Category Archives: Apple

Moving the blog

We had a bit of server downtime last week and during that time I began thinking a bit about WordPress. 8 months ago I moved my personal blog, https://beardystarstuff.net to micro.blog. I’ve decided to do the same for this blog. I’ve imported the site and going forward all new posts will be here: https://denny.micro.blog/categories/apple/ and the RSS feed is here: https://denny.micro.blog/apple/feed.xml.

What’s wrong with WordPress? In my opinion it just feels overly complicated and bloated. The editing interface is too much for what I need. I’ve used it for years for a couple sites and blogs but I’ve never really liked it. I suppose I’m spoiled by the simplicity of my small, hand coded html sites with a folder for images and a folder for css. No concerns there about the security and updating of plugins, templates, the installation files, databases, backups, etc.

So, for now, at least, future posts will be available at the above links. There’s a new post today about WWDC2023, Apple Vision Pro and iPadOS17

. If you’re following along I hope you make the move with me!

A screenshot of the Shortcuts app on an iPad Pro. The Shortcut is used for processing images for a website

iPad Workflow- Using Shortcuts to process images for the web

Convert image or pdf, resize, save, rename and extract alt text with two taps

One of my regular tasks is updating the front page of our regional library website, either adding upcoming events or removing finished events. Our front page is a grid of event flyers with an expandable accordion under the flyer that contains a text description of the event, usually very similar to the flyer itself. A staff member emails the flyer with the accompanying text.

The gist of my process is to have Mail and Textastic open side-by-side for easy copy/pasting. The attached flyer images are a mix of pdf, jpg or png. In the past I would have saved to Photos then selected them all and used a Shortcut to export to the website’s folder in Files, converting them all to jpegs at a preset size and quality. Quick and easy. But in recent months I’ve added a new step to the shortcut to extract the text of the flyer and add it to the clipboard. Now I can paste the text into the image alt tags. I’m not sure why I didn’t add that step in earlier.

The only downside is that I can only do one image at a time which isn’t too bad as the typical email only has 2 to 4 such files. I now just select the file in Mail, select share then use the Shortcut which saves the image to the site images folder, renames it from the original but with no spaces then copies the new name and the extracted text to the clipboard. Then I tap to Textastic and paste. I still have to spend a minute there to move the file name text to the correct location in the html and clean-up any errors in the text extraction but it works pretty well and the whole process only takes a few seconds after I paste.

Shortcuts is a fantastic timesaver for repetitive tasks and it’s an app I keep finding new ways to use.

An iPad Pro in a Logitech Combo Touch case is sitting on a small circular, glass top table. On the screen of the iPad are multiple app windows being used in Stage Manager.

An iPad Pro Revival

I don’t often speculate about upcoming Apple announcements but I’m going to make an exception with this post. And it’s nothing complicated, just putting a few pieces together. Most of it is probably pretty obvious to folks who have been paying attention Apple news over recent months. Before I continue, for anyone not familiar with my blog, I’m a full-time, very satisfied iPad Pro user. I’m not someone who struggles with the iPad, not someone who longs for macOS on the iPad. For me, iPadOS sings and my interest is in seeing what Apple does to refine the iPad experience rather than any hope of a macOS to iPad face-plant, er, transplant.

May 29, 2023. We’re a week past the release of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad. Apple first announced the release on May 9th and it took everyone by surprise. It’s always fun when they can still surprise everyone! Boom. And, interesting that such a significant announcement is done by a press release a month before WWDC. For the most part the reviews have been very positive. The two most repeated critiques of FCP for iPad: No round tripping to and from the Mac and no editing off of external hard drives. But given this is the initial release, it seems reasonable to expect that these two features will be added before long.

We’re one week away from WWDC 2023. The rumors of a VR/AR headset have been buzzing for the past year. In recent months it’s been rumored that the headset would be running many of Apple’s apps in an iPad-like form. Many assume the headset is now a certainty that will be announced at WWDC 2023.

While much of the excitement about WWDC 2023 has centered on speculation about the headset, it’s OS and features, I’m curious about the connection that might exist between the headset and the iPad or, more specifically, the potential commonality between the two operating systems.  Given the rumor that the headset will, essentially, be running iPad apps, this seems a relevant question to consider. Given the need for energy efficiency, it would make sense that the OS running the headset would be more like iOS or iPadOS than macOS. If true, well, then there is now a new category of hardware that runs on the iOS family.

Another rumor, discussed far less, is a larger iPad Pro, perhaps 15 or 16″. With the release of FCP and Logic Pro for iPad, a larger iPad Pro would make a lot of sense. And of course with these new pro apps, it also starts to seem inevitable that Xcode for the iPad will be released. We’ve seen some big improvements to Swift Playgrounds in the past couple years but still no Xcode.

Last year we saw quite a few improvements to iPadOS and the stock iPad apps. Much of this was overshadowed by a few prominent pundits that disliked the implementation of Stage Manager. I’m not going to dwell on that other than to say that the negativity around the feature is greatly overblown. Though not what some wanted, many of us use it and actually like it. It’s certainly made my iPad experience much better, allowing me to use 3-4 apps at once. It’s been a real and measurable productivity boost for the work I do. At the very least, it is Apple’s first step towards an improved multitasking experience on the iPad.

But looking at the improvements brought to iPadOS over the past 2 to 3 years, we have an OS that is has steadily matured. The Files app has had many previously missing features added and is now fully functional, nearly on par with the Mac Finder. Stock apps like Notes, Mail, Safari, Reminders have all seen significant improvements.

Putting the puzzle pieces together
If the rumors are true it would seem that Apple has also been developing the headset and its OS for awhile. For several years they’ve been publicly promoting Augmented Reality and LiDAR with new hardware and software features on the iPhone and iPad. Tim Cook has been outspoken of his support of AR during that time.

In a week Apple will begin to provide more details about where this journey is going and how they expect these devices to work together. Given previous years development of the larger Apple ecosystem, it seems likely that not much has been left to chance. Apple has a well thought out plan that it’s been following. It would seem a given that the time and energy put into the development of LiDAR and AR in iOS and iPadOS has been a part of the process of developing the OS and hardware for the headset.

Of particular interest to me: how will the features and technology put into the headset OS overlap or come back to iPadOS?

