For those of you with iPhone and iPad, how do you manage your apps/other things?

[PDFierro]

I have been anticipating the iPhone 5 for a long time now and will be getting it. I had the new MacBook Air, but ended up returning it. I could probably get by with just an iPhone for now, but would like to have an iPad in addition to it. Or get a Mac again, but I think the only thing I miss about the Mac is the storage space, which isn't a big deal in the first place. iOS fits my needs.

The only thing I'm concerned about is how do you find yourself managing your apps and other content between the two devices? It seems that a lot of apps are made for both iPhone and iPad, and only some are where you have to buy them both separately.

Do you have duplicate apps on both, are there certain things you only use your iPad for? How do you decide what goes on what device?

I will probably go for it, but the first question that popped into my mind was how I would manage my content between both.

 

[nepalisherpa]

Everyone is different! Once you get your device and start using it, you will know what to do! For me, there are some apps that are on both like FlightStats, Facebook, etc.

 

[Macman45]

It's Not Hard

I have been anticipating the iPhone 5 for a long time now and will be getting it. I had the new MacBook Air, but ended up returning it. I could probably get by with just an iPhone for now, but would like to have an iPad in addition to it. Or get a Mac again, but I think the only thing I miss about the Mac is the storage space, which isn't a big deal in the first place. iOS fits my needs.

The only thing I'm concerned about is how do you find yourself managing your apps and other content between the two devices? It seems that a lot of apps are made for both iPhone and iPad, and only some are where you have to buy them both separately.

Do you have duplicate apps on both, are there certain things you only use your iPad for? How do you decide what goes on what device?



I will probably go for it, but the first question that popped into my mind was how I would manage my content between both.

To manage your iPad and phones with one itunes library. Basically you prevent iTunes from syncing Anything automatically, and go from there.

iTunes Will happily do as YOU tell it, once you have it tamed. I manage my iPhone and iPad fine. Will be adding the iPhone 5 when it's available

 

[mwulf67]

To manage your iPad and phones with one itunes library. Basically you prevent iTunes from syncing Anything automatically, and go from there.

iTunes Will happily do as YOU tell it, once you have it tamed. I manage my iPhone and iPad fine. Will be adding the iPhone 5 when it's available

And “there” can mean a lot of manual, pain in the butt, micro-managing of iTunes, depending on how differently you want you iphone setup vs. your ipad....music isn’t bad with using playlists to keep songs separated if you want/need it, but for everything else... it’s far from easy, fine or intuitive imho...

To maintain the my iphone and ipad the way I want them, I have to do a lot to checking and un-ckecking of boxes with every sync...with the end result being I don’t sync either as often as I probably should...imo iTunes is hardly the best tool when only syncing one device; it’s a hot mess with multiple ones....just my opinion, your mileage may vary....

 

[brettatk]

We have an iPad 2 and two iPhones at our house. We only use one iTunes account so we can share purchases between all devices. As mentioned you must use selective sync. This will allow you to sync certain apps to specific devices or to all of them if you wish.

 

[PDFierro]

Thanks, I guess it will just come naturally when I am using both.

 

[Agent-P]

Once I started using my devices regularly, I figured out which type of apps I use on each device. Basically I sync the appropriate apps for each device via iTunes. No need for my iPad to have all my iPhone apps too when it has its own iPad apps.

 

[Philalbe]

Syncing apps between devices

There are some productivity apps that I have Installed on both devices. For example I have the Appigo "to-do" app and a shopping list app (Grocery IQ) on both devices and when I make a change to a list it is synced wirelessly and reflected on the other device.

 

[IrishVixen]

There's plenty of apps that I find more useful on one device than the other. Some games play better on the bigger screen. Some writing apps are nearly pointless on the phone as that's really only good for quick notes. Same thing with reading apps--I do have the Kindle app on the phone, but I'll only use it for a five minute waiting room visit, not to read a whole book (though I've done that in a pinch too).

On the other hand, nothing beats my phone for music, so much so that I didn't bother putting any on the iPad. 90% of my camera apps are on the phone, and would be even if I had an iPad 2 with the cameras--the phone is more portable by a longshot and has a much better quality camera. A lot of shopping-type apps for the phone aren't necessary on the iPad, where the bigger screen means you can use regular websites instead.

As others said, you basically have to selectively sync them, otherwise you'll waste a lot of space on both devices, cluttering them up with apps you'll never use on that device. But definitely seek out apps that sync content between devices wirelessly and WITHOUT iTunes' "help". This is where having more than one device will quickly feel indispensable.

