iPad iPad Desktop Setup for the elderly?

[jclardy]

My grandpa is getting older, and his old windows desktop has been trashed due to malware (It is recoverable, but it’ll just repeat the process over time.)

Now with mouse + keyboard support on the iPad i’m wondering if anyone is using this setup? The idea would be turning the base $329 iPad into a permanent desktop machine using an HDMI dongle to plug it into a larger display for easier viewing size, power always connected and keyboard/mouse connected via BT. I think the accessibility features of the iPad would be hugely beneficial to him, but I have a few other concerns. He would mainly be using this for email/facebook/web.

Some of the iPad gestures are confusing, even to me (The ”drag the mouse cursor past the right side to pull in slide over” is one of many) so I’d probably turn off slideover and split view. The other concern is the “home gesture” to leave an app. Is there any way to map CMD+H to escape or any other key? There is the physical home button but the iPad will be set somewhere away from the keyboard. My last concern is screen sharing, I know in Skype and other apps you can long press on screen recording, but guiding him to open control center and long press on a specific icon over the phone is not going to be fun. Is there any way I can create a shortcut that would start screen sharing via a skype call while a call is active? My guess is no, but I haven’t looked into it.

The other thing is monitors - is there any monitor that will have the least “black bars”? I know when I plug my iPad Pro 11 into my 4k 16:9 monitor it gives me huge black bars on top and sides, making the 27” screen somewhere around 18”.

Just want to know if anyone has tried this with any success? The other option is an older mac mini that I just lock down a bit. The main reason i’d prefer the iPad setup is just because he uses an iPad Mini for reading/browsing - so he is already familiar with the UI and the apps/homescreen.

 

[0128672]

I think it's really nice how much you want to help your grandpa with a good solution. Wouldn't sitting in a comfortable chair (or in bed) be easier than sitting at a desk, especially for reading? I wonder too if getting keyboard case and using the various iPadOS Accessibility options, including text size, might work too rather than the expense and your tech support time of a monitor.

 

[jclardy]

I think it's really nice how much you want to help your grandpa with a good solution. Wouldn't sitting in a comfortable chair (or in bed) be easier than sitting at a desk, especially for reading? I wonder too if getting keyboard case and using the various iPadOS Accessibility options, including text size, might work too rather than the expense and your tech support time of a monitor.

I agree on that point, but he already has the iPad Mini for reading. This would mostly be if he wanted to type an email or document. The main thing is he’d rather sit at his desk to type, and isn’t very good adept at using a trackpad. So the monitor is mainly to bring the display to a more ideal height, while still letting the iPad be reachable for touch input if needed. Also he already has a monitor that should work.

I did solve one issue, I found my old Logitech K810 keyboard already has a home button key, so that’ll be perfect.

 

[stanza.richi]

I agree on that point, but he already has the iPad Mini for reading. This would mostly be if he wanted to type an email or document.

Why don’t use his iPad Mini for this?

 

[0128672]

Why don’t use his iPad Mini for this?

I wonder that too. I had an excellent Zagg Rugged Keyboard case for my iPad Mini 5 and it was so easy to use. It was also very stable to type on. Typically I used it on a pillow to gain some height.

 

[hovscorpion12]

The only issue you will encounter is how iPadOS is displayed on an external monitor. It’s an iOS issue. The display won’t be full screen but you will still be able to have the iPad displayed.

 

[rui no onna]

I use a Logitech M720 mouse and MX Ergo Plus trackball and have two of the buttons mapped to Control Center and App Switcher via Accessibility Settings.

Mind, you can still find some 5:4 monitors on Dell Business but 16:9 displays are ubiquitous and cheaper.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Why don’t use his iPad Mini for this?

Yeah, it doesn't exactly make sense to me.

 

[jclardy]

Yeah, it doesn't exactly make sense to me.

The reason is simplicity - sitting down at the desk and pushing a key on the keyboard to use it. The mini would work, but then he’d have to manually turn off the BT keyboard (to ensure he gets the software keyboard when walking away from the desk), and plug in the HDMI dongle every time he wanted to use it there.

Plus his mini is an iPad Mini 3, so this is also a CPU + software upgrade.

 

[EugW]

Depending upon what he needs to do, I might recommend just getting him an iMac or Mac laptop, with Chrome as the default browser.

Safari still has too many compatibility issues with websites, whether it's on macOS or on iPadOS. One problem on iPadOS is you can't set Chrome up as the default browser. The other problem is that mouse support is still hit and miss on iPadOS, since it's so new.

 

[AutomaticApple]

The problem on iPadOS is you can't set Chrome up as the default browser.

Under the hood, Safari and Google Chrome are identical on iPadOS.

 

[EugW]

Under the hood, Safari and Google Chrome are identical on iPadOS.

I know, but that fact may not actually matter, at least for some websites. Some websites that don't work in Safari on iPadOS work just fine in Chrome on iPadOS. For example, a lot of my kids' educational game sites exhibit this behaviour on my kids' iPad Air 2s. They work fine in Chrome on the iPad, but don't work properly (or at all) in Safari. Each time I have to copy the link and then manually launch Chrome and paste the link into Chrome. It's really annoying.

So, while the browser engine is the same, what they do in the browser design still significantly affects site compatibility.

 

[TheRealAlex]

My grandpa is getting older, and his old windows desktop has been trashed due to malware (It is recoverable, but it’ll just repeat the process over time.)

Now with mouse + keyboard support on the iPad i’m wondering if anyone is using this setup? The idea would be turning the base $329 iPad into a permanent desktop machine using an HDMI dongle to plug it into a larger display for easier viewing size, power always connected and keyboard/mouse connected via BT. I think the accessibility features of the iPad would be hugely beneficial to him, but I have a few other concerns. He would mainly be using this for email/facebook/web.

Some of the iPad gestures are confusing, even to me (The ”drag the mouse cursor past the right side to pull in slide over” is one of many) so I’d probably turn off slideover and split view. The other concern is the “home gesture” to leave an app. Is there any way to map CMD+H to escape or any other key? There is the physical home button but the iPad will be set somewhere away from the keyboard. My last concern is screen sharing, I know in Skype and other apps you can long press on screen recording, but guiding him to open control center and long press on a specific icon over the phone is not going to be fun. Is there any way I can create a shortcut that would start screen sharing via a skype call while a call is active? My guess is no, but I haven’t looked into it.

The other thing is monitors - is there any monitor that will have the least “black bars”? I know when I plug my iPad Pro 11 into my 4k 16:9 monitor it gives me huge black bars on top and sides, making the 27” screen somewhere around 18”.

Just want to know if anyone has tried this with any success? The other option is an older mac mini that I just lock down a bit. The main reason i’d prefer the iPad setup is just because he uses an iPad Mini for reading/browsing - so he is already familiar with the UI and the apps/homescreen.

Just custom map things to Siris commands.

 

[jclardy]

Depending upon what he needs to do, I might recommend just getting him an iMac or Mac laptop, with Chrome as the default browser.

Safari still has too many compatibility issues with websites, whether it's on macOS or on iPadOS. One problem on iPadOS is you can't set Chrome up as the default browser. The other problem is that mouse support is still hit and miss on iPadOS, since it's so new.

Still deciding on the best option, the main reason I’m considering the iPad is that he is quite used to the iPad, has an iPhone and so then his desktop would just be an extension of those two things. Facetime/Messages/Mail/Facebook would all be the same experience.

Just custom map things to Siris commands.

Thats a good idea, I think between some combination of shortcuts + accessibility options + custom siri commands + voice control I should be able to make things “easy”.