Since tablets appeared in the market – for me they seemed just toys, without a chance for real productivity.

I’ve been owning different tablets for many years and I felt like they did not really add any productivity or valuable use at all apart for some browsing or entertainment. Having owned Nexus, Sony Xperia and Samsung tablets I’ve decided to give it a last chance to this type of device and switched to iPad Pro plus got myself an Apple Pencil. Keep reading to find out how do I find it after owning this device for some time.

iPad Pro 11 and Apple Pencil

Things that I’ve identified while using an iPad and Apple Pencil. Lots of good and a few struggles.

The good bits

  • Paperless – scan it all, search it all.
  • Sign PDF documents and send
  • Handwritten searchable notes and drawings
  • Keeping all notes and documents searchable. You do need some discipline about organizing them though.
  • Clean desk
  • Easy to modify/correct your notes and sketches
  • You can retouch photos
  • You can plug into a monitor via USB-C and present the content effectively on a bigger screen
  • If you use other Apple devices – it’s extremely easy and quick to share content – AirDrop or sync to iCloud.
  • The battery lasts pretty well
  • Apple Pencil (v2) seems to be a worry-free pen especially with the wireless charging and magnetic sticking to the side of the iPad.

The struggles

  • File system/storage is more or less useless – big hopes for the iPad OS that is rolling out this fall.
  • Files and content sharing functionality seems a bit of a struggle too if the recipient is outside of the Apple ecosystem. Sharing across different apps, in general, does not seem to be so well implemented as on Android.
  • Apple’s free storage quota on iCloud feels quite limited – only 5Gb. It does not feel so hopeless when you see an extra 50Gb for £0.79 per month and up to £6.99 for 2Tb.
  • There are plenty of iPad bend tests online and I can confirm – the body of this device is not the most durable, even with an iPad Folio case. Happened to accidentally slide it down from a bed onto a tile floor in a hotel and aluminum corner got deformed – you would likely benefit from having Apple Care just in case.

What do I do with an iPad?

Once I’ve been asked a question about what do I do with my iPad. So I answer – now I carry it quite often with myself and use for:

  • Manage calendar
  • Manage typed and handwritten notes
  • Scan and manage documents and correspondence
  • Sign, markup documents
  • Draw explanatory diagrams, brainstorm, take notes in the meetings
  • Browse WEB, watch video content, read
  • Communicate
  • Manage my photo archive & sometimes edit photos before publishing online
  • Sync all documents and notes with at least one cloud service, which also syncs back to my computer (and the mobile device). Another important point is to keep everything consistently organized so you don’t get lost and save yourself time in the future.

My favorite apps

There is plenty of different apps on the App Store, however, I spent some time searching and gathering recommendations from other iPad owners, came up with my favorites:

  • Good Notes 5 – taking searchable notes by hand, draw some diagrams
  • Scanbot – scan & organize documents and have them searchable (thanks to OCR support within this app)

I find iPad also good to manage my calendar, sometimes reply emails when a computer is not by hand or use other communication apps. It is also convenient for some entertainment on YouTube (i.e. checking out some how-to videos), and perhaps some games once in a while.

There is plenty of other ways to use the iPad, so if you have got more good ideas and app recommendations – feel free to leave a comment!