My expectations and hopes for the iPad in 2023 and 2024 is that Apple will continue to fill out and refine the OS and the default apps. I think most of this list is just an obvious continuation of what we’ve already seen.

What I’m hoping or expecting to see in terms of iPadOS and apps:

  • Files: More customizable tool bar, more complete indexing of file contents for better search results, more column options in list view
  • Improved or added support for smart lists, saved searches in apps like Files, Mail, Notes, Reminders, Contacts
  • Improved Safari bringing it ever closer to the full desktop experience
  • Improvements for Stage Manager and multitasking
  • Improvements to virtual memory and background tasks for apps like Final Cut Pro
  • While Pages, Numbers and Keynote are all excellent apps, there’s more to do to bring them fully in-line with the Mac apps
  • As the new app in the Apple ecosystem, Freeform could use some big improvements. This app should really shine on the iPad.
  • FCP: To start I’d expect to have the above mentioned missing features addressed: round tripping to and from the Mac, editing from external storage
  • Xcode. I’d guess that in 2023 Swift Playgrounds will again be improved but that we’ll also see Xcode for iPad. First to what will be described as Xcode lite and then to something closer to the full version.
  • Improved Lock Screen that will bring last year’s iPhone Lock Screen improvements to the iPad
  • Improved widgets, perhaps with new options for interaction

An iPad Pro 15 or 16″. Along with this I’d hope/expect to see other iPad accessories as Apple broadens the iPad platform. A new version of the Magic Keyboard. The iPad Pro needs better battery life, I’m hoping we’ll see this in the form of a new Magic Keyboard with an integrated battery that can charge the iPad. I imagine the Brydge form factor but with more ports. I can imagine this combination being the iPad Studio. Larger iPad, FaceTime camera moved to the long side, M3, detachable Magic Keyboard that boosts the iPad to 20 hours of battery life. I’d expect it to have the same battery life as a MacBook Pro but weighing in a bit more as it would be 2 batteries. Also, maybe a redesigned Magic Keyboard for the current line of 13″ iPad Pro and a new M3 13″ iPad Pro.

In short I expect that Apple will double down on its commitment to the iPad platform: hardware, iPadOS, Pro apps and accessories.

Last, a few words on the larger Apple Ecosystem and the new headset as the new TV

  • iCloud Pro?
  • More sharing, collaboration and development of the iCloud and app ecosystem into a more complete social network.
  • Whatever is happening with the headset I’d expect Apple to market it as the new TV. Talking to family members that all have iPhones, I’ve recently become more aware of their media consumption habits. It’s more individualistic than I realized. It occurs to me that the long-term vision of the headset might simply be the new TV: Movies, shows, sports and as a general purpose computer. I’d speculate that Apple hopes that in 5 years homes with iPhone users will have 1 or more headsets that have replaced flatscreen tvs.
A screenshot of Apple's Final Cut Pro for iPad page. The headline says: Bring your entire studio to your shoot.

Pundit fact check: Final Cut Pro and iPadOS

Yet another installment of an “Apple pundit ignores the facts to write a clickbait story about the limitations of iPadOS”. It’s a bummer that they just make stuff up to fit their preferred narrative. Filipe Espósito over at 9to5Mac in his work of fiction, Final Cut for iPad highlights iPadOS limitations:

This week, Apple finally released Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad – two highly anticipated apps for professionals. While this is a step in the right direction, these apps highlight the limitations of iPadOS.

I tried using Final Cut for the iPad, but…
I wasn’t expecting the iPad version to have all the features available on the Mac in version 1.0. However, the limitations go beyond what I was expecting. And some of these limitations are due to how iPadOS works.

The “limitations” he attributes to iPadOS:

  • That FCP does not allow editing off of an external SSD is true but it’s a limitation of FCP. LumaFusion and DaVinci Resolve both have this feature
  • The lack of some keyboard shortcuts in FCP has nothing to do with iPadOS
  • The interaction of FCP with Stage Manager is critiqued but again, this is how Apple has implemented FCP. I’ve not used DaVinci Resolve but LumaFusion has no problem with Stage Manager on the iPad screen or full screen on an external screen. It’s excellent.
  • Round-tripping a FCP project from iPad to Mac and back. Again, this is likely a limitation of FCP not iPadOS.

An iPad is connected to an external display. The app LumaFusion is full screen on the display.

Using LumaFusion on the iPad with an external display

Okay, background export of a movie. To some degree this is a limitation of FCP but also I suspect iPadOS. Certainly Apple made it a choice to not allow it. Using an M1 iPad Pro with 8 GB of memory it’s possible to do a background export with LumaFusion. I just did it. That said, it does fail if I try to do many other tasks with LumaFusion in the background the whole time. I can hop to Notes or Mail or Safari with no problem. But if I were to leave an export in the background and try to hop from Notes to Mail to Safari then back to the export it will have failed. I’d guess that an iPad with 16 GB of memory would do better. And I’d guess that more could be done with iPadOS to allow for apps to be given priority for such background tasks.

Espósito concludes, “And with all these limitations, I’ve given up using Final Cut on the iPad. I’m sure a lot of first-time video makers will have a great time using Final Cut on the iPad. But for those professional users, having a Mac is still the way to go. Hopefully, iPadOS 17 can put an end to some of these limitations.”

He seems to consider himself a “professional” but I would think a professional journalist would have more regard for the truth. Ignoring or distorting the facts to fit a narrative doesn’t make much of a case that one’s journalism is professional.

A graphic depicting a classic Mac with a sad face

Why are Mac users so unhappy with their Mac?

For at least a couple years the Apple pundit mantra has been “the iPad isn’t pro unless Apple brings its pro apps to it”. Well, Apple has begun that process last week with the announcement of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad. As I expected the primarily Mac using pundits are moving the goal posts. Here’s one example that popped up today from Dan Moren in his Stay Foolish column at Macworld, Final Cut Pro changes everything and nothing about the iPad:

This past week, Apple once again took a step towards the idea of the iPad as the modern-day computer replacement with its long-awaited announcement of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the platform–but is it too little, too late?

“Is it too little, too late?” See, right off, it’s not enough. For long-time Mac users nothing Apple does with the iPad will ever make it explicitly a Mac and so the goal posts will always be shifting. Moren mentions Xcode as another missing pro app. In recent years Apple has added new features to Swift Playgrounds, making it a more capable app and I suspect that Apple will, eventually, bring Xcode to the iPad which will move the iPad closer to being complete. But that won’t be enough either.

