7 Reasons an iPad Running iOS 11 Can Replace Your Computer

Image via Apple
There has been a lot of discussion lately about whether or not the iPad can truly replace a computer. In many respects, the answer is no, but the question then seems to be, can the iPad be a computer replacement for some people? Here are 7 features in iOS 11 that point to the answer "yes."
7. System-Wide Drag and Drop
Since iOS 8, Apple has supported document providers and extensions, which allowed content and files to be “shared” between applications. Often times, this felt unpolished, and was just complicated enough to be beyond your everyday iPad user. In iOS 11, however, Apple is borrowing yet another page from the classic computer interaction, allowing users to physically “pick up” (touch) almost any piece of data, and move it into any other app on the device.
Even more impressive is how iOS 11 will handle mis-matched file types and multiple content selections. Dropping a picture into the Maps app, for example, seems like it would do nothing, but thanks to image metadata, Maps will instead show where the photo was taken. Grabbing a chunk of text, an image, and a map, and dropping them into Notes will create a beautifully laid out document of your dream vacation.
Paired with the Files app, this becomes a huge productivity boost for collaborating or communicating via email, or for creating content rich documents.
6. Files App
One of the big surprises in the WWDC keynote was the Files app. For the better part of the iPad’s life (and the iPhone before it), people have been begging for a way to access and manage their files. Whether it’s documents, spreadsheets, presentations, or images, people have been clamoring for iOS to give them access to their files and folders like they came to expect on Windows or macOS. In iOS 11, Apple’s new Files app will do just that with support for iCloud Drive, as well as third-party apps (like Dropbox, Box, or OneDrive) and local file storage. Most of these files will live in a cloud service, but the app will allow for one-stop access to all of your most important stuff.
5. Unified (and Improved) App Switcher/Control Center
New to iOS 11 is the combined App Switcher and Control Center for iPad. Instead of Control Center being mostly unused space, and the app switcher giving one or two apps center stage, the iOS 11 layout puts them both in a single place. This “Mission Control” styled area gives greater flexibility to changing apps and settings, even without an attached keyboard.
Similar to alt-tabbing on a Mac, the new app switcher shows your most recent “open” apps, allowing you to quickly dive from app to app or space to space, similar to switching from window to window on your Mac or PC, as well as gives you all the Control Center toggles in a single pane (no more swiping to change song or adjust a HomeKit device), making it the touch equivalent of a keyboard shortcut.
4. Better Multitasking
From iOS 4 to iOS 8, through six iPad generations (mini included), iOS was a one-app-at-a-time system. Check an email, switch apps, browse the web, switch again, send a message, switch back to Safari, etc. The process was cumbersome, and often times, users landed back on the home screen to dig into their next task.
Finally, in iOS 9, the iPad began its transformation into viable computer - when Apple added multitasking. Accessing a second app in iOS 9 and iOS 10 was clunky at best. With iOS 11, gone is the terrible app list and the drag-on-from-the-right action. Now, apps can be pulled from the Home screen, search, or dock and dropped onto either side of the screen, or floated over the primary app(s). This makes working across multiple apps significantly more convenient.
3. Larger Dock
Being limited to six items in the dock on an iPad never really made sense to me, and in iOS 11, that cap has been more than doubled. Now your iPad can hold 13 apps and folders in the dock, with 3 additional spots for proactive, recent, or handoff apps. The reason this matters goes back to multitasking and the new app switcher.
Much like macOS, The dock can be invoked at any time by swiping from the bottom of the screen (similar to Control Center in previous iOS versions) when you’re in an app. A short swipe will summon only the dock to the screen, while a longer swipe will pull up the dock, the switcher, and control center. This gives you consistent, quick access to launching apps into multitasking. Having that speedy access to your most used apps certainly offers a potential boost to productivity, which is the goal of any good computer.
2. New “Taps”
In the early days of the iPad, there were two recognized touches. The regular touch for launching an app, moving your cursor through text, or hitting a button, and then the long press, which would allow rearranging the home screen, opening special menus, or popping open the text select dialog.
In iOS 11 on iPad, Apple has added a few new tiers of touch replicating 3D Touch of the iPhone. These new touches can work to grab and move apps without starting wiggle-mode, open extra menus, and allow for lifting and moving content with drag-and-drop. While this interaction is somewhat different from traditional computers, it has similarities to the right-click or click-and-drag on Mac or PC.
1. Notes Improvements
Apple’s recent focus on the stock Notes app has really helped push iOS in the productivity direction. With iOS 11, the Notes app takes another step forward, and adds a document scanner, Instant Markup, and Instant Notes.
Document scanner apps have been around for a long time, but having one built into the system means it’s assured to work, and integrate fully with all the other system applications and document providers. Instant Markup allows you to annotate, highlight, circle, or sign on any scanned page, directly inside the scanning UI. Screenshots also get the instant markup feature, although technically not a Notes app addition.
Instant Note is a feature that stands above any laptop or desktop computer I’ve used. Simply wake the screen of your iPad Pro, and without waiting to enter your passcode or seek out Touch ID, touch your Apple Pencil to the screen and you’re in the Notes app, drawing or jotting down any bit of important information. If the iPad hadn’t already replaced pen/pencil and paper for you, this should be the nail in the coffin.
Can an iPad Replace YOUR Computer?
Every person uses a computer differently, and for different things, and we can’t tell you if iPad can be a computer replacement for what you do. The major additions in iOS 11 move it towards being a more capable machine, and if your “computer” needs could be met by an iPhone, the iPad is certainly computer enough. If you require specialized software, you may need to stick with the traditional Mac or PC. Either way, the iPad shouldn’t be overlooked as a viable computer, especially when iOS 11 launches this fall.
Author’s note: this entire piece was written on an iPad Air 2, using the on-screen keyboard and iA Writer. It only seems fair to embrace the future if we’re going to tell you not to overlook it.