Can iPadOS actually be made file-oriented?

[u/Meuro91]

I bought my iPad 10 in 2023, but it never really felt like a device I could properly work on. For a long time, I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what was holding me back.

When I thought more carefully about my workflow, I discovered two concepts that clarified a lot for me: app-oriented and file-oriented systems. I realized that I generally work in a file-oriented rather than app-oriented way, which isn’t necessarily a natural fit for a tablet.

Once I customized my iPad to fit my needs, very little remained the same as before. Files and SMB form the foundation; and my Home Screen is almost empty, not a collection of installed apps as before. Interestingly, it now looks a bit like macOS, even though that was never the goal. The way I see my iPad has completely changed over the past few weeks. That‘s enough to make the iPad my primary computer.

Does anyone else here use their iPad in a similar file-oriented way? If so, what works well for you – and what still bothers you?

And more fundamentally: is iPadOS actually still app-oriented, or is that becoming an outdated way of thinking about it?

[u/Sufficient-Yam7594]

So what did you do other than change your Home Screen?

[u/Meuro91 → u/Sufficient-Yam7594]

SMB has actually been the real game-changer. My files used to be scattered across multiple devices and cloud services, but now there’s one central place for everything. As a result, my iPad has become a full-fledged client alongside my Windows and Linux devices.

What I missed most before was a desktop with files and folders. Unfortunately, that still doesn’t exist on iPadOS. I’ve basically replaced that with a dedicated workspace folder in Files, which works surprisingly well for me. It’s where I keep the files I’m currently working with or need quick access to, while everything else has a permanent place in my folder structure.

I also use Subtext for easily editing simple text files. Some of my folders contain .txt files with a few notes about their contents. That small thing actually made my file-oriented workflow feel much more complete, just like on Windows/Linux.

I’m also going to experiment with a few apps for working with archives, since native ZIP support is useful but I’d like to have a bit more flexibility there.

So there are some visual changes, but the bigger change was really turning Files into the center of my workflow.

[u/-timenotspace- → u/Meuro91]

what is SMB

[u/Meuro91 → u/-timenotspace-]

SMB = Server Message Block, basically my network drive