Hopefully Apple will add the audio input/output features podcasters like Federico Viticci have been asking for. But that’s a very tiny group of users and while it will satisfy that particular need, again, it won’t be enough. The goal posts will move again and again.

Jumping right to the end of Moren’s article, he suggests an iPad that shifts over to being a Mac when connected to a keyboard:

The idea of a device that works as a Mac while connected to a keyboard and an iPad while detached might seem like an unholy Frankstein’s toaster fridge to some, but after 13 years of the iPad, I’d argue that people are pretty comfortable with going back and forth between two (or more) separate devices with different interfaces. Why not find a way to consolidate them?

This is really is what Mac users want. They want a touch screen Mac and evidence thus far seems to indicate that they’ll never be happy with iPadOS. Which is totally fine, it’s not for them. But perhaps they should just move along and be happy with their Macs. And yet, they continue to linger on the iPad. It’s almost as if their Macs are incomplete, not quite enough for them. But they seem stuck between devices that they’re not quite happy with.

Moren writes:

What we’re all looking for, ultimately, is the right tool for the job.

Mac users contend that that tool is the Mac, that it is the more complete computer. My suggestion and hope for them is that they can just accept the Mac and move on. Be happy with your Mac. When you need a portable touch screen be happy with your iPhone. Or add in an iPad Mini for your content consumption. Not every device is for you.

I’ve written here many times about my gradual transition to being a full time iPad user. It was gradual and complete. I learned iPadOS and became comfortable with it. With each new iteration of iPadOS I’ve been more satisfied as new features were added. But throughout that time I’ve generally been satisfied, no, delighted by the iPad. I don’t spend my time longing for the iPad to have Mac features or to have it be a Mac. I wish the same for Mac users, that they can learn to be satisfied with what they have in the Mac and not spend so much time wishing for a different computer.

A screenshot of Apple's Final Cut Pro for iPad page. The headline says: Bring your entire studio to your shoot.

A few thoughts on FCP-Logic on iPad…

I’m generally not big on hot takes so gave myself a few days to consider before attempting a blog post. As for the news of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad, well, fantastic! Personally, I don’t do much video editing. I’ve currently got a personal/family project going in LumaFusion. My next project might be in FCP just for the fun of learning it. Way back around 2001 -2005 I spent some time doing video work and learned FCP but I’ve not had much use for it since then. I’m looking forward to giving it a go.

But to the larger question of the apps, the platform and the response thus far, as I’ve written about before the loudest complaints about the lack of Apple Pro apps for the iPad seems to come from Apple/tech focused pundits, podcasters, and YouTubers. Some in the first two categories have already admitted in their hot takes on the new release that the don’t actually use those two apps so… 🙄 I expect they’ll keep complaining about the lack of Xcode even though most of them also do not use that.

As for the Apple/tech YouTubers I predict that it will shake out like this: those that have very expensive FCP desktop set-ups will keep using those most of the time for most of their work. Why wouldn’t they if they already have invested so much in a desk-top based workflow? But many of the folks that prefer a mobile workflow away from the desk will try out FCP for iPad and many will use it, prefer it. And of course there will be those that loudly share how it’s not good enough or how it’s still held back by iPadOS. 🙄

Other categories of users: iPad first folks that have been happily using LumaFusion. Some of them will switch over to FCP but others will stay with LumaFusion because it allows editing projects using media from an external drive. LF is pretty feature rich and I suspect many of its users will remain with it.

Then there are the DaVinci Resolve users. It’s relatively new on iPad and I suspect it’s user base consists of folks that were/are also serious users of the desktop version of DaVinci Resolve. They’ll stay with DaVinci Resolve. And some are probably LumaFusion users that are trying out DR as an experiment. They’ll probably also try out FCP and some of them will end up switching. I’m guessing these folks are kind of up in the air at the moment.

FCP/Logic on the iPad don’t seem to be “lite” versions but full versions with a touch-adapted interface. Some features are missing from FCP like round-tripping and editing from files on an external drive will likely be added in an update. But also, these apps seem to be aimed at younger users that are focused on creating for social media like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. I suspect that there will be some solid adoption there.

In it’s first promo video Apple is touting fast turn-around, quick production on the iPad using it as both camera and editor. For some this will be attractive.

But thinking about the Continuity camera feature that allows for an iPhone to be used with a Mac for live FaceTime calls, I can imagine a new feature with iOS 17 where such live video allows for capture from iPhone to an iPad running FCP. This would seem to be a pretty attractive feature in certain scenarios. But the point is this is just the first shoe to drop in FCP for iPad, new features will come and given Apple’s track record of ecosystem integration, I can imagine we can expect to see them offer up features like the above.

I’d guess it won’t be too long before we see a new version of FCP for Mac that further leverages the hardware ecosystem with round tripping from iPad to Mac and adding in the iPhone as a live camera feed for Mac FCP as well. Again, just my speculation.

I’m glad to see Apple deliver these apps if for no other reason then it might dampen some of the continued complaining from the primarily Mac using pundits. It also boosts the notion that Apple is committed to the iPad as a platform. Mac users not happy with the iPad should just move on. Those that want to use the iPad as their computer can continue doing so but with added assurance that Apple continues to take the iPad seriously.

A few related links of note:

iJustine actually had some hands on time: her video

Dylan Bates, a Final Cut Pro YouTuber offers his thoughts FCP for iPad. Not surprisingly, there were several FCP using YouTubers offering their takes based the above linked promo video and Apple’s website.

And Jason Snell at Six Colors offered his thoughts

Apple Notes for Journaling and Blogging?

As is common with many Apple nerds, I like to play with text apps. My primary purpose is blogging which has also served as a journal of sorts.

For quite a long time I used ByWord for this. Then Ulysses then iA Writer. iA Writer stuck longer than almost anything else. Then a brief dalliance with Obsidan, Taio, and Notebooks. I’ve spent the past few months with Notebooks which has served pretty well. Review here. The only problem there is that it continues to be somewhat wonky. It’s a great app but often feels buggy. So I’ve been using it as a partner with iA Writer. Where Notebooks shines is in adding images for blog posts. I can copy a single or multiple images from Photos then insert into a Notebooks draft. Not only does the app downsize from full quality but inserts each as a Markdown link. If I move the file to a folder it also moves the images to a corresponding sub folder. It works fantastically.

