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I have had student try to use ipads in class for simple things like note taking and things. It doesn't seem like a great experience. They don't seem to know how

I have had student try to use ipads in class for simple things like note taking and things. It doesn't seem like a great experience. They don't seem to know how to switch between apps very well. Certain things like working on a collaborative google doc requires (or at least really encourages) them to download the app which means they have to wait for it to download and install while group members are already working on it.

wlesieutre 7y ago
FWIW since iPadOS 13 you’re probably better off using Google Docs in a browser, even if Google suggests that you download the app.
- _anastasia 7y ago
  On mobile, some sites refuse to show anything other than their "Go ahead, download our app!" page. In many cases, switching to desktop view doesn't work.
  - wlesieutre 7y ago
    iPadOS reports the same useragent as a Mac and has a reasonable screen size for a real computer, so I haven't run into that situation anymore. Phones are another matter, of course.
Teckla 7y ago
They don't seem to know how to switch between apps very well. I'm temporarily between computers and using my iPad as my main computer. I also thought it would be a fun experiment so that I could learn the pros and cons of using an iPad as my main computing device first hand. The new(-ish) mouse support is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. I have a keyboard with a built-in trackpad, and when I'm using my iPad at a desk, it's far superior to constantly reaching up and pawing at the screen. Apple took a huge step forward here. But there are still some pretty serious issues. The iPad is really aggressive about killing apps, to the point that I'd switch back and forth between apps (using Cmd+Tab on the keyboard) and it would frequently restart the apps from scratch. Even when switching between just two apps. And a lot of apps don't fully restore where you were at when the app was killed. This issue alone is bad enough that, long-term, there's no way I could use my iPad as a laptop replacement. The other issue is that I'm a software developer, and the software development story on the iPad (not for the iPad) is quite sad. There's absolutely no support for the two languages I use most frequently (Java and C). I can't even develop a simple web page (HTML/CSS/JS) on the iPad itself. There's no way to save and view local web pages. Based on Apple's history, I think they'll be stubborn and thus really, really slow to add the features I want (though I think they'll add them eventually).

wlesieutre 7y ago

FWIW since iPadOS 13 you’re probably better off using Google Docs in a browser, even if Google suggests that you download the app.

_anastasia 7y ago
On mobile, some sites refuse to show anything other than their "Go ahead, download our app!" page. In many cases, switching to desktop view doesn't work.
- wlesieutre 7y ago
  iPadOS reports the same useragent as a Mac and has a reasonable screen size for a real computer, so I haven't run into that situation anymore. Phones are another matter, of course.

Teckla 7y ago

They don't seem to know how to switch between apps very well. I'm temporarily between computers and using my iPad as my main computer. I also thought it would be a fun experiment so that I could learn the pros and cons of using an iPad as my main computing device first hand. The new(-ish) mouse support is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. I have a keyboard with a built-in trackpad, and when I'm using my iPad at a desk, it's far superior to constantly reaching up and pawing at the screen. Apple took a huge step forward here. But there are still some pretty serious issues. The iPad is really aggressive about killing apps, to the point that I'd switch back and forth between apps (using Cmd+Tab on the keyboard) and it would frequently restart the apps from scratch. Even when switching between just two apps. And a lot of apps don't fully restore where you were at when the app was killed. This issue alone is bad enough that, long-term, there's no way I could use my iPad as a laptop replacement. The other issue is that I'm a software developer, and the software development story on the iPad (not for the iPad) is quite sad. There's absolutely no support for the two languages I use most frequently (Java and C). I can't even develop a simple web page (HTML/CSS/JS) on the iPad itself. There's no way to save and view local web pages. Based on Apple's history, I think they'll be stubborn and thus really, really slow to add the features I want (though I think they'll add them eventually).