Going iPad (Third Edition): Making the iPad Your Only Computer

Going iPad

Making the iPad Your Only Computer

Brian Schell

Going iPad: Making the iPad Your Only Computer

Third Edition

Copyright 2019 by Brian Schell

Version Date: September, 2019

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or any portion of it in any form.

Written and designed by:

[email protected]

ISBN: 9781695170476

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

Before You Begin: Planning and Purchasing

Apps: The Right Tool for the Right Job

Team-Up: Using the iPad Along with a Computer

Web Apps

Getting Work Done

Can You Do It?

About the Author

How You Can Help Me

Also by Brian Schell

Introduction

When experts and pundits use the phrase post-PC, they are referring to being able to get real work done without using what we usually think of as a computer. The first time I remember hearing the phrase being commonly used was right after the iPhone came into existence, around twelve years ago. Although it has been possible for a rare group of people to dispose of their computers in exchange for a smartphone, that’s simply never been a legitimate option for most of us. In my case, even if all the apps and capabilities were there, I’d never have the patience to look at that little phone screen all day long. No, a smartphone is not going to replace a full-size computer for most of us. Even if the software tools and capabilities are there, the form factor makes real work uncomfortable.

More recently, post-PC has been expanded to mean any computing or Internet device that isn’t a regular PC. The lines are blurry and a little vague in many places. Many people consider a Chromebook a post-PC device, but other than a heavily locked-down operating system, is it any different from any other laptop? However fuzzy that logic may be, most people see a pretty clear distinction between computers and tablet computers. In 2010, the iPad was the first tablet device to really take off and be successful, and it’s only grown in popularity. There are other tablet computers out there, but none have had the staying power or support of the iPad.

As I write this in late 2019, iOS 13 has just been released after being in the beta stages for months. Although iOS 12 wasn’t really focused on new iPad features, this year’s iPadOS 13 is a major iPad release; they even changed the name of the operating system from iOS to iPadOS. During this summer’s WWDC event, Apple did an amazing demonstration of new multitasking, file handling, dark mode, sidecar, fonts, accessibility, and a bunch of new features and improvements in the new operating system. They once again emphasized the claim that more than ever, this would be the year you can replace your computer with an iPad. This also might be the first year that has actually been true for anyone other than writers. The newest iPad Pros are significantly faster than many of Apple’s own budget laptops, so at least on the hardware side of things, this has been true since late 2018.

Prior to the release of iPadOS 13, some people have been able to use their iPads exclusively, but others are still having trouble making the leap to using the iPad with no computer. For many users, all the necessary tools are there, but for a few, mostly technical users such as coders, the tools still just aren’t completely in place yet. Though with some compromises, this still may be possible. The purpose of this book is to help you decide which side of that line you fall on.

I skipped the first few iterations of the iPhone. I have always hated talking on the phone, and I didn’t want the commitment of a two-year contract on the phone. The Apps weren’t really a thing yet either. Back around 2009 or so, I gave in and bought an iPod Touch. It had games and apps without the ongoing expense of the smartphone. I’d played with them a bit at the store and thought the App Store was awesome. Over the next two years, I built up a nice little collection of games and apps for my iPod Touch, and then Steve Jobs introduced the iPad. From the beginning, I drooled over the pictures and images of this device that I hoped would be a Super iPod Touch. When the device was finally released, critics lamented that It’s just a big iPod Touch! Well, yeah– that’s what a lot of us wanted– the iPhone ecosystem on a big-screen device. I was thrilled, and I’ve purchased almost every new iteration of the hardware since.

Just as a side note, I did eventually break down and join the iPhone crowd as well, starting with the iPhone 3GS. And as an another aside, the iPod Touch still exists and is a vastly underrated tool; it’s essentially a pocket iPad for those who don’t want an iPhone. We aren’t going to be talking much about the iPod touch in this book, as it doesn’t have some of the more advanced features of the iPad, but keep in mind that they still exist, and they are a nice addition to your arsenal.

As the years passed, new upgrades of iOS and improved generations of hardware came out, and we all wanted more. Power users wanted multitasking, better cloud access, improved syncing, and even file handling and USB support. And hey, why can’t we use a mouse on this thing? The iPad has evolved to accommodate all those needs. In 2015, Apple released the first iPad Pro, a device that had a larger screen than any iOS device before it, and now allowed for easier use of a real keyboard or the new Apple Pencil. More importantly, Apple started an ad campaign that essentially stated you could replace your desktop with an iPad Pro.

This was true for some people. A select few writers, reporters, and people who