7 ms·

I just wish for: 1. a desktop-grade web browser, e.g. chrome (actual chrome not an iOS chrome) 2. better file system management 3. better multitasking (e.g.

by plg 7y ago

I just wish for: 1. a desktop-grade web browser, e.g. chrome (actual chrome not an iOS chrome) 2. better file system management 3. better multitasking (e.g. multiple windows even from a single app) 4. some way to actually code natively on the ipad, e.g. write and run python code, C code, etc., I guess have a *nix shell. I don't need to "take over the whole device" but I would like to be able to run code even if it's in a sort of sandboxed environment

AprilArcus 7y ago
By "desktop grade" do you mean you prefer the Blink renderer to Webkit, or that you prefer a desktop browser UX (extensions, full JS execution in background tabs, etc) to the mobile UX?
- rwc 7y ago
  WebKit, but WebKit identifying itself as a desktop Safari implementation rather than a mobile implementation. For example: I should be able to open docs.google.com in iPad Safari and not have the site reject me.
  - graeme 7y ago
    Exactly this. Also some SASS sites have mysterious bugs that don’t occur on desktop safari on a mac. Am talking about layout bugs, or buttons not working, or a text cursor vanishing. You can get around this with icab mobile, but having desktop safari would fix a lot.
    - tambourine_man 7y ago
      I didn’t know iCab was still around. Fond memories.
  - saagarjha 7y ago
    I think this is largely Google Docs's fault, even if it's something that Safari can fix.
    - jxdxbx 7y ago
      According to fairly reliable sources, iPad Safari on the next version of iOS will pretend to be Mac Safari for certain sites. The only things that don't work perfectly on mobile Safari that I know of involve hoverovers, naturally. The next version of iOS will also have optional mouse/trackpad support, so that might be taken care of as well.
- threeseed 7y ago
  The issue with Safari on iPad is that you get mobile/tablet versions of pages.
  - larrywright 7y ago
    I believe this is rumored to change soon (particularly on larger iPads).
simongr3dal 7y ago
For a *nix shell you can checkout this: https://github.com/tbodt/ish https://github.com/tbodt/ish
zyang 7y ago
I do nodejs work on iPad with digitalocean + tmux. I don't know if on-device setup will ever match a true nix environment.
throwaway082729 7y ago
You need a Pixelbook. I switched to a Pixelbook recently and haven't looked back. It's great for note-taking, email (way better keyboard than an iPad keyboard, Mac (eww)), etc. Has a terminal that runs whatever I want (<signaling>I get to continue using emacs</signaling>) and use it in tablet mode for reading (I read on the kindle a lot). I'm going to try out the pen soon. I'd kill for the ability to write down notes in cursive or draw boxes. Cons are keyboard getting dirty in tablet mode and Slack randomly crashing.
- plg 7y ago
  I thought pixelbook is being discontinued?
  - ktamura 7y ago
    It may or may not. It’s more that google has a poor track record of investing in niche hardware.
  - nvrspyx 7y ago
    Google's hardware division (phone hardware is a different division) was scaled back and people were sent elsewhere in the company. However, the Pixelbook line being discontinued is not confirmed, just speculated.
  - lazzlazzlazz 7y ago
    You're reasonable to assume so - after the news that Google was scaling back that team, there was rampant speculation and deafening silence from Google. They really ought to say something. I actually avoided buying a Pixelbook that same day despite a pressing need for that very reason.
  - jdietrich 7y ago
    There are a number of alternatives from other manufacturers: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/professional-series/acerchromebookspin13 https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/professional-series/ac... https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/lenovo-n-series/Yoga-Chromebook/p/88YGCC61096 https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/lenovo-n-series/... https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-chromebook-x2-12-f015nr https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-chromebook-x2-12-f015nr
simonh 7y ago
Pythonista has you covered for Python, although you are limited to its selection of third party modules and source only modules. It has great integration with iOS features and even has a simple but useful GUI designer built in. It’s a solution to programming for the iPad though, not on it but for another platform, unless it’s mix of modules and capabilities happen to match your off-device needs.
- ldayley 7y ago
  I'm a big user of Pythonista on an iPad. I also use Continuous[0] for editing C# files, and occasionally play around with Replete[1] (a ClojureScript REPL for iOS). Obviously they aren't JetBrains/Visual Studio class, but for the specific things they do while I'm on the go they're fantastic. This is increasingly the way I'm doing things with code and text. When I want to open Excel, however- that's when things start falling down for me. [0]: http://continuous.codes/ http://continuous.codes/ [1]: https://replete-repl.org/ https://replete-repl.org/
rhinoceraptor 7y ago
