Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I did look at FileBrowser and it's a pretty neat piece of software (and integrates really well with the document picker), but I don't really want to be creating files that live only on my iPad and for us, OneDrive For Business and SharePoint have become our corporate network storage (backed up locally and remotely before anyone says anything about trusting documents to the cloud ;))

I use FileBrowser... I just like the flexibility it has with using various cloud services.

It also uses SplitView.
 
I did look at FileBrowser and it's a pretty neat piece of software (and integrates really well with the document picker), but I don't really want to be creating files that live only on my iPad

FileBrowser is great for accessing networked drives, and is often faster at reading directories than Macs and PCs. It's also great because it can connect to online storage services like Dropbox and OneDrive, so if you ever need to transfer files between different online storage services, FileBrowser can do that. GoodReader can do it too, I believe, but I like the FileBrowser interface better.
 
FileBrowser is great for accessing networked drives, and is often faster at reading directories than Macs and PCs. It's also great because it can connect to online storage services like Dropbox and OneDrive, so if you ever need to transfer files between different online storage services, FileBrowser can do that. GoodReader can do it too, I believe, but I like the FileBrowser interface better.

Yeah, it does seem a really well written bit of software and I sort of want to use it for no other reason than that :) I was also looking at FileBrowser for Business as it supports SharePoint and OneDrive for business which would increase it's usefulness to me (as well as our own SharePoint stuff, I have to access customers' SharePoint sites and have been using SharePlus - I much prefer the UI of FileBrowser though)

We use CloudHQ for consolidating cloud accounts but I can see the benefit of FileBrowser for ad-hoc stuff
 
The IPP is definitely the go-to device for productivity. It will NEVER compete with a real laptop computer whether it be Windows or OS X. the reason I say it's the go-to is due to the screen size and split view being completely usable. On the other 10" size iPads it's very difficult/a lot hard to work with split view and just feels cramped.

You can think of IOS at its current state to be maybe 90-95% replacement for a real computer. You have to decide if you want security or flexibility but not both. All the apps are sandboxes and you will indeed have to copy and duplicate files in each app to get around the lack of a real file system but that provides security and personally I don't find it that compromising. Just have to do 2-3x the steps to move files around. You can just use iCloud but I have multiple NAS drives and file shares on my network so it requires FileBrowser/documents/PDF Expert to move stuff around. WIth the locations extensions you can definitely work with files outside of iOS.

The only things you cannot do at the moment are: software development, working with large databases, opening TWO of the SAME apps side by side (like two excel worksheets), encrypting files, and things like recording screen, watching TV, stuff that you do on a typical computer. There will be apps that can do this but then you need iOS to open up those API for these apps to happen. Right now it's as if Apple is trickling API functionality bit by bit and probably will take like 3 more revisions to get close to that 99% laptop replacement.

I personally do not mind opening up files from FileBrowser and the like and having to duplicate it around I just go back and delete those duplicates after I'm done. I also have a cheap 50GB iCloud account just to not have to always move stuff around too much unless it's stored on my NAS. People who doubt productivity on an iPad pro is just making up excuses. Sure it's more tedious but it's definitely doable and I love the fact I get full security on my iPad pro.

The iPad pro is just fast enough to really replace my laptop but yes there is that 5-10% of the time I need a real computer to complete the job. Otherwise the IPP is my sole computer.

Edit: you can always get a Remote Desktop app to remote into any pc/Mac. So I guess you can really replace the laptop :)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: eltoslightfoot
I don't do any productivity tasks on my iPad Air 2, but I might do in the future like photo editing and video editing. :)
I don't use any of my iPads for productivity. Primarily because I have a brace of wonderful MacBook, MacBook Pro laptops for that. Personally I love my Mac Laptops and that form factor. Therefore for my personel preferences I choose to reserve my iPads for reading, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix & Hulu, with a couple of casual games... makes them terrific entertainment devices to enjoy once I'm back from the gym.
 
You can think of IOS at its current state to be maybe 90-95% replacement for a real computer.

It depends on the user. To someone ipad may replace a computer totally, but again it may not be a choice at all to another.

If i think of doing work and a ipad vs computer usage, i quess i still use 95% of my laptop to do my works. Some of the works i could do with ipad, but it is time consuming and i should switch between ipad/laptop. I do it much faster and better with a laptop anyway..
 
At work I use it with Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Workflow, Dropbox, Graphic(old iDraw), Scanbot mostly but also a few of the Adobe apps.

I tried to use FileBrowser, but it was mostly useless for me, you can´t get to files in iClound-drive that belongs to other applications anyway, not like you can with the iCloud-app that already exists. So you might as well use dropbox or any of the other apps that basically do the same thing for free. Unless you need to access external drives/ftp-sites/etc I saw no point in it for me atleast.
 
Unless you need to access external drives/ftp-sites/etc I saw no point in it for me atleast.

That's kind of like saying "Excel is pointless, unless you need to work with spreadsheets." Accessing external drives / ftp sites is the main purpose of FileBrowser. When it was first released, that's basically all it did. The other functions are a bonus, and were added to the app later.
 
FileBrowser is great for accessing networked drives, and is often faster at reading directories than Macs and PCs. It's also great because it can connect to online storage services like Dropbox and OneDrive, so if you ever need to transfer files between different online storage services, FileBrowser can do that. GoodReader can do it too, I believe, but I like the FileBrowser interface better.

You actually like FileBrowser interface over GoodReader? I actually prefer GoodReader, but the only fault i have is that FileBrowser connects easily with cloud services.

Supposedly, GoodReader is planning a major overhaul of the interface.
 
FileBrowser will not allow you to traverse to the root of iCloud Drive so you can see everything, however. BUT if you use PDF Expert and/or Documents app both by Readdle, both can traverse to the root of iCloud Drive. I actually use PDF expert and FileBrowser for both working with moving stuff around. I choose PDF Expert because I can get to the root of my iCloud Drive and whenever I need to work with PDF files located on my NAS and iCloud. It's a bit redundant but if I wanted to access AFP vs SMB networked drives, I'd use Goodreader but that interface is no comparison to FileBrowser/PDF Expert (which is the only app that allows drag and dropping!)

All three apps: goodreader, PDF expert, FileBrowser can all extract zip files as well.
 
I like Documents as well. I use it as my basic file manager and can move files between my company FTP site, OneDrive for business, iCloud Drive, and also keep files stored on the iPad within Documents.
 
PDF Expert
OmniFocus
Noteshelf
iThoughts
Calculator endless
Scanner Pro
Internet banking
Numbers, Pages
Word, Excel, Powerpoint
 
Last edited:
I use primarily the iWork suite of apps (Numbers, Pages, Keynote) because I like the way they work. However, thanks to constantly sharing documents, I'm forced more or less to use Office (I've a 365 subscription from work). I also use iBooks and Adobe for PDF viewing (mostly so if I need to view two pdfs at the same time, one in the regular window and one in slide over). Otherwise, Mail, Notes, Reminders, Google Drive, Sheets, and Docs. I think that rounds it out...
 
This are mine, I'm a medicine student on my intern year
image.png
image.png
 
fc61893c5795f852570e1bee09b18e70.jpg
94032e24a046d16afcc0629ca1e604d6.jpg
aee8de0ccc2c41f6d9d3c31e49500856.jpg


Here's mine; I am a school teacher.

First page has the apps I use in class. Second page are my own consumption apps. Third page are misc utility apps and odds and ends I experiment with from time to time.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.