So, why mess with it if it’s working? Yesterday in the Mac Break Weekly podcast Andy Ihnatko recommended Day One for journaling. I’d never tried it. There’s a free option so I downloaded it. My thought being, hmm, perhaps I could have a private journal in addition to blogging? Okay, will try it. Then thought, hmmm, I could also use this for blogging. I always gravitate to blogging.

I spent an hour with it and loved it. All except for the fact that using the arrow keys while writing/editing text does not move the cursor up or down, left or right, but navigates the files. Ugh. Well, that’s a show stopper. No setting I could find to change it. But so much to like about the app other than that.  Edit to add that upon trying this again today, well, it works as expected. Unless it was something wonky with my keyboard I’ll have to say it was user error. 😬

The free version does have other limitations such as no sync between devices, only one image per post, only one journal. So, with these things in mind I started thinking again about Apple’s Notes app.

In the past I’d thought to try to make Notes work as a part of my blogging process. It didn’t quite take. So, this morning, I’ve spent a couple hours tinkering. I whipped up a Shortcut to create a new note with a template similar to the default Day One posts. Basically, just the date, weather and a default Journal hashtag. Also spent more time really looking at the organizing possibilities of Notes. It’s not that complicated but I’ve never given it a proper go.

Step two, then, was to set up some proper organization in Notes. A mix of folders and smart folders. I’d already tried tags which works well. So, I’ve added a few. I’d like to try the journaling thing as a sort of foundation or addition to the longstanding practice of blogging. In theory, I’d like the journal to contain everything the blogs have with additional private text. So, a dedicated Journal folder. Going forward most new notes will get tagged as Journal. For text that I intend to post to one of my two blogs, those will get additional tags appropriate to the blog. Initially I think everything will go into the Journal folder. If I want to see the blog posts on their own I’ll use a Smart Folder based on the tag. I can always move these later into actual folders if that’s the choice.

My tentative workflow will go something like this. Run a shortcut to start new Journal entries using the template. For blog items, I might just start a new note or, if I’m sharing a link from Safari as I often do I’ll use a Shortcut that converts the article to Markdown and creates a new note. What about blog posts with photos? Well, as it turns out, notes with images can be shared to Notebooks via the share sheet.

Any post, with or without a photo can be easily shared from Notes to Notebooks. So, once I’ve got a post ready for sharing I’ll just send it to Notebooks, hop over to iA Writer which has direct publishing to Micro.blog and WordPress and which has access to my Notebooks folder. With a tap I’ve got the post open then another tap to publish. So, this workflow starts in Notes, ends in iA Writer and I have a copy in the Notes app as well as a discrete Markdown file in iCloud. Exactly what I want.

Downsides? Notes does not have built-in support of Markdown. Apps that do have that support provide convenient one-click formatting or keyboard shortcuts. But it’s not all that hard to type the Markdown code when needed as it’s designed to be simple. Notes tries to do fancy preview links which are nice but not what I want. I don’t think there’s an option to turn that off. But just pasting a url  works.

Editing to add that after originally posting this to the blog someone on Mastodon chimed in that Everlog is another nice journaling app with Markdown support. I’m trying it out and it is excellent and doesn’t have the flaws that Day One has. Now that I’ve got this handy-dandy Notes based system I’m not sure though that I want to abandon it.

Apple Pundit: The iPad is Doomed

Apparently debunking iPad misinformation has become one of my hobbies. Sometimes I’m able to just walk away but the lure of “someone is wrong on the internet” is strong, so, here I am. The latest is Michael Gartenberg at Business Insider. Of course, it begins with a pure link-bait title: I Was a Die-Hard Apple iPad Fan. Not Anymore — Here’s Why. . It’s behind a paywall but you can use Safari’s Reader Mode to get around that. Not that I encourage you to give them the click. I’ve got full quotes below.

The article came to my attention when I was browsing the iPad hashtag on Mastodon. I found Michael’s post via another user’s response. I engaged him but, like the article, found his responses lacking substance. These articles really are just filler text for clicks, all repeating the same narrative and offering little in the way of actual thought. And they get paid for this.

Let’s get this over with.

I still own an iPad Pro, but I hardly ever reach for it. It’s a cool device and significantly better than what was introduced in 2010. At the same time, it’s a jack-of-all-trades but master of none, so I can no longer justify its existence as part of my ecosystem.

Okay, Michael admits that he hardly uses his iPad. In my exchange on Mastodon I pointed to this as evidence that, perhaps, if he’s not regularly using the device it’s also possible that he’s not keeping up with the new features. Other Apple Pundits often complain about missing features that are not actually missing and are often easy to find if given minimal effort. But he assured me that he’s very familiar with iPadOS.

Also note his mention of it being a “jack-of-all-trades” but master of none. In this context it would seem he’s referring to the iPad as a general purpose computer to which I would respond: Yes, exactly. We’ll get back to this later but he’s not really clear on what he actually means here.

One of the iPad’s biggest issues is that its hardware is increasingly overpowered relative to the apps available for the device. With each new iteration, the iPad has gotten faster and more capable, but the quality and quantity of iPad apps have not kept pace, despite Apple’s promises of “desktop class” apps for it.

I believe he’s referencing last year’s WWDC when Apple introduced iPadOS improvements that would enable new options for the toolbar in apps. Apple’s own apps such as Pages, Keynote, and Numbers now take advantage of this as do some third party apps. It’s up to developers to add these new features to their apps.

So iPad users, like myself, are paying a premium for hardware that is far more advanced than the software we are able to run on it.

I’d be curious to know what apps Michael actually wants to use that are unavailable. What I see of Apple pundits is that many seem to earn their living writing or talking into a microphone. Are they also film editors, audio engineers and app developers on the side?

But really, it’s become a Apple pundit trope. It’s the exact same for all of these types of articles and it’s not true that pro-level apps are not available.

For writers like Michael there is a wide range of word processor apps. For general office work there are Apple’s own iWork offerings as well as Microsoft’s Office and lots of other excellent text and markdown apps.

Later in the article in further mentioning “pro” apps that are on the Mac but not the iPad he writes: “everything from Adobe’s creative applications to Microsoft’s Visual Studio, or for that matter, Apple’s own app-development platform, Xcode.”

