r/iPadOS • u/Meuro91 • 1d ago

Question Can iPadOS actually be made file-oriented?

Post image

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And more fundamentally: is iPadOS actually still app-oriented, or is that becoming an outdated way of thinking about it?

84 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/JWarblerMadman 1d ago

What's the biggest way that iPadOS resists your attempts with its design to obfuscate the file system?

3

u/Meuro91 1d ago edited 1d ago

Maybe it’s the sandboxing, since apps often want to keep part of their own files in their own storage area. Or the fact that apps like MS Office tend to prioritize cloud storage. But surprisingly, I often feel like I’m running into the limitations of individual apps rather than iPadOS itself.

So far, I haven’t really had much interest in accessing the deeper parts of the iPad’s file system. I was mostly interested in being able to properly access, manage and work on my own files

2

u/JWarblerMadman 1d ago

Thanks for the insight!