I use Microsoft OneNote with the Apple Pencil for note taking. Believe it or not the app is actually really good and is available on my work and personal iPads, my work Macbook Pro, my personal iPhone and my personal Windows PCs with mostly the same features. I like that I can do typed notes on one of the computers and drawn notes on my iPad and have them all available everywhere. The other thing I like is I cannot use my personal iCloud account on my work devices and vice versa but as this is linked to a Microsoft account, it only affects that one app. Finally, the app is free in the AppStore which my company allows while they disallow downloading and installing apps from the internet. I think it's also free on most of those but I don't recall for sure.
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All iPads How do you use your personal iPad at work to help you if you are in an office job?
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i’m curious about your workflow as my company uses OneNote too!
Let’s say you’re on a video call for a meeting that requires note taking - do you have your ipad out on the one note page to take both typed and hand written notes directly on the ipad? do you only use the pencil on the ipad? or do you have one note on your pc with dual monitors and use one screen for video and one screen to type and later draw any diagrams you might need with the pencil on your ipad?
Just one thing to think about: Using your personal device for business MAY expose you to discovery
www.logikcull.com
When Can You Obtain Discovery Into Employees' Personal Devices?
The proliferation of services and devices that allow you to work whenever, wherever are directly responsible for increased blending of work life and life-life. This blending also creates potentially thorny issues in the context of discovery.
www.logikcull.com
Just one thing to think about: Using your personal device for business MAY expose you to discovery
When Can You Obtain Discovery Into Employees' Personal Devices?
The proliferation of services and devices that allow you to work whenever, wherever are directly responsible for increased blending of work life and life-life. This blending also creates potentially thorny issues in the context of discovery.
Exactly. I saw that happen except it was the accidental leakage of classified information in an email. The results were unpleasant for the recipients who accessed their work email with personal devices.
This… how lucky some of you are that you‘re not required to use the cheapest possible Dell laptops your employer can buy and require employees to use. (I’m on my 2nd one in 3 years - the last one kept overheating and turning itself off, just from MS Office use.)
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this thread has got me thinking - what about users of the apple watch? i'm curious if they have their work calendar on their personal device to remind them of meetings; or if they use a secondary apple watch for work tied to a work phone?
As some suggested, first, I would check with IT if you could bring/use your personal device - most likely, the answer will be NO.
Even if they dont have such policy, based on my experience, it is better to not mix personal devices with work-related stuff. You might be thinking of something harmless as login into your work account from an app on your iPad, but depending on how the corporate policies are configured, your personal device might automatically get enrolled into the corporate mobile management solution (MDM) and might be subject to additional monitoring, policies, etc. This is not something you want to deal with. The corp folks might also get alerted if a work account is used for logging into a non-approved device and might lock your account to prevent possible account hijacking attempts etc.
I would instead ask yourself a question, what problem are you trying to solve by trying to incorporate a personal device into your work-related workflows? Is it because you don't have enough screen estate? If so, ask for a 2nd monitor/dual monitor setup. Is your current system not fast enough and limiting multitasking? Ask for a newer/faster system. When it comes to iPads, they are mostly meant as a consumption device, with only a handful of decent productivity niches.
For instance, using MS Office on iPad is a frustrating experience; heck, using Office on macOS can also be a frustrating experience if you are a heavy/demanding Office user, as some features and integrations are only available on Windows and might never make it to mac versions.
Even if they dont have such policy, based on my experience, it is better to not mix personal devices with work-related stuff. You might be thinking of something harmless as login into your work account from an app on your iPad, but depending on how the corporate policies are configured, your personal device might automatically get enrolled into the corporate mobile management solution (MDM) and might be subject to additional monitoring, policies, etc. This is not something you want to deal with. The corp folks might also get alerted if a work account is used for logging into a non-approved device and might lock your account to prevent possible account hijacking attempts etc.
I would instead ask yourself a question, what problem are you trying to solve by trying to incorporate a personal device into your work-related workflows? Is it because you don't have enough screen estate? If so, ask for a 2nd monitor/dual monitor setup. Is your current system not fast enough and limiting multitasking? Ask for a newer/faster system. When it comes to iPads, they are mostly meant as a consumption device, with only a handful of decent productivity niches.
For instance, using MS Office on iPad is a frustrating experience; heck, using Office on macOS can also be a frustrating experience if you are a heavy/demanding Office user, as some features and integrations are only available on Windows and might never make it to mac versions.
I get you, but I think the horse has well and truly left the barn with this. I have no qualms about using my personal devices for work, because there is basically no difference between my work devices and my personal devices.
The only difference between my personal iPhone 14 Pro Max and the work provided iPhone 14 is the organisation can wipe and track the device if reported stolen (but not until then), it enforces a 6 digit pin, and it auto configures the default mail app. That's pretty much all it does. No point in not using my personal phone for work if it's the better phone and I want to carry around one single phone.
A company provided iPad would be the same situation as the iPhone. I use my personal iPad sometimes if I'm really on the go and travelling light and don't want to lug my 14" laptop around with me.