See, these are probably not apps Michael needs at all. And I’d guess that it’s a very small group, proportionally, that needs Xcode or Visual Studio. The same for Final Cut Pro or Logic. Remember, the headline of this article is all about why Michael had to give up the iPad. He never actually says anything at all about his personal use case. This is really more about doing a hit piece on the iPad because that’s a popular thing to do.

But let’s play along a little further. He specifically calls out Adobe as missing. Weird. I’ve got the App Store open and Adobe Illustrator for iPad has 26,000 ratings with an average of 4.6. Photoshop has 52,000 ratings, average of 4.4. There’s also Lightroom with 31,000 ratings, 4.8 average, Premiere Rush, 107,000 ratings, 4.6 average and Fresco 30,000 ratings, 4.7 average. Also available is Adobe Acrobat for editing pdfs (there are lots of pdf editors). Wow, if only Adobe had some iPad apps maybe we could get something done over here.

Now, to be clear, I don’t use these apps and from skimming reviews these apps are not yet equal to their desktop counterparts. Even so, they have many thousands of reviews with a decent average rating. So, it would appear at least some out there find them useful. And in the end it’s on Adobe to develop these apps.

But what Michael does not acknowledge anywhere in the article is the fact that over the past several years many third party developers have worked very hard to bring pro level apps to the iPad. Before Adobe got in the game Serif brought Affinity Designer and Photo to the iPad several years ago. And with their most recent 2.0 update they’ve also brought Publisher into the suite for iPad. It’s a full on, fully capable competitor to Adobe’s InDesign and one of my most used apps.

Another noticeable pro-level app is DaVinci Resolve, a well regarded video editor was recently released for the iPad and another high quality video editor is LumaFusion which has been available for several years. Very well regarded video editing apps but ignored by Michael. Not surprising given that the existence of all these apps (and many, many more) are counter to the Apple Pundit narrative that there are no pro-level apps available for the iPad.

But he jumps into another popular meme which is less about the iPad and more about Apple’s supposedly terrible relationship with developers. That goes beyond the scope of post but I did want to point out that to make his argument Michael cites a Twitter post by a developer who’s having issues with a game:

If Apple plans to make the iPad a truly capable device with first-class apps, it’s going to need to take developer relationships a lot more seriously. Developers should not have to appeal on social media to get Apple’s attention on highly subjective App Store rules and whims.

So, to be clear, the App Store and developer relations are an iPad problem and the one anecdote he points to, citing “first-class apps”, is a game.

Let’s move on.

Another major issue is that the user interface, based on iOS, has become increasingly complicated over time. With each new release of iOS, Apple has added features and functionality, making the operating system more powerful but more complex. This has made it more difficult for users to find the features they need, leading to confusion and frustration.

Okay, now we’re getting into the complaints of iPadOS. A common complaint from primarily Mac using pundits is that iPadOS too limited, too simple. But here Michael is suggesting that it’s too complicated, with too many features and too much functionality. My head is spinning and I think I’ve got whiplash. How is iPadOS simultaneously too basic and not powerful enough and yet it is too complicated with added features and functionality.

And remember, by his own admission, Michael hardly ever touches his iPad. And yet he expects to know how to use the new features? Is this supposed to happen via osmosis when he touches his iPad? Look, if you want a more powerful, more capable OS you will have to take at least a little time learning those new features as they are added. Some actual effort is needed to learn how to use a more complicated, powerful device.

You know what else requires a new user to spend some time learning? A Mac. A new Mac user has to take time to explore and become familiar with the features. As iPadOS becomes more capable users that want to take advantage will have to do the same.

Some users will just use the more basic functionality that’s been present in the iPad for the past 13 years. My parents, both iPad users, have no idea that split screen exists, they’ve never used that feature. Using two windows of the same app side by side? Not a thing for them. What’s multi-tasking? They just happily use the very simple iPad. That’s the balance Apple continues to maintain for different users.

Michael then discusses yet another “problem” of the too simple, too complicated iPad: gestures. Yes, it’s true, the iPad started life as a touch screen computer! That meant learning gestures. 13 years ago they were simpler and over the years more have been added. Does Michael expect that a new user should just be able to pick up the iPad and by virtue of touching it they would know all of these gestures?

Here are just a few examples. The iPad supports a wide variety of gestures, including swipes, pinches, and taps, that can be used to navigate and interact with apps. But many users find these gestures hard to learn, and they are not apparent without some explanation or guidance beyond what the iPad offers.

Let’s be clear, these are all the same gestures that one uses with an iPhone but we don’t see an outcry about how hard the iPhone is to use! So weird that it’s only a problem on the iPad.

Somehow, my 80 year old granny who’s only computer use prior to her iPad was playing solitaire on an old Windows PC was able to manage her iPad within a couple hours of practice sitting next to a family member. Within a few days she was happily sending email, posting to Facebook, getting games, sending messages. The same for several others in my family that had never used a desktop computer. Did they pick up their iPad and suddenly know how to use it? Actually, those that had iPhones did. They got it instantly. Others needed a little guidance in the first few hours. But all became proficient in the basic, essential gestures within their first day or two.

But you know, for anyone that might need some tips or reminders going forward, there’s the internet. A search for iPad gestures yields this page from Apple.

Ever forward, we must push forward. We’re getting close to the end.

While the iPad is highly customizable, the process of customizing settings and preferences is more than a bit arcane. Configuring things like the “dock,” the “control center,” and your notifications can take some time to figure out, and the options are buried levels deep under settings.

Yeah, this isn’t the problem it’s being made out to be. This is called learning something new and it’s not specific to the iPad. Again, everything Michael mentions here is also true of the iPhone. Certainly, diving into the more powerful features of iPadOS, should a user want them, does require more effort, more time to explore and learn. Just as they might need to do on the Mac.

But at this point these “problems” of the iPad are greatly exaggerated and in some cases, not at all specific to the iPad. But, you know, juicy headline and all that.

Stage Manager, the iPad’s new showcase feature for multitasking, isn’t even turned on by default. It’s hidden away — and for good reason. It’s difficult to use, and I would need to write a full-length review to describe just how truly awful my experience with it has been.