You can do a lot of the things you want, just not necessarily in an ergonomic way. I think eventually it will be a decent platform for the kind of user who writes excel macros and basic automation scripts, but not for actual programming unless they make radical changes to what's allowed in the app store. iSH gives you an Alpine linux environment, running in x86 usermode emulation. It's still only a beta though, I have no idea if it would even be allowed on the app store. Pythonista gives you a python environment, it's good for automation type things. You can do stuff like run an HTTP server locally and access it from the browser. Inspect is a neat web browser with some basic dev tools. Scriptable is a bit like Workflow/Shortcuts, but in Javascript.
- crooked-v 7y ago
  Scriptable is also easy to use as a de facto Shortcuts extension using in-app links and similar.
- hulahoof 7y ago
  Hopefully it should be allowed on the app store, as a clone full of adware[1] has apparently shown up. It is definitely the best shell emulator I have come across for my iPad. [1] https://github.com/tbodt/ish/issues/371 https://github.com/tbodt/ish/issues/371
shams93 7y ago
To me the iPad 2018 is better I got the iPad 2018 and a Lenovo I converted to Ubuntu for less than the cost of one iPad pro. Now I can test my work across all browsers since edge will be chrome based I have no need for windows for testing.
- bruceb 7y ago
  I agree with this. I have the 2018 and the killer feature is it can use the pencil. Being able to do basic sketching and notes means it goes from just a media consummation device to something you can be productive with. The battery life is great as well.
criddell 7y ago
Sounds like you want a laptop.
- bhauer 7y ago
  Or a Surface Pro / Surface Go.
  - sridca 7y ago
    I have purchased and returned Surface devices countless times. As much as I'm fond of the new Microsoft they need to make Windows smooth and reliable.
Avery3R 7y ago
get a surface pro
darkmuck 7y ago
Try a Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 with Linux On Dex.
- rchaud 7y ago
  The recently released Galaxy Tab S5e is quite a bit cheaper and has the same 2560 x 1600 screen, and runs Dex. KB case is not bundled like it is with the Tab S4 though.
garren 7y ago
Something like crostini for the iPad would be amazing. I picked up a Lenovo Yoga 630 not too long ago, was planning to see if I could blow away ChromeOS and get Linux running on it, but discovered instead that I could spin up containers. Crostini completely changed my mind around Chromebooks/ChromeOS as passive, consumption oriented, disposable hardware. I could have the best of both worlds - a nice shiny UI for surfing and Netflix, and a terminal with everything I'd need to get things done. All while not having to turn on dev-mode (wonky) and still playing within Google's ChromeOS confines. Something like that on iOS would be wild. ChromeOS has the advantage in that it's fundamentally Linux, but the idea of having something like a little BSD container complete with shell and filesystem access would be pretty great.
- criddell 7y ago
  Don't containers destroy your battery life?
- bitwize 7y ago
  ChromeOS being fundamentally Linux has nothing to do with it. Crostini is containers running on a VM under a hypervisor (<signalling>written in Rust!</signalling>). Apple could easily do the same thing with bhyve on the iPad. But, I bet they won't.
doctoboggan 7y ago
You should pay attention to the upcoming WWDC on June 3rd. The rumors I've heard were that the iOS update would specifically address 2. and 3. on your wishlist.
- mixmastamyk 7y ago
  I thought the files app was supposed to help with that (2) but is near totally useless.
wyxuan 7y ago
Actual chrome is impossible, unless somehow a12 can run x86 instructions(efficiently).
- neolefty 7y ago
  But Android?
- ymolodtsov 7y ago
  Aren’t there ARM Chromebooks out there?
karmakaze 7y ago
> 4. some way to actually code natively on the ipad Why did you choose an iOS device instead of a computer with the same form factor that runs a full operating system? e.g. Surface Pro.
- JohnBooty 7y ago
  This is addressed directly in the article.
  - karmakaze 7y ago
    I read the article which is mostly spent making excuses for iOS and how it will eventually get better. Maybe one day and Esc key. And ending with: > In the past, I've written about how devices like Surface Go are the perfect venn diagram of productivity and portability—and remain convinced that Microsoft's approach is the right one, allowing a tiny tablet to do run full desktop apps. > But, what Microsoft still doesn't have is a good enough dedicated tablet software story yet: Surface Go is one of my favorite devices in years, but its problem is a lack of tablet-mode apps worth using. If it had better battery life, that might be worth the compromise in the opposite direction, but that'll need to be addressed in future revisions. This last bit didn't really fit with what was being done on the iPad, writing. Was it also supposed to play casual touch-screen games, I don't know. As for the battery life, I can code all day running Chrome, VS Code or IntelliJ, and a WSL session before consuming a full charge.
    - rchaud 7y ago
      Which Surface Pro model is getting you all-day battery life? I had a SP3 (which, granted is pretty old now), and things like Chrome made it run so hot that the battery would run down to 0 in about 5-6 hours. Even with Firefox, it would run so hot that it'd become unusable in your hands as a tablet. Looking up the specs of the SP6, it looks like it still weighs around 800g, which is nearly double that of the 11" iPad Pro. The SP3 had the same weight, and that hurt its usability as a tablet as well.
      - 7y ago

by plg 7y ago

AprilArcus 7y ago

By "desktop grade" do you mean you prefer the Blink renderer to Webkit, or that you prefer a desktop browser UX (extensions, full JS execution in background tabs, etc) to the mobile UX?

