iPad A little unhappy with my new iPad

[Fitsume]

I have always done a lot on my iPhone including running my business. I finally decided to buy an iPad just for a little bit more screen real estate. I don’t need much power so I figured the newest generation base model iPad would be fine.

One of the main things I wanted to do on the iPad instead of the iPhone is bookkeeping. This requires me to swipe between a couple different apps and Safari. In Safari I am logged into my bookkeeping software‘s website, which is web-based as you could assume.

I enter information into the forms on this website, I swipe to other apps to get that information. Invoice numbers, total amounts, fees, net amounts, etc. I copy the numbers and then swipe and paste them.

But on the new iPad that doesn’t work. Every time I swipe away from Safari and then return to it, all of the numbers are gone. The forms are completely reset. It’s reminding me of the older Safari where it used to get dark when you return to it when there wasn’t enough memory.

I don’t understand why a brand new iPad doesn’t have the ability to retain this information. It works perfectly fine on my very old iPhone 13 Pro.

Is there anything I could do about this? I tried to do split screen, but neither of the two other apps that I get the information from are supported. I would really hate to have to spend a lot more money on a better iPad just so that it could remember the numbers I paste it into a form. Everything else about this iPad works perfectly fine for me.

 

[hg.wells]

What’s the book keeping platform you use?

 

[Fitsume]

What’s the book keeping platform you use?

Wave. It’s a very simple and minimalist platform that I started using a couple years ago when I got fed up with QuickBooks. I love it.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Sounds like the browser is refreshing when in the background? There are a few things that can cause that but it's not something you have a ton of control over.

iPadOS 26 supports "Windowing" where the app doesn't actually HAVE to support split screen in order to appear on the same window. I suspect that would solve the issue for you. Until you're ready to install that, I'd just leave bookkeeping up on the iPad and use your iPhone to gather the data you need & type it in.

 

[doogm]

iPadOS 26 supports "Windowing" where the app doesn't actually HAVE to support split screen in order to appear on the same window. I suspect that would solve the issue for you. Until you're ready to install that, I'd just leave bookkeeping up on the iPad and use your iPhone to gather the data you need & type it in.

But iPadOS 18 does support split screen and slide-over on the base model iPad - perhaps that would work in this case? I think you have can even spit about 2/3rd/I/3rd, so yo can have Safari take the bigger share and switch between various apps in the other window.

Use multitasking on your iPad - Apple Support

Work with two apps simultaneously, drag and drop content between apps, and more.

support.apple.com

 

[MisterSavage]

But iPadOS 18 does support split screen and slide-over on the base model iPad - perhaps that would work in this case? I think you have can even spit about 2/3rd/I/3rd, so yo can have Safari take the bigger share and switch between various apps in the other window.

Use multitasking on your iPad - Apple Support

Work with two apps simultaneously, drag and drop content between apps, and more.

support.apple.com

Right but the app has to specifically support it. If he's just running an iPhone app on the iPad Slide Over isn't going to be an option. It was a lot of work for me to properly support Slide Over mode in my app.

 

[Fitsume]

Yeah it seems like neither the TD Bank app or the Square Invoices app that I use in conjunction with Safari to do my bookkeeping are supported for any type of screen sharing.

It’s just a little crazy to me that my nearly 4 year-old iPhone 13 can do this function flawlessly yet my new iPad doesn’t have the power to remember a couple of numbers.

Even after completely closing Safari and rebooting the iPad and using only one tab in Safari for my bookkeeping website, it still refreshes the website behind the scenes and deletes the numbers when I return to it.

This worries me for other reasons as well. I will often have to switch between apps to gather a little bit of information. Now I always have to worry about the previously entered information being deleted. I just had to go to my state’s website to file this quarters sales tax. That required me to switch between Safari and my invoicing app. I did it on my iPhone because I didn’t want to enter most of the numbers and then have it deleted when swiping to the other app to gather the last number needed.

 

[Fitsume]

I'd just leave bookkeeping up on the iPad and use your iPhone to gather the data you need & type it in.

That’s a reasonable idea. I thought to do that, but it would require me to fumble with two different devices. One of the reasons why I started using my iPhone for most of my business work is so that I could do it while sitting in my truck or while sitting in a comfortable lounging type chair on my balcony or backyard or living room. Holding two devices is a bit of a pain, and having to manually enter the numbers could invite mistakes.

I will look into the “windowing“ that you mentioned. Hopefully that could help me.

