In late 2017, I got my first iPad, and started using it as a laptop
replacement. I'm sure this would've been surprising to my younger self. When
Apple launched the iPad, I thought it was pointless. It's a big phone that
doesn't make phone calls, I thought. But then, I didn't think I'd ever be
able to use a touch screen. Apple can prove me wrong.
So why did I decide to get an iPad? I'd been using Windows for many years,
but never liked Windows 10 very much. My Windows laptop was getting slow,
and would sometimes get itself into an endless loop on startup which I
usually couldn't exit without sighted assistance, because my screen reader
hadn't launched yet. Meanwhile, my iPhone never had that problem. VoiceOver
was always there for me, and if my phone ever crashed, it was up and running
again within a few seconds. My phone could do virtually everything my laptop
could do and more. Since I had become dissatisfied with Windows, and getting
another iOS device would be easier and cheaper than getting a Mac, I decided
that an iPad would be a good solution.
With the upcoming launch of iPad OS, I'm expecting that the iPad will work
even better as a main computing device. For more information on what's
coming to the iPad this September, see this Summary of Announcements from
WWDC 2019 Keynote
<https://www.applevis.com/blog/apple-apple-tv-apple-watch-ios-ipad-ipados-it
unes-macos-news/summary-announcements-wwdc-2019> and this iPad OS preview
from Apple <https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-preview/>
In the rest of this post, I'll discuss some of the features already
available on the iPad before the launch of iPad OS. The next article in this
series, to be posted in September, will be about the features introduced in
the update.
Why Not Just Use an iPhone?
After iOS 13 and the new iPad OS are launched, the iPad will have even more
advantages over the iPhone. But even without it, the iPad has been
worthwhile for me. One reason is that it's useful to have two devices, so,
for example, I can have a webpage open on the iPad, and use my phone to
check that an email has arrived without losing my place. But the iPad does
some things that the iPhone does not. The iPad has some extra keyboard
shortcuts. I've got into the habit of using command + tab to switch between
apps, which is more efficient than using the app switcher. There are other
keyboard commands that only exist on the iPad, and, in many apps, pressing
and holding the command key will bring up a list of shortcuts that can be
used within that app.
Even the extra screen space can be useful. On the bigger screen, apps can
present their information in two columns. Mail, for example, has the list of
messages on the left and the content of the currently selected message on
the right, which makes navigating through emails more efficient. You can
navigate between these sections by setting the rotor to containers, or by
using the shortcut control + right arrow, or, of course, by touching the
area of the screen you want to focus on. If you use music apps, the extra
screen space makes it easier to play instruments.
The larger screen also has some disadvantages, compared to the iPhone. As an
example, the rotor gesture can be a little more difficult. On the iPhone, I
find that the easiest method is to place two fingers on the screen and turn
the phone. That's not practical on the iPad, so a better method is to flick
up with one finger of one hand, and at the same time flick down with one
finger of the other hand. If you find that difficult, the ability to
customise VoiceOver gestures in iOS 13 and iPad OS should help. I usually
have a bluetooth keyboard connected to my iPad, so I change the rotor
setting with the arrow keys.
Can I do serious work on the iPad?
Most of you will already know that the iPad can easily be used for basic
tasks like checking email and browsing the web, but what about word
processing? There are plenty of writing apps available, but is it practical
to use them to write all your reports, essays or articles? If you combine
the iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard, you should find it easy to create
documents from scratch. I would recommend choosing one of the many plain
text editors rather than Pages or Word (see this guide to writing apps for
some suggestions
<https://www.applevis.com/blog/ios-apps-opinion/getting-words-touchscreen-wr
iting-ios> ). In these apps, you can use markdown to add basic formatting to
your text, and HTML for anything Markdown doesn't support.
Some AppleVis users have asked how easy it is to navigate and edit long
documents. I have two suggestions for ways to make this easier.
1. Add markdown headings to your documents. Many apps have a way to
navigate by heading, such as the outline in Voice Dream Writer, so this will
allow you to quickly get to the part of the document you need.
2. Put each section of your piece of work into a separate file, and then
compile them all into a single file at the end.
Using these methods, I regularly use my iPad to write documents of several
thousand words. Once I've written the markdown, I convert the document to
Word or PDF. If your editor of choice can't convert to the file format you
need, CloudConvert <https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/cloudconvert/id842077384>
is a useful tool. If you use it, remember to save your file with a .md
extension, rather than .txt because otherwise your markdown will not be
converted to properly formatted text.
If most of your work consists of writing documents from scratch, the iPad
should be able to handle everything you need. However, editing existing Word
documents with complex formatting can be more difficult. It's possible, but
can be a slow process. I have Microsoft Word, Apple Pages and Google Docs
all installed on my iPad so I can use whichever app is most willing to
cooperate with the document I'm working on. I suggest experimenting with
these apps to see which one works best for you. However, if you need to
regularly edit complex Word documents, I would suggest using a different
device.
If you need to use spreadsheets, the situation is the same, Apple Numbers,
Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets are all accessible, and should meet your
needs if you only need to use them for occasional basic spreadsheet tasks.
If you need more than that, a different device might work better for you.
What if I Need a File System?
iPad OS will bring more file management features, so I'll be covering this
topic in more detail in the next article in this series. However, I find
that the existing features in iOS 12 meet my needs. Having a dropbox account
makes it easy to organise your files into a folder structure, and then work
on those files with multiple apps, so long as the apps you're using are
compatible with Dropbox. The iOS Files app can also be very useful, because
it gathers together all of your files from different locations. One of my
frustrations with earlier versions of iOS was the difficulty of adding
multiple attachments to an email, but this can now be done by selecting "add
attachment" from the actions rotor within a message, browsing for the file
you need, and repeating for each attachment.
iPad OS will make it easier to download files, but even without the update I
haven't found it difficult. I regularly download PDFs from the web and save
them to books so I can read them later, by following a link to a PDF in
Safari, then selecting 'Copy to Books' from the share sheet.
Conclusion: Who should use the iPad as a Laptop Replacement?
As of July 2019, I would suggest that whether the iPad will work for you as
amain computing device depends on what you want to do with it. If you're
using it for writing, you can easily create documents using Markdown and
HTML. There are many different Markdown editors to choose from, so you
should be able to find one that meets your needs. Those who are interested
in working with music and audio will also find a range of apps to choose
from, although some AppleVis users prefer the software available for Mac and
Windows. If you need to use more traditional office apps, the offerings from
Apple, Google and Microsoft are all accessible, but unless you're very
patient, I wouldn't recommend using them regularly because navigating
through documents and spreadsheets can be cumbersome and unreliable.
On the other hand, the launch of iPad OS may encourage Apple, and app
developers, to work on the iPad's weaker areas, including improving the
experience for VoiceOver users.
Submitted by Lysette Chaproniere - Member of the AppleVis Blog Team at:
www.applevis.com
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