rwc 7y ago
WebKit, but WebKit identifying itself as a desktop Safari implementation rather than a mobile implementation. For example: I should be able to open docs.google.com in iPad Safari and not have the site reject me.
- graeme 7y ago
  Exactly this. Also some SASS sites have mysterious bugs that don’t occur on desktop safari on a mac. Am talking about layout bugs, or buttons not working, or a text cursor vanishing. You can get around this with icab mobile, but having desktop safari would fix a lot.
  - tambourine_man 7y ago
    I didn’t know iCab was still around. Fond memories.
- saagarjha 7y ago
  I think this is largely Google Docs's fault, even if it's something that Safari can fix.
  - jxdxbx 7y ago
    According to fairly reliable sources, iPad Safari on the next version of iOS will pretend to be Mac Safari for certain sites. The only things that don't work perfectly on mobile Safari that I know of involve hoverovers, naturally. The next version of iOS will also have optional mouse/trackpad support, so that might be taken care of as well.
threeseed 7y ago
The issue with Safari on iPad is that you get mobile/tablet versions of pages.
- larrywright 7y ago
  I believe this is rumored to change soon (particularly on larger iPads).

simongr3dal 7y ago

For a *nix shell you can checkout this: https://github.com/tbodt/ish https://github.com/tbodt/ish

zyang 7y ago

I do nodejs work on iPad with digitalocean + tmux. I don't know if on-device setup will ever match a true nix environment.

throwaway082729 7y ago

You need a Pixelbook. I switched to a Pixelbook recently and haven't looked back. It's great for note-taking, email (way better keyboard than an iPad keyboard, Mac (eww)), etc. Has a terminal that runs whatever I want (<signaling>I get to continue using emacs</signaling>) and use it in tablet mode for reading (I read on the kindle a lot). I'm going to try out the pen soon. I'd kill for the ability to write down notes in cursive or draw boxes. Cons are keyboard getting dirty in tablet mode and Slack randomly crashing.

plg 7y ago
I thought pixelbook is being discontinued?
- ktamura 7y ago
  It may or may not. It’s more that google has a poor track record of investing in niche hardware.
- nvrspyx 7y ago
  Google's hardware division (phone hardware is a different division) was scaled back and people were sent elsewhere in the company. However, the Pixelbook line being discontinued is not confirmed, just speculated.
- lazzlazzlazz 7y ago
  You're reasonable to assume so - after the news that Google was scaling back that team, there was rampant speculation and deafening silence from Google. They really ought to say something. I actually avoided buying a Pixelbook that same day despite a pressing need for that very reason.
- jdietrich 7y ago
  There are a number of alternatives from other manufacturers: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/professional-series/acerchromebookspin13 https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/professional-series/ac... https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/lenovo-n-series/Yoga-Chromebook/p/88YGCC61096 https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/lenovo-n-series/... https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-chromebook-x2-12-f015nr https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-chromebook-x2-12-f015nr

simonh 7y ago

Pythonista has you covered for Python, although you are limited to its selection of third party modules and source only modules. It has great integration with iOS features and even has a simple but useful GUI designer built in. It’s a solution to programming for the iPad though, not on it but for another platform, unless it’s mix of modules and capabilities happen to match your off-device needs.

ldayley 7y ago
I'm a big user of Pythonista on an iPad. I also use Continuous[0] for editing C# files, and occasionally play around with Replete[1] (a ClojureScript REPL for iOS). Obviously they aren't JetBrains/Visual Studio class, but for the specific things they do while I'm on the go they're fantastic. This is increasingly the way I'm doing things with code and text. When I want to open Excel, however- that's when things start falling down for me. [0]: http://continuous.codes/ http://continuous.codes/ [1]: https://replete-repl.org/ https://replete-repl.org/

rhinoceraptor 7y ago

You can do a lot of the things you want, just not necessarily in an ergonomic way. I think eventually it will be a decent platform for the kind of user who writes excel macros and basic automation scripts, but not for actual programming unless they make radical changes to what's allowed in the app store. iSH gives you an Alpine linux environment, running in x86 usermode emulation. It's still only a beta though, I have no idea if it would even be allowed on the app store. Pythonista gives you a python environment, it's good for automation type things. You can do stuff like run an HTTP server locally and access it from the browser. Inspect is a neat web browser with some basic dev tools. Scriptable is a bit like Workflow/Shortcuts, but in Javascript.

