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iPad Pro For Reading PDFs and Books

S

seasurfer

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 12, 2007
756
184
Before the release of iPad Pro, I always wish that my iPad Air 2 screen is bigger. Since the second iPad came out in 2012, I have almost exclusively used the iPad to read PDF articles and books and I really enjoyed it. The iPad has certainly brought me a lot convenience that I could never had before.

Yet, I always wish the screen is a little bigger, at least like an A4 size paper.

Now come the iPad Pro, and I was very trilled when I got my first one on the day it was release. I told myself, finally!

After almost a week of trying, I am not sure anymore if the size of the iPad Pro is best for reading? I noticed that my eyes are not as comfortable as on the iPad Air 2. The wordings are smaller on the iPad Air 2, yet it seems more comfortable to my eyes. I can't explain why.

May be it is due to the lighting. The Pro's screen is bigger therefore more light are going into the eyes and making it relatively uncomfortable. Or may the eyes are staring at the bigger screen and making it tired...I just don't know anymore.

Holding the Pro is not uncomfortable to me, it wasn't heavy after all. However, I definitely miss the even lighter iPad Air 2.

What do you guys think?
 
I'm finding it amazing for PDFs.

I like it much better than the SP3, and reading on the 15" MacBook Pro was a bit awkward.
 
I haven't got mine yet (darn AT&T and their delayed shipping) but I'm REALLY looking forward to portrait-reading comics and manga. This is one thing that PC's and of course standard Macs really fall behind in my opinion. Yes I know there are rotating monitors out there but I don't have one and the software for portrait-viewing is still behind on standard computers when compared to tablets. I'll let you know what I think (only a week or two to go!).
 
I'd really like a lightweight portrait-holding case for this purpose. Hoping that either Ozaki (Slim-Y) or Moshi (VersaCover) could come up with one soon.
 
If your eyes fatiguing could be things like:
the screen brightness is too high
too much blue light
you are looking up and down a lot (which is why I hold horizontally most of the time)

Even tho I read screens 99.9% of the time. In a way I still prefer actual paper, because you are not staring directly at a light, its much softer for your eyes. Kinda why those "electronic paper" devices exist for reading. This is where old fashioned hiring books from libraries or second hand books is still nice. Mixture of the "saving paper" and "saving your eyes" here.

Auto brightness seems to be good for me, but you may want to try find a brightness that is as low as possible without straining your eyes the other way around - where it is too hard to see what is on the screen.
 
seasurfer said:
After almost a week of trying, I am not sure anymore if the size of the iPad Pro is best for reading? I noticed that my eyes are not as comfortable as on the iPad Air 2. The wordings are smaller on the iPad Air 2, yet it seems more comfortable to my eyes. I can't explain why.

May be it is due to the lighting. The Pro's screen is bigger therefore more light are going into the eyes and making it relatively uncomfortable. Or may the eyes are staring at the bigger screen and making it tired...I just don't know anymore.
Click to expand...

Well you might be unconsciously holding it further away from your eyes. Psychologically, because the screen is larger, you hold it further away from you, making it seem harder to read.

This is another reason why I'd like a portrait supporting case. That way you can just move it to the right distance for your eyes and leave it there.
 
seasurfer said:
Before the release of iPad Pro, I always wish that my iPad Air 2 screen is bigger. Since the second iPad came out in 2012, I have almost exclusively used the iPad to read PDF articles and books and I really enjoyed it. The iPad has certainly brought me a lot convenience that I could never had before.

Yet, I always wish the screen is a little bigger, at least like an A4 size paper.

Now come the iPad Pro, and I was very trilled when I got my first one on the day it was release. I told myself, finally!

After almost a week of trying, I am not sure anymore if the size of the iPad Pro is best for reading? I noticed that my eyes are not as comfortable as on the iPad Air 2. The wordings are smaller on the iPad Air 2, yet it seems more comfortable to my eyes. I can't explain why.

May be it is due to the lighting. The Pro's screen is bigger therefore more light are going into the eyes and making it relatively uncomfortable. Or may the eyes are staring at the bigger screen and making it tired...I just don't know anymore.

Holding the Pro is not uncomfortable to me, it wasn't heavy after all. However, I definitely miss the even lighter iPad Air 2.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Have you tried different backgrounds?

A lot of apps allow you to use a night mode or a sepia.
 
I generally avoid reading too much on bright screens, if I can help it. It's bad for your eyes. Actual printed paper is much better, and if apps support it, night mode (dark background, white text) is much better as well.
If you have to read on white backgrounds on a screen, at least lower your brightness a fair bit, it helps.
 
You need to lower the brightness or try night mode. I don't know how people can stand looking at a display at full brightness for so long.
 
I have been detaching the smart cover, folding it into a triangle and supporting the iPad in portrait on that. Not sure yet if I prefer it to the Air for reading, but for large technical/maths documents, it certainly saves a lot of scrolling and zooming.
 
The main reason why I was looking forward to the iPad Pro and SP4 was for pdf sheet music. iPad Pro is totally awesome for sheet music. I also use it for magazines, light novels, manga, and eBooks and really enjoy the big screen.
 
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It might be the app you are using.

I normally use GoodReader for reading PDFs, but it hasn't been updated for the Pro yet, so the app is basically being scaled up from 'regular' iPad resolution to Pro resolution. Because of this, text looks slightly fuzzy.

By comparison, PDFExpert (currently free in the App Store) is Pro optimised. The text looks super sharp.
 
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danmart said:
It might be the app you are using.

I normally use GoodReader for reading PDFs, but it hasn't been updated for the Pro yet, so the app is basically being scaled up from 'regular' iPad resolution to Pro resolution. Because of this, text looks slightly fuzzy.

By comparison, PDFExpert (currently free in the App Store) is Pro optimised. The text looks super sharp.
Click to expand...

Same here -- until GoodReader updates, I've been opening PDF's in either Documents 5 or PDF Expert. Much sharper, nicer experience. I did ping GoodReader devs on Facebook and they said they're working on it, so we'll see.
 
David58117 said:
Have you tried different backgrounds?

A lot of apps allow you to use a night mode or a sepia.
Click to expand...


This.

One of the things that pushed me over the edge in replacing my iPad Air 2 with an iPad Pro was the desire to read well-illustrated Kindle books in the larger format. It is awesome for that!
 
Reading wasn't the main reason I got the iPad Pro. For ebooks and magazines and stuff like that I'd rather use either my phone (it's large) or my Kindle.
 
It could be just a habit thing. When I got the 27" iMac I thought "I can't use this, it's too big!" But then of course I adjusted. It could be you just need to adjust to the bigger screen over time. Like you will find a comfortable distance, you might hold it a bit different, your eyes will get used to the bigger screen.
 
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