 

[MisterSavage]

That’s a reasonable idea. I thought to do that, but it would require me to fumble with two different devices. One of the reasons why I started using my iPhone for most of my business work is so that I could do it while sitting in my truck or while sitting in a comfortable lounging type chair on my balcony or backyard or living room. Holding two devices is a bit of a pain, and having to manually enter the numbers could invite mistakes.

I will look into the “windowing“ that you mentioned. Hopefully that could help me.

Universal Clipboard could help you here. Copy from iPhone and paste on iPad, for example.

Use Universal Clipboard to copy and paste between your Apple devices - Apple Support

With Universal Clipboard, you can copy content such as text, images, photos, and videos on one Apple device, then paste the content on another Apple device.

support.apple.com

 

[Fitsume]

Universal Clipboard could help you here. Copy from iPhone and paste on iPad, for example.

Use Universal Clipboard to copy and paste between your Apple devices - Apple Support

With Universal Clipboard, you can copy content such as text, images, photos, and videos on one Apple device, then paste the content on another Apple device.

support.apple.com

I appreciate the idea, but it would still be a massive amount of extra work to have to put down the iPhone and pick up the iPad and then vice versa a few dozen times to enter in some transactions. It’s much faster doing it all on the iPhone.

 

[doogm]

Yeah it seems like neither the TD Bank app or the Square Invoices app that I use in conjunction with Safari to do my bookkeeping are supported for any type of screen sharing.

I don't know about square invoices, but you can just open the TD Bank website in another tab in Safari and log in that way and just switch back and forth between tabs.

I'll check my TD Bank app to see if I can use it in split screen - it's definitely an iPad app - though I have an M3 iPad Air, so it's not directly comparable.

 

[Fitsume]

I don't know about square invoices, but you can just open the TD Bank website in another tab in Safari and log in that way and just switch back and forth between tabs.

I'll check my TD Bank app to see if I can use it in split screen - it's definitely an iPad app - though I have an M3 iPad Air, so it's not directly comparable.

I’m curious about something, I set this iPad up using my iPhone so it automatically loaded all the apps that I have on my iPhone. Until you mentioned it I never thought about whether those apps are iPhone apps or iPad apps. Do I have to go through and see if there’s an iPad app and download that for each one of the apps that I have on this new iPad? Or does Apple intuitively do this for me?

 

[GMShadow]

Most apps are universal these days, there aren't many iPad specific downloads anymore. The App Store builds and delivers the correct one for your device.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

That’s a reasonable idea. I thought to do that, but it would require me to fumble with two different devices. One of the reasons why I started using my iPhone for most of my business work is so that I could do it while sitting in my truck or while sitting in a comfortable lounging type chair on my balcony or backyard or living room. Holding two devices is a bit of a pain, and having to manually enter the numbers could invite mistakes.

I will look into the “windowing“ that you mentioned. Hopefully that could help me.

I'm running the iPadOS beta, the windowing feature is quite nice! I don't necessarily recommend running beta, especially on a primary device, but I do think this will be a useful feature for you.

 

[Fitsume]

I’m curious, do you guys think that the newest generation iPad Mini would have the same problem?

I have to admit, I’m getting even more aggravated that the brand new iPad I bought can’t do this simple function which is the main thing I bought it for.

This 11 inch iPad is a bit larger than I was expecting and heavier as well. I had an iPad Mini 2 and I thought the size was pretty good. The new iPad Minis are larger than that, so I’m thinking that the size might be perfect for me.

I’m debating returning my iPad and getting an iPad Mini.

 

[subjonas]

I’ve lost information and work a number of times on iPad due to premature/unpredictable refresh. It doesn’t happen as often nowadays, but regardless, never knowing for sure if my information will still be there pretty much kills my confidence in the iPad for super important work. I will use it for super important work, but I’ve learned to NEVER let the tiniest bit of information leave the screen for even a nanosecond if it’s not saved somehow.

 

[lostPod]

Wave. It’s a very simple and minimalist platform that I started using a couple years ago when I got fed up with QuickBooks. I love it.

Wave is awesome!

 

[rui no onna]

I’ve lost information and work a number of times on iPad due to premature/unpredictable refresh. It doesn’t happen as often nowadays, but regardless, never knowing for sure if my information will still be there pretty much kills my confidence in the iPad for super important work. I will use it for super important work, but I’ve learned to NEVER let the tiniest bit of information leave the screen for even a nanosecond if it’s not saved somehow.

