My iPad Experience

I’ve decided to buy an iPad in the first weeks of August. My main point for buying it was that I’ve learned how hard it is to study from a desktop computer. There are many advantages and disadvantages of using a “real” computer as a student, but the most significant differences between a computer and an iPad is an input option. Sure you can type fast on a computer but how about annotating or reading while commuting. I still use my elementary os based computer for programming and designing daily. iPad changed how I write notes and study for school, let me explain.

What I mainly do with an iPad?

I use my iPad daily. Most common tasks are annotating and reading PDFs, browsing the web, studying from PowerPoint and managing my calendar. Most of these things can be done using a regular computer. From now on, whenever I use word computer, it refers to a desktop or a laptop with macOS, Windows or some Linux distribution. However, some of these tasks are just made for a touch screen with a pencil scenario. In this case, I’m mostly talking about annotating PDFs. In most of my subjects, we get weekly articles and other materials in PDF that we need to read and understand. This is where having an Apple Pan comes in handy. It’s incredibly satisfying and encouraging to learn and annotate notes actively, and I’m sure that this task can be a bit harder to do on a computer. I’m not saying that you need an iPad, but it’s an excellent addition to have. However; if you are in the market for buying a new laptop or a tablet, I would go with the laptop.

Studying

I think that the iPad is a great learning tool when used correctly. Here are some apps that I use for studying. Since most of my university files are on the cloud, I use Google Drive quite a lot. With our university account, we have unlimited storage, and that’s a massive bonus for me. I upload, and backup all of my school work there, and I love that I can access that data from my computer or smartphone. The best studying related apps must be Notability, Notion, PowerPoint and Files app.

Notability

If you’re a student with an iPad, you have probably already heard about Notability. It’s a note-taking app that has some great features. I’m not going to go into details; however, there are tons of apps like the on the App Store, so make sure to explore other options before going with this one. I can say that I enjoy Notability, and I love using it daily. If you’re looking to write notes with an Apple Pencil, Notability is a way to go. I’ve also heard a few good things about GoodNotes, but I haven’t tried them.

Other Apps

For organizing my life, I use Google Calendar, which is great because I can sync my calendar between all of my devices. It’s helpful and practical. I also use Notion, mostly for organizing my life and making some quick notes, balancing my finance and tracking books that I’ve read. I might do a full review on how I use Notion if some of you are interested (comment below). Besides Google Calendar, I also use Todoist daily to write my most important tasks. I’ve been using Todoist for quite some time, and I’m quite a big fan of it.

I also have Endel, which I already reviewed here on Zheano Blog. Make sure to check that review here. I’m not going to write about every app on my iPad since there are a lot of apps that you probably know about like Pocket, Word, PowerPoint, Google Keep, Gmail etc. I use almost all of them, and I have this rule that when I don’t use an app for some time, I delete it from the device. It’s a great way to have only the apps that you use. I would recommend that you also try this trick and tell me how it goes. There are two apps that I’m not going to write too much about, but I also want to mention them. Workout and Streaks are two apps from the same developer available on the App Store. I’ve been using this Workout app for quite some time, and I love it! I’ve been working out daily for more than 40 days now.

Even More Apps

Scanbot is a good scanner app. I use this app from time to time; however, I don’t have as many documents to scan. I love the app’s design, and I love how fast and good scanning works. Another app I’ve also talk about already on Zheano Blog is 1Password. I’ve been testing 1Password for a couple of months now, and I like it a lot. I don’t know how long I’m going to keep it since I would also like to try other options. In the current state, I would recommend 1Password to anyone who isn’t already using a password manager.

Jumbo

If you have an iOS device, you NEED to install Jumbo. Jumbo is a focused privacy app that deletes your data from a variety of services like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Alexa and more. This is one of the essential apps that you should have on an iOS device. If you care about privacy (and you should) make sure to give Jumbo a try.

Get Our Wallpaper

Yes, a while ago I made these iOS 13 inspired wallpapers. They work great for all of my devices. I’ve been using these wallpaper on my Android phone and my computer and I love it! Make sure to check out this wallpaper for free. Download Wallpaper here.

IPad OS

Yes, I’ve been using iPad OS since 3rd beta. I love it. I’m not going to write about every iPadOS feature ever, but I think that this is one of my favourite software I’ve used. It’s fast and reliable, something that is very important to everyone but especially to a student who wants to get work done. I don’t think that an iPad with an iPad OS can completely replace a computer; however, I don’t believe that we should compare tablets with computers even though the gap is getting thinner.

Conclusion

No, iPad didn’t replace my computer, but it made a significant change in how I study and do my work. Most of my university work is now done with an iPad; however, for coding and some computer science subjects, I need to use my computer to get the job done. I can say that for most people, iPad is an excellent replacement; however, it’s not for everyone. For me, an iPad is just an extension of my workflow. I like it how I take my iPad everyone and how I can use it regularly for my studies. However, if you want just a bigger screen to watch Netflix or YouTube, you can always fall back on the iPad.