I Don’t Want Xcode on the iPad | Hacker News Reader

I Don’t Want Xcode on the iPad

rhonabwy.com

23 pointsgoranmoomin28 comments

The author is using the ipad and mac in specific ways and assumes everyone else is doing the same.

They seem to be using the ipad for single focus tasks and the mac for multitasking.

iPadOS has been getting improved multitasking support for a while now. You can have two apps open at the same time (which yes you can resize) and also temporarily swipe in additional ones when you need them and pretty legit mouse and keyboard support.

In a similar fashion the mac has pretty ok single task support by allowing you to put apps in fullscreen mode and if you just want something a bit more flexible split your fullscreen between just two apps.

At the end of the day it all comes down to options. Yes I would like the option to run xcode on the ipad and also have multiwindow and multiuser support but that doesn’t mean I’d have to use it.

> The author (…) assumes everyone else is doing the same.

Do they? Both the title and article are riddled with “I”. There are two instances of “we” and they’re both paraphrasing a general sentiment they’ve observed. Seems to me the article is an expressions of what the author desires without judgement or assumptions towards others.

Lol, then don't work with it if at all it comes out or let alone access SSH either if that is too distracting as well.

The important part is access to options, not just limited to Apple or Android ecosystems.

Here we have devices with no way to develop applications solely using them & publishing them. Heck you can't even format USB drives with iso images from our so called portable computers(phones/tablets), even if our laptops or PCs without CD drives ever need an occasional formatting.

This is more of enabling options to who wants it, not just pandering to one persons distraction free session on one of their devices.

There seems to be a non-negligable portion of Apple users that are users because of what it doesn't enable one to do as much as what a device does enable. It's something I've noticed in these kinds of threads; people that value the hardware because it's guaranteed to focus on how they would use it, people that value the singular app store because they would see their purchase devalued if others had the option even if they wouldn't use it, people that want simplicity over options on each device.

I'm not arguing one way or the other, though my stance is more similar to yours, but simply saying "well don't use it and let others have the option" isn't providing fresh realization that will change their minds as that's not what they are hung up on. Their value in investment into the ecosystem isn't perceived just on what the device can do for them rather what one can't do as well.

Yup, I would never trust financial input on my Android phone/PC/Laptop. Rather trust iOS only for this.

The important thing about the M1 iPad is that it’s the first time iOS is running on M1, and therefore M1 is the first chip that can rup both iOS and OSX.

The obvious next step is for Apple to do a Samsung, and have iOS and OSX running on the same device, with iOS running when the device is in portable mode, and OSX running when it is docked and connected to a KVM.

At some point there won’t be a separate Mac and iDevice line. All devices will be iDevices that can run both iOS and OSX.

Apple has clearly been pushing for this for a long time. They’ve taken so many steps towards making the transition when a user switched from 1 OS to another seamless, with technologies like iCloud Drive that provides a single file system layer, universal apps that work across OS’es, handoff that allows for a smooth transition of state for an app running on OSX to the same app running on iOS and vice versa, etc.

> The important thing about the M1 iPad is that it’s the first time iOS is running on M1, and therefore M1 is the first chip that can rup both iOS and OSX.

The Apple Silicon Developer Transition Kit contained an A12Z that ran macOS, so the M1 is not the first.

They will never do this because it allows side stepping the app store. It's that simple.

iOS would continue being limited to the App Store. But if that’s indeed a worry, one could foresee that the macOS version running on the iDevices are limited to App Store apps only. macOS can already be configured to do that.

To be honest, I don't know what the iPad is. I have one, but it is not optimal to watch movies on because the screen is too small, it is not useful as a general purpose computer because iOS is too limited in that regard.

So I guess outside of artists or those who edit photos, there really isn't much of a market that isn't better served with a laptop or a Phone.

The only practical use case I see is as a demo device. For example when my mom went on vacation and wants to show me photo's it is a much better experience to slide through them on an iPad than sit behind a laptop.

I can imagine this works out in most demonstration cases.

I think the strength of an iPad is its flexibility. You mention it's too small for watching movies, that's correct for you but for me personally (and others) it's a fantastic device for watching movies and other video. I also use it for looking at (but not editing) photos, and (with a Bluetooth keyboard) some quick terminal work.