 

[KeithJenner]

Now that you can set your devices up to automatically download any new Apps, it is really easy to manage your devices.

I have my phone and iPad set up to install new Apps automatically and then just delete them off any device that I don't think that I will use them on, or shift them into a folder if required. That way I never need to do anything on iTunes and nothing gets missed.

I suppose it would be a bit of a pain if you were buying hundreds of Apps, and you will need to do some initial setup, but once you're setup then it's pretty easy.

 

[steezy1337]

I have my phone and iPad set up to install new Apps automatically and then just delete them off any device that I don't think that I will use them on, or shift them into a folder if required. That way I never need to do anything on iTunes and nothing gets missed.

too bad with iOS5 that unless you untick an item in iTunes it'll install any deleted apps again when you plug in to charge/sync. hopefully they'll implement some kind of function that'll be able to notice whether an app was manually deleted or not and then simply not reinstall it.

 

[PDFierro]

By the way, I can't recall, but did they enable the PC-free feature now or is that not coming until iOS 5?

Either way, I have a much clearer idea now of how I would manage my apps/media between the 2 devices. It just seemed confusing at first.

 

[jsh1120]

...imo iTunes is hardly the best tool when only syncing one device; it’s a hot mess with multiple ones....just my opinion, your mileage may vary....

No, it's not in the running for the "best tool." It may well hold the trophy for being the worst, however.

Unfortunately, Apple took an application that was designed originally to enable users to purchase music for their computers. Period. Then it was extended to enable it to manage a satellite device, the iPod, without sufficient thought as to a long-term design strategy. After all, the iPod was just an mp3 player. iTunes more or less sufficed.

Then the iPhone came along. Now many users had a computer, an iPod AND an iPhone. And with the iPhone came content other than songs. And then the iPod morphed into the iPod Touch, an iPhone without the phone and more content. Much more. Then the iPad came along. And more content. Much, much more. And content that extended beyond not only the original songs and iPod/iPhone apps but some apps compatible with the other devices and some not.

And still Apple has a basic application infrastructure and user interface for iTunes designed to enable a customer to download a song for their computer.

It is a mess. Period.

 

[Skyhigh223]

Protip: iCloud will solve a lot of these niggles when it comes out.

I've been using it as a developer for a while now, and it's fantastic to see stuff effortlessly sync between my iPad and my iPod. I only use iTunes now for backups.

 

[melman101]

No, it's not in the running for the "best tool." It may well hold the trophy for being the worst, however.

Unfortunately, Apple took an application that was designed originally to enable users to purchase music for their computers. Period. Then it was extended to enable it to manage a satellite device, the iPod, without sufficient thought as to a long-term design strategy. After all, the iPod was just an mp3 player. iTunes more or less sufficed.

Then the iPhone came along. Now many users had a computer, an iPod AND an iPhone. And with the iPhone came content other than songs. And then the iPod morphed into the iPod Touch, an iPhone without the phone and more content. Much more. Then the iPad came along. And more content. Much, much more. And content that extended beyond not only the original songs and iPod/iPhone apps but some apps compatible with the other devices and some not.

And still Apple has a basic application infrastructure and user interface for iTunes designed to enable a customer to download a song for their computer.

It is a mess. Period.

Actually, as a side note, iTunes just started as a mp3 player. It was Soundjam before Apple bought it. iTunes came out in 2001, the store didn't launch till 2003.

 

[chris2k5]

I do get annoyed when my iPhone 4 apps appear on my iPad 2 but I am hoping iCloud will clean this up.

 

[spiderman0616]

I have been able to maintain iTunes, my iPad, and my iPhone seamlessly without any hassles. I have never really had to do anything special.

I've had my iPhone 4 for the last year and had it all set up in iTunes the way I wanted it to sync. I just went through all the tabs when I plugged the device in and checked what I wanted. My iPad 2, which I've only had since about a month after release, was the same thing. I plugged it in, checked what I wanted to sync, and I've never had to mess with it again. The two devices sync independently of each other without any fuss.

As far as the iCloud stuff that is currently activated, I have it set so that if I download any books or music on my iPad, it hits my iPhone too automatically. (and vice versa) I do not automatically sync apps, because I use almost a completely different set of apps on each device. Anything I download to either device automatically hits my iTunes on my computer as well, and that's just for purposes of nightly backups. Once iCloud is fully functional, I won't even need to worry about that part. So far, it is working as Steve Jobs said it would--the computer is being treated as just another device rather than the main hub. I just hate the once a week plugging into the computer for syncing, with is all but extinct in about a month probably.

