Can you use it to write iPadOS applications that you compile and run on the device?
For me: I can’t do computer things that I want to do (mainly code, but sometimes game, etc).
I ended up buying a used Surface Pro X. A bit slow, but I like that I can run something like VS Code and a Node server, or even a real web browser with network debugging tools, all using a touchscreen while on a bus or in an airplane.
(For my gaming fix, I find that GeForce Now or Moonlight work pretty well for streaming my existing games — not as practical to do on a bus though.)
My favorite apps are Procreate and GoodNotes. For me, either one is a killer app that justifies having an iPad.
I also have a ThinkPad for my personal projects and a desktop workstation for my job. Each machine has its strengths and weaknesses. Each was chosen because it was a great choice for what I need to do with it.
I’m one of the few people that hope the iPad doesn’t get more computer-like. I miss the days when you had an Atari or Amiga or PC or Mac and they were all very different and exciting and in competition with each other. Now we are approaching a very boring endgame where cross platform apps look the same everywhere and there’s nothing fun about any of it.
Genuine question; what loss of features or capabilities are you expecting if the iPad does become more computer-like? I don't understand how features like sideloading, compiling or emulating limits your ability to use Procreate and GoodNotes.
No internet connection required.
This should work for node but not compiled languages. I think that the compilation would happen on the slower Pi but maybe someone can figure out a way to compile but not run on the iPad.
https://magpi.raspberrypi.com/articles/connect-raspberry-pi-...
I’m even maintaining project that still keeps working as Swift Playgrounds.
Here is an open source example of such: https://github.com/talaviram/OpenSpoken/tree/main/OpenSpoken...
But I also have internally a bigger app that is doing similar approach (not open source code though) - https://www.smartercurrency.app
I’ve yet tried and I guess it’s limited for trying to do any ObjC++ / C++ / Metal. But I do believe Apple is using playgrounds as a playground for Xcode successor.
The biggest issue though, is version control (git…) which requires more work to get things properly.
The last time I tried, I couldn't get it to work, except...
One of the documented ways of creating compiled Metal kernels is to provide the source code as a string in your Swift code. And that works in Swift Playgrounds. It will compile and run your C++ Metal kernels, but it either works or doesn't. You get no compiler output.
Maybe you already know about this and you just mean there isn't an app that provides the equivalent of your full MacOS dev environment, but you can absolutely build and run iOS apps on your iPad with Swift Playgrounds.
It has a lot of shortcomings, but I've used it to create a couple little personal apps that I can run without distributing them through the App Store.