The only reason I would refuse to use personal devices for work is in a situation where work was demanding I do something that requires a tool they're refusing to provide. In this case they provide perfectly reasonable devices and in some cases I use my own because my own one is better than the one they provided. ie they gave me an iPhone 14, but I'd rather use my 14PM. ie they gave me a 14" MacBook Pro, but sometimes I just take my iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard if I'm severely on the go and need to travel light.
All the stuff I'm accessing for work is over a VPN and either in the browser, or remoting into various servers or PCs anyway.
Great info on this thread! And really highlights the tandem use of home/work devices and laptop/iPad utilizations. Something not mentioned that I’ve really found useful is that, since I’m required to travel and ‘show up’ at many sites away from the main office, I have found my iPad Air4 with MagicKeyBoard/pencil a great stand-in for the clunker Dell Windows machine I am issued. I leave the clunker at the office and connect to it ‘live’ via JumpDesktop app and can access, modify, markup, and even respond to and send emails from the laptop. I email myself documents to edit from the laptop and work them on ios Office apps. Then email the document back to the laptop etc. I take notes with the pencil, transfer to text etc etc. And the main boon here is that my iPad fits in a lightweight sling and I can do all this without a major lug or setup. I will never go back to hauling the laptop around (and it’s document limitations).
That's awesome that you can do that. Not all companies allow remote access to internal resources like that from non-company issued devices. My workaround has been utilizing OneDrive which generally works but if I need files that are only accessible on an internal file server I'm basically dead in the water without my company laptop.
For me I've grown tired of using my iPad Pro to supplement my work laptop and have switched to a Surface Pro 9. I just want full fledged office applications and straightforward file management at this point and since the company I work for is purely Windows/Microsoft based the decision is basically made for me (either a Surface for tablet like form factor, or a Macbook if I want to stay with an Apple device). I've tried using OneNote, Teams, Outlook, Office and OneDrive on my iPad but dealing with the file management, while not impossible to do, is more trouble than it is worth for me personally.
I still love my iPad Pro though, it is a great device and I use it frequently for general browsing and media consumption.
I am a developer, I have an iPad, MK and pencil:
- sketching out ideas with the pencil relating to development
- note-taking
- teleconferencing / collaboration tools
- using to Sidecar with my MBP
- signing into cloud services / running build/test pipelines / performing data ETL tasks
When I am at the home office, I have my iPad next to my MBP and Windows laptop, using multiple external screens.
- sketching out ideas with the pencil relating to development
- note-taking
- teleconferencing / collaboration tools
- using to Sidecar with my MBP
- signing into cloud services / running build/test pipelines / performing data ETL tasks
When I am at the home office, I have my iPad next to my MBP and Windows laptop, using multiple external screens.
Using an iPad to take notes and stay organized can be a great way to streamline your workflow and stay productive throughout the day. There are a variety of apps available for the iPad that can help with note-taking and organization, including Apple's built-in Notes app, Microsoft's OneNote, and other apps like Evernote, Notion, and Trello.
For to-do lists and tasks, you may find it helpful to use a dedicated app like Apple Reminders or Todoist. These apps allow you to create lists of tasks and set reminders to help you stay on top of deadlines and priorities.
In terms of using Windows for work, Microsoft's suite of Office apps including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are all available for iPad and can be used to create and edit documents on the go. OneNote is also a great option for note-taking and organization, especially if your organization already uses other Microsoft products.
For to-do lists and tasks, you may find it helpful to use a dedicated app like Apple Reminders or Todoist. These apps allow you to create lists of tasks and set reminders to help you stay on top of deadlines and priorities.
In terms of using Windows for work, Microsoft's suite of Office apps including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are all available for iPad and can be used to create and edit documents on the go. OneNote is also a great option for note-taking and organization, especially if your organization already uses other Microsoft products.
My day job is in customer service for an online marketplace, so lots of emails/live chat on Freshdesk/gmail, Slack and emails again for company comms, and a whole bunch of Google docs and sheets that I’m either adding data to or pulling info from, pretty much constantly. The store backend is all web-based (Mirakl/Magento for the interested), some of which can only be accessed via VPN. Obsidian is always open with a big ol running file of notes and things I need quick access to (you only hit “send” on some partially completed multi paragraph thing with codes and special URLS without meaning to a couple times before you start getting that stuff ready not in a text field on a web page).
In terms of setup, the iPad “lives” below/to the side of my main screen, magneted to one of those VESA mount laptop trays, with that and my monitor attached to the same desk mounted pole thingy. I’ve got a Magic Trackpad paired to the ipad, and my keyboard (Keychron K2) can be switched between devices in about a second when needed.
A lot of the time the ipad is just sat there almost in split screen with Slack on one half and a portal into our “waiting/unassigned” chat queue so I can keep an eye on them if they’re racking up, and for any new messages in slack.
Handy for checking on google sheets too to view rotas/other info without cluttering up my main screen or sorting through a million tabs to find the one I’m after.
