most holding the iPad back is Apple itself. Anything to do with software development is impossible or involves remotely interfacing with a second computer. The things it does support are tedious and frustrating, like file management (Files.app is hopeless) and multitasking (Stage Manager is a convoluted mess).

What the hell was even the point in splitting iPadOS out if it’s just gonna have the exact same limitations as iOS. I got a good deal on a used iPad Pro but when it comes time to upgrade this thing I’ll just go back to the middle of the road model for a nice, but ultimately unnecessary consumption device.