It is off by default. Again, Apple sides with simplicity to cater to the larger pool of users that likely don’t want or need Stage Manager and probably have not even learned of its existence. That’s good. The “pro” users will have learned of Stage Manager (advanced users are those that pay attention to Apple-related news, Apple’s website, WWDC announcements, etc). They will have learned about Stage Manager and will turn it on when they’re ready to check it out.

But hard to use? No, it’s not. It’s really not. Is it more complicated than the previous windowing offered on the iPad. Of course, by definition, yes. It’s a new feature that does more, has more options. So yes, it does require at least a little effort, a little practice. But again, this is an advanced feature for advanced users. It should be expected that some effort will be involved. I’m not special, no super powers. I turned on Stage Manager and got the basics within minutes. With a little practice I was comfortable and having no problems other than the instability and oddities that came with running a beta. By the time of the final release it was vastly improved and much more usable.

An in-depth review from MacStories’ Federico Viticci tells you all you need to know: He spends most of it venting about his inability to get the feature to work without crashing his whole system.

No. No, his review does not tell us all we need to know. Look, Federico is known as the iPad guy. It’s a part of his online brand and how he earns his living. It’s beyond the scope of this post but it’s become a meme that the largely Mac-using Apple Punditry point to Federico as the exception to the rule. The stubborn guy who has to work extra hard to make the iPad work for him. “You can’t get real work done on an iPad” is a decade old meme and Federico is the most known Apple pundit fighting that fight. All the while being told: Just get a Mac! It’s become a part of the iPad story for those that listen to Apple/tech podcasts or read the websites.

There’s a lot to unpack with Federico, his role of championing the iPad in this sphere and his current take on the iPad. Again, not really the subject of this post so I’ll leave it.

The specific point I’d make is that Michael calls forth Federico as the sole authority who’s opinion is all we need to know and that’s ludicrous. I’ve got a news flash for Michael, there are likely many thousands of iPad users who are not Federico, who are not podcasters, who do not have his tastes or preferences and those users might well be very happy with Stage Manager. I know I am.

Okay, winding down with the last bit of the article in which Michael worries about the future of the iPad should Apple make a touch screen Mac.

A touchscreen MacBook would kill the iPad

Presumably, it would arrive as a touchscreen-keyboard situation, a form factor that’s more familiar and traditional for laptop users. This would make the iPad practically obsolete. Virtually anything one could do on an iPad would now be possible on a Mac, while the reverse would not be true.

Again, spoken like an Apple pundit who apparently has no family members that are not just like him. Does it really not occur to him that maybe some of the users of hundreds of millions of iPads that have been sold over the past 13 years would be better served by an easier to use iPad than they would a Mac? Mr. Gartenberg I’d like to introduce you to my granny, my aunt, my uncle, my mom, my dad, my sister… all of them iPad users, none of them Mac users.

Speaking for myself though, I don’t want a laptop. Some Mac users seem to find it hard to comprehend than some of us using the iPad do not want a laptop. Sometimes I do want a laptop like experience and that’s when I dock my iPad to a keyboard. That’s it, laptop mode achieved. But other times I want my iPad just a screen to be hand held or propped up on a kickstand. Nor do I want macOS. I used the Mac from 1993 till 2016 at which point I came to prefer the iPad.

So, no, I don’t think a touchscreen Mac (only a rumor at this point) will kill the iPad.

Apple pundits, please, please, do some original thinking and stop with the clickbait. If you feel that drawn to write about the iPad how about doing some quality tech journalism that harkens back to the late 90s when we could get real reviews of software instead of this stream of despair and outrage.

Exploring the Files App on iPadOS 16

I mentioned recently that I’d noticed a post on Mastodon by someone who was complaining how difficult it was to resize an image using iPadOS. I replied to point out that it was the exact same process and done with the same ease as it is on the Mac using the same app. With Files it’s simply two taps (or clicks with a trackpad). It seems a fairly common thing for Mac users these days to complain about the many ways that the iPad is not a Mac or is otherwise lacking. But what’s frustrating is that often times such critiques are coming from a lack of experience and knowledge as in the example above. Users simply haven’t taken the time to use the iPad and learn that many of the same features they use on the Mac are also right there in the same apps on the iPad. The Files app is an excellent example so I thought I’d explore it a bit.

Before I dig in I’ll just say that the Files app on the iPad did indeed start out as a pretty basic app (iOS 11, 2017) that was far, far short of the Finder on the Mac. But with each new version of iPadOS it has gained new features, slowly bringing it closer to feature parity with the Finder. I suspect that many mistakes are made by people who simply have not kept up. They used Files 2 or 3 years ago and not much since then.

It might be helpful to start with a comparison of the Files app on iPad to Finder on the Mac. I tend to use the column view the most.

While not identical, two apps are very similar in 2023 and in terms of functionality they are nearly the same. Both share most of the same elements with variations. The most noticeable is that everything on the iPad is larger because it’s optimized for touch so less is visible in a full screen window. But take a look at the sidebar in each. Aside from the difference in the order they contain the nearly the same elements: Locations, Favorites, Tags (not visible on the iPad due to size constraints) all of which can be customized in both apps. One interesting difference is that while Locations on the Mac is drive based, on the iPad Locations also includes app providers. So, for example, FE File Explorer on the iPad, if selected, reveals a list of FTP servers I use for connecting remotely to file servers to update websites. I can browse to any remote server from within the files app. Other apps do similarly. In the various screenshots below the Files app is on top, the Finder below it.

The Files app on iPad displaying multiple column of files.

The Finder on a Mac displaying multiple column of files.

In the primary pane of the column view, again, nearly identical with variations in size and differences in the tool bar and presentation of the details in the right-most pane. Each has the same representation of file metadata but there are differences in the tools available. On the iPad, when viewing an image the tools are: Markup, Rotate, Convert to PDF and last the button to reveal more tools. On the Mac the default is Convert Image, Create PDF and reveal more tools.

Upon tapping into the Reveal more on each we see that by default the iPad has a few extra options that are placed differently on the Finder (see 3rd screenshot below). Also, there are many additional customization options for sharing and Shortcuts that are not visible in the screenshot. On the Mac there are three defualt actions with the option to add more.

The Files app on iPad displaying multiple column of files, a context menu reveals numerous file options.

You’ll note that at the top of the Finder window is another Action button that reveals options:

The Finder on a Mac displaying multiple column of files, a context menu reveals numerous file options.