So I don't really see what the big deal is. iTunes does kind of suck as far as software goes, but it is still the glue that holds all your devices together until iCloud is fully released. And it comes in very handy for Home Sharing. It's not as cool as HomeGroups in Windows, but good enough.

 

[lokster]

its not a complicated process

ive got an ipad and iphone, i sync both with my macbook. there are some apps specifically for the ipad only and some apps for the iphone, both have slightly different profiles when it comes to apps, especially for games, but productivity wise everything is pretty similiar, most if not all productivity apps from iphone are already on the ipad, like awesome note and calvetica and evernote, the ones i mainly use

 

[smoking monkey]

I think it's a PITA. Itunes organization could be so much better.

I have hundreds of videos I use for my job and you can't even make folders within itunes in the movies tab. (I know you can make playlists for videos)

And don't get me started on how crappy the selection system is once you plug in the ipad or iphone. Only 16 or so videos show up on the screen in a small box and it's really hard to tell if they have been checked or not. Add the overly sensitive search function and it's a really frustrating process.

I really hope itunes gets an overhaul and decent folder structure to it. Photos and music have one, but apps and videos don't.

 

[Agent-P]

I do get annoyed when my iPhone 4 apps appear on my iPad 2 but I am hoping iCloud will clean this up.

Me too. That's why I disabled automatic download. I prefer to just manage my apps manually. Sure that may be old school, but I prefer that to having all my apps pop up on the other device after I download it to one.

 

[ndrosubiyanto]

I believe the disccussion here is about how do you use app if that app have two version, where to install? Take Facebook for example. Since this is free i don't mind to install both on my iPhone and iPad. But what about Quickoffice, Money, Homebudget, etc..??

If the case is for paid app, you should choose wisely, which device do you comfortable more if you install the app? You surely much more comfortable using quickoffice on iPad rather than small iPhone screen. Don't have to spend twice (for two app) of course, unless you already bought iphone version before purchasing iPad (happen to me ). That's my opinion, sir.

 

[vitzr]

Two distinctively different devices which I use for different purposes.

About the only shared similarity is a couple of apps.

Catch and Google Docs.

 

[spiderman0616]

I believe the disccussion here is about how do you use app if that app have two version, where to install? Take Facebook for example. Since this is free i don't mind to install both on my iPhone and iPad. But what about Quickoffice, Money, Homebudget, etc..??

If the case is for paid app, you should choose wisely, which device do you comfortable more if you install the app? You surely much more comfortable using quickoffice on iPad rather than small iPhone screen. Don't have to spend twice (for two app) of course, unless you already bought iphone version before purchasing iPad (happen to me ). That's my opinion, sir.

That's the whole point--you don't have to worry about this anymore. You can download from the cloud if you're not syncing manually. If you had an iPhone/iPad app before and then add another device, pull it off of iCloud. It then saves to that devices profile next time you backup and will always sync that way.

Again, iTunes does suck a little bit, but it's not THAT hard to use.

 

[jsh1120]

...

Again, iTunes does suck a little bit, but it's not THAT hard to use.

Sorry. Gotta say that I design software for a living. Your comment could have come (and has come) out of the mouth of software engineers I have to work with every day.

It's no great feat to get to an 80% level in terms of usability. The trick is to go the next 20%. Apple is typically very good at designing usable software, both the 80-90% functionality that everyone uses and the remaining 10-20% of functions that impact only a minority of users and only a portion of the time. In the case of iTunes, they've dropped the ball.

It works "ok" if you have a single device, (currently) have a single computer to use as a "master," and a single iTunes account. Vary any of those parameters and the entire level of usability drops significantly. Yes, a sophisticated user can make it work, especially if they're willing to turn off "automatic" synchronization and ignore various warnings about wiping out one's data, but that's not how it's supposed to be with Apple devices.

 

[Jordan9]

I think it's a PITA. Itunes organization could be so much better.

I have hundreds of videos I use for my job and you can't even make folders within itunes in the movies tab. (I know you can make playlists for videos)

And don't get me started on how crappy the selection system is once you plug in the ipad or iphone. Only 16 or so videos show up on the screen in a small box and it's really hard to tell if they have been checked or not. Add the overly sensitive search function and it's a really frustrating process.

I really hope itunes gets an overhaul and decent folder structure to it. Photos and music have one, but apps and videos don't.

An idea for your videos for work could be to put them in the TV Show section of iTunes and then group the videos you want together in a TV Series.