It's also a great primary computer for users that don't need or want the overhead of a PC, ideal for people like my mother who just want to check email and browse social media.

I do agree that for many users an iPad makes no sense at all, especially if you have a variety of other computing devices that are better suited for your specific needs A jack of all trades, master of none situation.

The 12.9" iPad Pro is the first tablet I've used where I can read a magazine in digital format and not feel like I'm reading a shrunken down version of it.

10" tablets were close but not quite there. I always found myself doing more pinch zooming than I liked.

I’ll provide my anecdotal counterpoint - I do the vast majority of my personal web browsing and leisure videos etc. on the 10.x” iPad Pro and a suite of iPads before it.

At work, I’m an engineer and people manager and I find that for many of my common tasks like presenting, taking notes, emails etc. the iPad is fine and portable which is a plus. I do have a 16” MacBook which does get a good bit of use but only for things the iPad doesn’t do well, like SSH and text editing, but if it did I’d sooner take the iPad with me.

Just depends what workflow you as an individual use, I’ve built a career out of making web UIs for common tasks so them working on an iPad for my use case is not surprising to me, I’d suggest looking at what you ‘actually’ do to see if you really always need to carry a full laptop.

RE videos - yep no portable will ever be as good as my home theatre but I can’t watch that on a train or in a hotel, I can with my iPad and it doesn’t get anywhere near as warm as my slightly larger laptop does on a pillow. I’d argue its far more competitive than you’ve suggested.

If Apple released Xcode for iPad, it'd highlight all the inadequacies of iPadOS and iPad's form factor (in its pure undocked state).

Development needs a proper keyboard, and a significant screen real estate. An on-screen keyboard shared with Xcode's UI, and further splitting the screen with the app being developed would be very cramped.

iPadOS also has no consideration for command-line tools and shared things that don't belong to any app-silo. If you ever needed something not built-in into Xcode.app, it'd be awkward clash with sandboxing. Is Xcode build supposed to launch a Siri Shortcut of Ruby.app to run a script, with all the GUI animations in between?

Mouse support is still hidden under several layers of menus despite iPad OS advertising it as a feature.

For Xcode they could take a page out of Android's book and enable it under a "Developer Mode".

Are there that many people with iPad Pros who do not have the folio or Magic keyboard?

Also, I feel like the solution is to release an "App" that has a virtualization server in it, that can run MacOS. Keeps it contained, off to the side for the devs, but can take over the screen and inputs and be a fully-fledged touch MacBook to those who want it. (Maybe require dev accounts?)

Perhaps we should consider that the text-based approach to programming is inadequate. That maybe a process that requires large physical monitors and large physical keyboards should adapt to an era where a lot of computing is done on small mobile devices.

> Development needs a proper keyboard, and a significant screen real estate.

Or just an 80x24 text window.

I’m a big fan of the iPad not being a device that aims to be my Mac. An iPad is not a workstation, thankfully. It’s a device to have fun with, watch Netflix on, play casual games, and take notes/draw (which can be used in professional context). It’s kid friendly, and doesn’t require a lot of hand holding to get started on. What is this moving an app to a folder business on a Mac?

I like my iPad and Mac running two distinctive operating systems. Each serves its purpose and intent for use very well.

Not disagreeing but the iPad could certainly support multitasking that doesn't kill apps. For instance, being able to download in the browser while checking email.

Yes, it does that, now. It also supports side-by-side multi-tasking, though I always struggle to remember the very precise gesture to move something into multi-tasking mode.

iPad supporting Xcode would still allow you to do åll those things.

Why not give people the option... Seems silly to be an iOS developer exclusively and NEED a MacBook.... If you can develop an iOS app for iPad on iPad and that suits your needs then why the hell not...

The one thing I’d like to see on the iPad is multiuser support. I can’t see it happening though, Apple wants to sell a device for each user.

I know Apple was researching multi user ability on iOS and iPadOS. They were looking at extending the Secure Enclave to allow that. Is there a chance this M1 iPad Pro might be a step in allowing multi user accounts on iPadOS?

Sure, Xcode on iOS may be of limited use. But macOS on iPad Pro would be amazing.

Apple has slowly morphed the iPad into a laptop and it's somehow considered innovation.

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