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I like the sentiment (and run my own Synology NAS to sort of achieve this), but I'm trying to understand the difference between saying "my second phone is in th

I like the sentiment (and run my own Synology NAS to sort of achieve this), but I'm trying to understand the difference between saying "my second phone is in the cloud" and "I want my phone to be a thin client for a server that I run using open standards". Is there any meaningful difference? I feel like the second idea has been around for a while. Incidentally, because I've read so many articles recently bemoaning the state of the iPad, I think if Apple really embraced the "thin client" model for the iPad, they would have a much better shot at product market fit. For example, if the iPad could seamlessly view and edit files from, say, any SMB server as easily as it can from iCloud, I think that would get people excited. It would be decoupling the interface from the underlying standard, but also make sure that they work well together. Who knows, it also might lead to having a standard file format where we're missing them today, e.g., for handwritten notes?

deleted 7y ago
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Terretta 7y ago
> if iPad could view and edit files from, say, SMB server.... Try ‘add server’ in iPad’s “Files” app? http://osxdaily.com/2019/11/04/how-connect-smb-share-iphone-ipad-files-app/ http://osxdaily.com/2019/11/04/how-connect-smb-share-iphone-...
- iamdamian 7y ago
  This is a great point, and I should clarify: I do this and it works. However, it feels like a second class feature, and there are many rough edges. For example, some apps don’t seem to be aware of this possibility and throw errors if you try to open a file on this way. You also can’t add directories as favorites like you can for other sources. It’s just annoying enough in some cases that it feels like Apple doesn’t really want you to do it.
sjy 7y ago
> For example, if the iPad could seamlessly view and edit files from, say, any SMB server as easily as it can from iCloud, I think that would get people excited. This is actually an advertised feature of iOS 13, and I did get very excited about it when it was released last year. Unfortunately, it’s completely unusable; browsing a directory with more than 100 children or copying more than a few megabytes of data is likely to freeze or crash Files, and I’ve even managed to get the app into a broken state that can’t be fixed with an iOS reboot. The same applies to the USB drive “support.” Don’t trust anyone who tells you the iPad Pro is a viable laptop replacement if you need a working filesystem.

deleted 7y ago

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Terretta 7y ago

> if iPad could view and edit files from, say, SMB server.... Try ‘add server’ in iPad’s “Files” app? http://osxdaily.com/2019/11/04/how-connect-smb-share-iphone-ipad-files-app/ http://osxdaily.com/2019/11/04/how-connect-smb-share-iphone-...

iamdamian 7y ago
This is a great point, and I should clarify: I do this and it works. However, it feels like a second class feature, and there are many rough edges. For example, some apps don’t seem to be aware of this possibility and throw errors if you try to open a file on this way. You also can’t add directories as favorites like you can for other sources. It’s just annoying enough in some cases that it feels like Apple doesn’t really want you to do it.

sjy 7y ago

> For example, if the iPad could seamlessly view and edit files from, say, any SMB server as easily as it can from iCloud, I think that would get people excited. This is actually an advertised feature of iOS 13, and I did get very excited about it when it was released last year. Unfortunately, it’s completely unusable; browsing a directory with more than 100 children or copying more than a few megabytes of data is likely to freeze or crash Files, and I’ve even managed to get the app into a broken state that can’t be fixed with an iOS reboot. The same applies to the USB drive “support.” Don’t trust anyone who tells you the iPad Pro is a viable laptop replacement if you need a working filesystem.