For the most part the two apps are offering the same options and actions but in different locations. Here’s the contextual menu for a file on the iPad. As expected and similar to the Mac, it’s many of the same actions that are available in other locations:

The Files app on iPad displaying multiple column of files, a context menu reveals numerous file options.

And, not surprisingly, other options are the same between the two devices. For example, the space bar brings up Quick Look.

But the Mac Finder remains the better of the two in at least two areas. One, the customization of the top tool bar. The iPad toolbar cannot be customized and some of the options that we see on the Mac, while available on the iPad are only accessible by tapping the 3 column icon which reveals list view, icon grid view, sorting and grouping:

The Files app on iPad displaying multiple column of files, a context menu reveals numerous sorting options.

Also, the list view of the iPad is still really limited when compared to the Finder on the Mac. Currently there are three columns available with no possibility for additional columns. If a user chooses to sort by kind or date the column that is displayed changes to reflect the sort. On the larger iPad it would seem there is room for a 4th column.

The Files app on iPad displaying a list of of files with multiple column of data such as Name, date, and size.

One advantage the iPad has over the Mac is the additional options in Quick Look on the iPad when viewing a pdf. These options are on the Mac in the Preview app but on the iPad a pdf can be edited right from the Files app Quick Look, a nice convenience:

A view of a pdf in the Files app. The sidebar is selected showing a context menu for numerous options to edit the pdf.

In previous years one complaint about the Files app was the lack of proper external drive support. That was remedied in iOS 15:

The Files app on iPad displaying multiple column of files.

So that’s Files on iPadOS 16. It’s come a long way since the early days. I think it’s fair to say that for most users it’s just as easy and functional to use as the Finder on the iPad. While it can feel cramped on a smaller iPad screen or on a 13″ iPad when using 2 Files windows, this is a limitation due to the increased size of the touch interface I don’t see that as something Apple will be able to change.

I would like to see a more customizable tool bar and additional options for the columns that are visible in list view. Possibly an option for smaller touch targets, a kind of Files specific “Show more” view that would shrink the size of icons and text. Lastly, more consistent indexing of the content of files. Currently searching the Files app returns a mix of results depending on the content the app resides in. Some apps seem to provide an index that includes content, other apps only Filenames.

Oh, and I’d love to see Files renamed to Finder or, at least given the Finder icon. I understand that the Files name and generic icon matches the actual use of the app better. You may have noticed I’ve created a Shortcut for opening the Files app and have given it a proper Finder smiley face where it resides in my Dock. It’s as it should be.

The iPad, Apple pundits and reality

Once a year Jason Snell puts out a survey to a group of prominent Apple pundits and they grade Apple in a variety of areas. The Apple Report Card is generally a summary of the hot-takes that have been shared on podcasts and in articles for the past year. The 2022 report comes days after Apple released it’s quarterly results and the consensus that the iPad is floundering seems at odds with the ongoing popularity of the device.

While the report card was generally negative or “meh” in their view of the iPad, Apple’s quarterly results show that the iPad continues to sell very well. Apparently the general public is unaware that they are buying a failing product. In the most recent quarter the iPad had its highest revenue in nine years. But the point is the iPad has been very popular with the general public since its release. And not just the basic iPads. The iPad Pro also continues to sell well and get excellent reviews.

Out of curiosity it occurred to me to check reviews of the iPad on various online retailers. My guess is that the majority of buyers at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc are likely to be a somewhat accurate representation of the general public’s view of the device. These are people that probably don’t spend their free time focused on the latest Apple rumors, news, betas, etc. I’d guess that most don’t listen to Apple or tech related podcasts. Reading through the reviews it’s hard to know if many of these folks ever dig in very deep. Some state their use cases, many don’t. Many state that it’s their first iPad, some note that they’ve had several and keep coming back. I’m not going to suggest that such reviews, possibly based on just the first few days or weeks of use have much depth to them. But as I’ve often mentioned in other posts here, the iPad has served as an important computer in my extended family, the kinds of users I’d guess are fairly typical. And yes, it’s often casual use. No one in my family have any idea of what “power users” think of the iPad or what the latest features are. Stage Manager what? What’s this Split View thing?

But, I hear you saying, the critique coming from the Apple pundits is more thoughtful, considered and informed. These are people who spend a lot of time thinking and talking about Apple tech and they are better positioned to offer a more in-depth analysis.

Well. Not so fast. I’m going to pick on Marco Arment to make a point. In episode 520 of the Accidental Tech Podcast in a discussion about trying to find a place for the iPad in his life he makes a point of pointing how difficult or impossible it is to do a simple multitasking type task on the iPad that is easy to do on the Mac. The task he was trying to do was refer to an email and/or attachment in his inbox while composing an email at the same time. He also mentions being able to refer to an Apple Note while doing this. Listening to the podcast one would think yeah, that’s something that should be doable on a computer, why can’t it be done on an iPad?

It can. Very easily and using a feature that’s been around for 2 years. In fact, it’s a feature that was prominently noted by Apple and yet this “well informed” Apple commentator doesn’t know how to do it. He makes his living criticizing Apple and yet when Apple introduces features to do exactly the sorts of things he wants to do he is unaware of them 2 years later. The feature is enabled by a simple tap on the 3 dots widget in the center of a mail window, in his case, an email he was composing. All he had to do was tap or click the 3 dots and choose Split View. This would have placed his compose window into a split leaving his list of emails accessible for browsing and reading as he composed. Then he could easily bring the Notes app up into Slideover to reference a note. Or, if using Stage Manager in iPad OS 16, replying to an email creates a new window by default. In this case no added step would be necessary.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard an Apple pundit make an uninformed statement about something the iPad couldn’t do because of a missing feature. It happens often enough that I’ve noticed it on a fairly regular basis when these kinds of conversations are happening. In agitated hot takes they proclaim that they want to use the iPad but they can’t because it simply cannot do what they want it to do.

But the truth is that it’s often the case that the iPad actually does far more than many users know is possible simply because they have not taken the time to use it. Easier to assume and complain rather than take the time to actually learn the features that available. As I’m writing this I took a break and I kid you not, up pops this question from another Apple/tech journalist I follow on Mastodon:

It’s simple to convert images to different formats in macOS, you can do it literally using a couple of taps from the desktop. Why is it such a pain in the ass on iOS?