I don’t have a webcam hooked up to my main computer, so it gets used for all our video calls too, camera’s decent, I can chip away at work stuff at the same time, and the background replacement thing is pretty handy/fun, especially when your wife has an aversion to throwing things out and sometimes there’s a pile of “to sort out” behind me.
It’s saved my butt a few times too when the VPN client we use has pooped the bed on the desktop. There’s an iOS version too, so I’ve been able to use that to get to the stuff that’s locked behind that.
At a push, I could do my entire job from it, as 95% of it is in a browser anyway. The only things I’d really miss are proper TextExpander support, and to a lesser degree, Raycast’s clipboard history thing.
In terms of setup, the iPad “lives” below/to the side of my main screen, magneted to one of those VESA mount laptop trays, with that and my monitor attached to the same desk mounted pole thingy. I’ve got a Magic Trackpad paired to the ipad, and my keyboard (Keychron K2) can be switched between devices in about a second when needed.
A lot of the time the ipad is just sat there almost in split screen with Slack on one half and a portal into our “waiting/unassigned” chat queue so I can keep an eye on them if they’re racking up, and for any new messages in slack.
Handy for checking on google sheets too to view rotas/other info without cluttering up my main screen or sorting through a million tabs to find the one I’m after.
I don’t have a webcam hooked up to my main computer, so it gets used for all our video calls too, camera’s decent, I can chip away at work stuff at the same time, and the background replacement thing is pretty handy/fun, especially when your wife has an aversion to throwing things out and sometimes there’s a pile of “to sort out” behind me.
It’s saved my butt a few times too when the VPN client we use has pooped the bed on the desktop. There’s an iOS version too, so I’ve been able to use that to get to the stuff that’s locked behind that.
At a push, I could do my entire job from it, as 95% of it is in a browser anyway. The only things I’d really miss are proper TextExpander support, and to a lesser degree, Raycast’s clipboard history thing.
My employer issues HP laptops, which are good spec but crippled by security and replete with deactivated features.
I was using my personal iPad for notes and tuning into webinars as I could stream audio wirelessly to my hearing aids (BT locked down on the laptop…). My boss told me she’d traded in her crappy work Android smartphone for a work-issue iPad (9th gen). Adios low end crippled-by-security Android device, hello cellular iPad (ok who spec’d a 3GB data allowance?)!
Recently we trialled a shift from Blackberry apps to MS 365 cloud based working. Combined with a Magic Keyboard and Mouse, my work iPad effectively is a 90% laptop replacement for many of my writing/data analysis tasks (a couple of bespoke apps aren’t available). For notes, its MS OneNote which is a work in progress in terms of learning. On work from home days I hook the iPad up to a basic HP monitor. The black bands are irksome but makes split screen etc much more effective.
I was using my personal iPad for notes and tuning into webinars as I could stream audio wirelessly to my hearing aids (BT locked down on the laptop…). My boss told me she’d traded in her crappy work Android smartphone for a work-issue iPad (9th gen). Adios low end crippled-by-security Android device, hello cellular iPad (ok who spec’d a 3GB data allowance?)!
Recently we trialled a shift from Blackberry apps to MS 365 cloud based working. Combined with a Magic Keyboard and Mouse, my work iPad effectively is a 90% laptop replacement for many of my writing/data analysis tasks (a couple of bespoke apps aren’t available). For notes, its MS OneNote which is a work in progress in terms of learning. On work from home days I hook the iPad up to a basic HP monitor. The black bands are irksome but makes split screen etc much more effective.
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So funny how quickly things have changed. I work in the tech sector and I'd say just 10 or 12 years ago, if you showed up for a new job and asked for you computer to be a Mac they'd laugh in your face. A Mac? What do you think you are, the CEO of the company already?
The job I have now I started early last year--when I was brought in I was asked right off the bat, "Are you more comfortable on Mac or PC?" I said Mac of course and she goes, "Macs are a little hard to come by right now with the supply chain shortages, so we might have to give you a PC to start and then switch you to a Mac later." Lo and behold the next week there was a 16" M1 Pro MBP at my doorstep a few days later.
The concepts of working from home, BYOD, and using a Mac for your full time job were very foreign to a lot of people just a short time ago.
my M2 11” iPad Pro is a must have as a ChatGPT Prompter. I trust the Apple EcoSystem on my iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPad Pro. That alone from local businesses using my services earns me $3,200 a week.
Stuff I couldn’t do on an Android which I have an S22 Ultra as a back up. And a Windows Laptop devices I wouldn’t use to access ChatGPT.
Stuff I couldn’t do on an Android which I have an S22 Ultra as a back up. And a Windows Laptop devices I wouldn’t use to access ChatGPT.
That right there is my use case. I used to have note pads full of meeting notes, to do, system information, etc. Now, with my iPad and OneNote, all my notes are central and easily searchable. You dont' have to go Pro, an Air or Mini will do just fine, however, once you are in, you'll start finding more use cases for your iPad.