crooked-v 7y ago
Scriptable is also easy to use as a de facto Shortcuts extension using in-app links and similar.
hulahoof 7y ago
Hopefully it should be allowed on the app store, as a clone full of adware[1] has apparently shown up. It is definitely the best shell emulator I have come across for my iPad. [1] https://github.com/tbodt/ish/issues/371 https://github.com/tbodt/ish/issues/371

shams93 7y ago

To me the iPad 2018 is better I got the iPad 2018 and a Lenovo I converted to Ubuntu for less than the cost of one iPad pro. Now I can test my work across all browsers since edge will be chrome based I have no need for windows for testing.

bruceb 7y ago
I agree with this. I have the 2018 and the killer feature is it can use the pencil. Being able to do basic sketching and notes means it goes from just a media consummation device to something you can be productive with. The battery life is great as well.

criddell 7y ago

Sounds like you want a laptop.

bhauer 7y ago
Or a Surface Pro / Surface Go.
- sridca 7y ago
  I have purchased and returned Surface devices countless times. As much as I'm fond of the new Microsoft they need to make Windows smooth and reliable.

Avery3R 7y ago

get a surface pro

darkmuck 7y ago

Try a Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 with Linux On Dex.

rchaud 7y ago
The recently released Galaxy Tab S5e is quite a bit cheaper and has the same 2560 x 1600 screen, and runs Dex. KB case is not bundled like it is with the Tab S4 though.

garren 7y ago

Something like crostini for the iPad would be amazing. I picked up a Lenovo Yoga 630 not too long ago, was planning to see if I could blow away ChromeOS and get Linux running on it, but discovered instead that I could spin up containers. Crostini completely changed my mind around Chromebooks/ChromeOS as passive, consumption oriented, disposable hardware. I could have the best of both worlds - a nice shiny UI for surfing and Netflix, and a terminal with everything I'd need to get things done. All while not having to turn on dev-mode (wonky) and still playing within Google's ChromeOS confines. Something like that on iOS would be wild. ChromeOS has the advantage in that it's fundamentally Linux, but the idea of having something like a little BSD container complete with shell and filesystem access would be pretty great.

criddell 7y ago
Don't containers destroy your battery life?
bitwize 7y ago
ChromeOS being fundamentally Linux has nothing to do with it. Crostini is containers running on a VM under a hypervisor (<signalling>written in Rust!</signalling>). Apple could easily do the same thing with bhyve on the iPad. But, I bet they won't.

doctoboggan 7y ago

You should pay attention to the upcoming WWDC on June 3rd. The rumors I've heard were that the iOS update would specifically address 2. and 3. on your wishlist.

mixmastamyk 7y ago
I thought the files app was supposed to help with that (2) but is near totally useless.

wyxuan 7y ago

Actual chrome is impossible, unless somehow a12 can run x86 instructions(efficiently).

neolefty 7y ago
But Android?
ymolodtsov 7y ago
Aren’t there ARM Chromebooks out there?

karmakaze 7y ago

> 4. some way to actually code natively on the ipad Why did you choose an iOS device instead of a computer with the same form factor that runs a full operating system? e.g. Surface Pro.

JohnBooty 7y ago
This is addressed directly in the article.
- karmakaze 7y ago
  I read the article which is mostly spent making excuses for iOS and how it will eventually get better. Maybe one day and Esc key. And ending with: > In the past, I've written about how devices like Surface Go are the perfect venn diagram of productivity and portability—and remain convinced that Microsoft's approach is the right one, allowing a tiny tablet to do run full desktop apps. > But, what Microsoft still doesn't have is a good enough dedicated tablet software story yet: Surface Go is one of my favorite devices in years, but its problem is a lack of tablet-mode apps worth using. If it had better battery life, that might be worth the compromise in the opposite direction, but that'll need to be addressed in future revisions. This last bit didn't really fit with what was being done on the iPad, writing. Was it also supposed to play casual touch-screen games, I don't know. As for the battery life, I can code all day running Chrome, VS Code or IntelliJ, and a WSL session before consuming a full charge.
  - rchaud 7y ago
    Which Surface Pro model is getting you all-day battery life? I had a SP3 (which, granted is pretty old now), and things like Chrome made it run so hot that the battery would run down to 0 in about 5-6 hours. Even with Firefox, it would run so hot that it'd become unusable in your hands as a tablet. Looking up the specs of the SP6, it looks like it still weighs around 800g, which is nearly double that of the 11" iPad Pro. The SP3 had the same weight, and that hurt its usability as a tablet as well.
    - 7y ago