To which I responded with the below text and 2 screenshots to illustrate:

It’s literally built into the Files app and accessible in a couple taps. You don’t even need to use a shortcut. Tap and hold an image to get the context menu then go to Quick Actions then choose convert image. It can also be done from the column view in the Files app. See second image with arrows. Just as simple. So, not a pain in the ass?

After posting I checked on my Mac to confirm and yes, it is exactly the same action done in exactly the same way on the Files app as it is on the Finder app. It perfectly illustrates the point that many Mac users just assume features are not available when, in fact, they are. Given that the method here is exactly the same across all devices I can only guess that zero effort was made to look.

Perhaps the most well known iPad user is Federico Viticci who has made his living as a podcaster and tech writer for several years. For most of that time he’s been a passionate advocate of the iPad as a real computer for getting work done. It’s kind of his thing, a part of his online identity. But in recent years he’s become increasingly frustrated with iPadOS and dissatisfied with what he perceives to be a lack of progress by Apple. In his own contribution to the 2022 report card he rates Apple’s performance on the iPad in 2022 a 1/5 and introduces his comments thusly:

Speaking of dropping the ball: I’m sorry to say this, but that’s exactly what the company is doing with iPad and the iPadOS platform. Unless the company course-corrects its decisions with Stage Manager in the near future, shows they can still innovate in terms of hardware, and, more importantly, starts listening to the concerns of power users, I’m afraid even the most die-hard iPad users like myself will have to accept reality and consider other options.

My problem with his statement is that I think he’s assuming too much authority. He’s one user. No doubt that with his website and large social media following, he touches base with a pool of users many of which might agree with him. But there are “power users” that are actually very satisfied with the iPad as it is today. It’s great that he’s passionate but he’s one user with a particular set of needs and desires.

He concludes his thoughts on the iPad:

I want to continue loving the iPad, but, at the end of the day, I also need to get my work done and I’m tired of having to rely on separate machines (an iPad Pro and Mac mini) to do all the things I need to do. At the moment, the iPad seems to be stuck in this limbo of “more than a tablet but not quite a desktop-class computer”, and I think it’s time for Apple to do some soul-searching and make up its mind. The device is called “iPad Pro”, but this gray area surely doesn’t help pro users at all.

It seems likely to me that Federico is just better served with a Mac if he’s going to stipulate that he wants to work with only one computer. Much of his work is podcasting and at the moment the iPad does not have all of the audio capabilities he needs. Until it does he’ll need the Mac, it’s that simple. But again, his constraints are his, not mine. I’d guess that the vast majority of iPad Pro users are not podcasters with his specific needs. I’d also guess that most iPad Pro users are not professional YouTubers/video creators that need Final Cut Pro. I’d further guess that most iPad Pro users are not app developers that need XCode. These are work flows and Pro apps that are often brought up as barriers to adoption and they likely are a barrier to a very small subset of users.

I’ve read and listened to Federico since the beginning of his publishing of MacStories and always enjoyed him. But in the past couple of years I’ve observed that his tone and approach have shifted. Even as iOS on the iPad was forked into it’s own iPadOS variant and continued improvement year to year, Viticci has become more critical. This has coincided with other prominent iPad content creators doing the same. It’s also coincided with Apple’s transition away from Intel processors, bringing a new era to the Mac with it’s own homegrown Apple silicone starting with the M1 Macs and now the M2 Macs. It could be a coincidence but with that transition and excitement many Mac enthusiasts who had been complaining about the stagnation of the Mac were buoyed by the giant leap forward. Suddenly their beloved Macs had the fast Apple-designed processors that the iPad Pros had been featuring as well as the fantastic battery life that came with them. It seemed to trigger a flood iPad enthusiasts who quickly jumped back on the Mac bandwagon each offering long lists of reasons for their move back to the Mac. This does seem to be a part of the larger group behavior.

But really, it’s not my intent to fall into a rabbit hole about the dynamics of the “Apple Community”, which is itself an interesting, strange sort of thing. But rather to point out that over the past 3 years Apple has steadily if slowly improved the iPad experience by deepening iPadOS with a host of new features year by year. But the prominent content creators seem determined to maintain a willful ignorance (see the examples several paragraphs back). Another example, three years ago one of the big iPad problems being discussed repeatedly was the Files app. “Just bring the Mac Finder to the iPad!” While the name has remained Files, the app now much more closely resembles the Mac’s Finder. It’s not identical but it’s very close now. Open up Files and take a close look, compare it to the Mac and it’s obvious Apple put a lot of effort into making this app work better. And it does. In my experience I would say it’s very close to being on par with the Mac Finder. The complaints stopped but were replaced by other complaints. The goal posts are always moving. The last two years has seen a shift towards “we need free form windowing” and “better multitasking” and “pro apps”.

The problem here though is that aside from the repeated calls for Apple to release its pro apps, the other requests are fairly open ended. Windowing and multitasking can take many forms. Stage Manager is the current form of that windowing and addition to multitasking but it’s Federico’s opinion that it’s broken. Many might agree. But there are some users who like it and I’m one of them. Is it perfect? No. But I find it useful and enjoyable to use. Federico states that “this gray area surely doesn’t help pro users at all” but he’s wrong. It just doesn’t help him.

I would urge the Apple podcasters that have such strong feelings to remember that they are not everyone. Their needs are not everyone’s needs. It is possible that there are users beyond their personal experience or imagination who are finding the changes brought to iPadOS each year to be improvements. If your needs are not met by the iPad there’s good news, you can use a Mac or any number of other computers. That’s fantastic. Pick the right tool for the jobs you need to do.

And let me be honest, I’m just a goofball in the woods that can be pretty energetic in my own opinions. In recent years I’ve written quite a bit about how much I enjoy using an iPad. In the years before that the Mac was my favorite computer and I often wrote about that too. But my blog is tiny and I’d guess my readers total less than 10. I blog for fun about the stuff I enjoy and love. More than anything I want to celebrate the cool things we can do with our tech.

So much of the Apple community seems to have taken on a persistent negative tone, a constant stream of hot takes and gotchas about the thing that’s just not good enough. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that critique has it’s place. It’s how progress is made. From what I’ve read Steve Jobs was often intense, demanding in the creative and design process and as the story would seem to demonstrate, it led to same pretty great things. But perhaps we could do with some humility and empathy too?