Yeah. So far Stage Manager has worked nicely for this.

The 16GB RAM on the M1 12.9 probably didn't hurt either. My iPad mini 6 with 4GB refreshes all the time.

 

[ifxf]

Try a different browser, even though they are all based on webkit, I noticed they are not as aggressive with having refreshes in 18.x as Safari. I think Apple is reserving more memory for its non functional AI.

 

[robvalentine]

might defeat the point of second device, but copy and paste works accross apple devices, so copy on phone and paste on ipad?

 

[Fitsume]

might defeat the point of second device, but copy and paste works accross apple devices, so copy on phone and paste on ipad?

That would require me to put down one device and pick up the other, then vice versa a couple dozen times. It would be easier just to use the iPhone for everything like I’ve been doing.

 

[Digitalguy]

I’m curious, do you guys think that the newest generation iPad Mini would have the same problem?

I have to admit, I’m getting even more aggravated that the brand new iPad I bought can’t do this simple function which is the main thing I bought it for.

This 11 inch iPad is a bit larger than I was expecting and heavier as well. I had an iPad Mini 2 and I thought the size was pretty good. The new iPad Minis are larger than that, so I’m thinking that the size might be perfect for me.

I’m debating returning my iPad and getting an iPad Mini.

Yes, because it has more RAM. The issue with your iPad is the 6GB RAM, which while better than 4GB is not a lot. And in my experience iPadOS 18 takes more RAM than 17 and 19 beta so far takes even more RAM (but it's a beta so that might change somewhat).
I would get an iPad with 8GB RAM, but even then no guarantees it never happens. If there is something I have clearly learned by owning multiple iPads (1 with 16GB, 3 with 8GB, 1 with 6GB and several others with less RAM) is that the Swap to disk feature on M iPads introduced in iPadOS 16 is definitely not like swap on MacOS or Windows. From what Apple has stated it's only there for apps that specifically request more RAM (so an "exception") than the iPad can support for a single app (for instance over 6GB on a 8GB iPad or over 12GB on a 16GB iPad and up to 16GB max).

 

[Fitsume]

Yes, because it has more RAM. The issue with your iPad is the 6GB RAM, which while better than 4GB is not a lot. And in my experience iPadOS 18 takes more RAM than 17 and 19 beta so far takes even more RAM (but it's a beta so that might change somewhat).
I would get an iPad with 8GB RAM, but even then no guarantees it never happens. If there is something I have clearly learned by owning multiple iPads (1 with 16GB, 3 with 8GB, 1 with 6GB and several others with less RAM) is that the Swap to disk feature on M iPads introduced in iPadOS 16 is definitely not like swap on MacOS or Windows. From what Apple has stated it's only there for apps that specifically request more RAM (so an "exception") than the iPad can support for a single app (for instance over 6GB on a 8GB iPad or over 12GB on a 16GB iPad and up to 16GB max).

Unfortunately it looks like the iPad Minis are back up to $500, they were $400 last week when I bought this iPad 11. Still, it might be worth it if it does what I need and I definitely like the smaller form factor better.

I’m just curious, with what you said, why have I never had an issue with my nearly 4 year-old iPhone 13 Pro? This never happened once with that phone.

 

[Digitalguy]

Unfortunately it looks like the iPad Minis are back up to $500, they were $400 last week when I bought this iPad 11. Still, it might be worth it if it does what I need and I definitely like the smaller form factor better.

I’m just curious, with what you said, why have I never had an issue with my nearly 4 year-old iPhone 13 Pro? This never happened once with that phone.

Because I guess iOS, being simpler than iPadOS, takes less RAM so you have less issues with 6GB compared to a 6GB RAM iPad...and some iPadOS optimized apps may also take more RAM than iOS apps. This is of course assuming you use them exactly the same way and don't multitask more on your iPad than on your iPhone

 

[Fitsume]

Because I guess iOS, being simpler than iPadOS, takes less RAM so you have less issues with 6GB compared to a 6GB RAM iPad...and some iPadOS optimized apps may also take more RAM than iOS apps. This is of course assuming you use them exactly the same way and don't multitask more on your iPad than on your iPhone

I appreciate the info, this makes sense.

As far as the last part, I shut down all the apps on my iPad and rebooted it. I restarted it and opened only one tab in Safari on my bookkeeping website and opened one other app to get the info from. When swiping back-and-forth it fully reset the tab in Safari, deleting the numbers I entered.

Thanks again everyone for all of your help and allowing me to vent.