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iOS 11 Turns The iPad Pro Into The Only Device Your Family Needs

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Credit: Andy Robertson

My children have grown up using iPads. Yes, they've had that unnerving ability to swipe-to-unlock from the age of two. The devices get used for all manner of things, from homework research to Netflix and YouTube to video calls with grandparents. It's been a great addition to family life, although not without headaches, arguments and sneaky under-the-covers screen time.

As they've got older they have gravitated towards our laptop and desktop computers for their school project work. With three of them, and limited proper computers it's a juggle to make this work.

Credit: Andy Robertson

The last couple of weeks we've been testing the iPad Pro -- and iOS 11 for the last couple of days. It's been a revolution in ways I hadn't expected. The fight for proper desktop computers has suddenly got easier as they are more than happy to use the iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard combo for writing and research.

My youngest had resisted this transition, though, until I installed iOS 11 the other night. I came down the next day to find him writing away at a school project about dinosaurs. "The iPad's turned into a MacBook, Dad", he said as I walked into the room. Slightly confused, I quizzed him further and he gave me a tour of the new features of what he now calls his "MacPad".

Credit: Andy Robertson

The dock was the first thing he pointed out. Showing me how he could switch between applications and keep his favourites ready to go at the bottom of the screen.

Watching him use the iPad and its new iOS it was interesting to see that he hardly ever returned to the home screen now. Instead, he switches from one app to the other by popping the dock up and tapping.

He also used the dock to drag applications into split screen mode. The ability to do this has been around for a while and I've tried to encourage the kids to use it to take notes while browsing topics for research, but they hadn't clicked with it until now.

Credit: Andy Robertson

Dragging items around extends to content as well as applications. This was another of my son's reasons for seeing the iPad more like a Mac now. He could drag images from Safari straight into Notes and then add his hand written comments with the Apple Pencil. It's a logical extensions for iOS, but it does mean that I notice the kids (like me) sometimes tap on the screen of our MacBook expecting it to recognise our touch.

Once he'd shown me what he discovered by himself before the rest of the family was awake (the benefit of being a young early-riser) I took some pleasure pointing him to a few iOS 11 things he hadn't noticed.

The first of these was the new Control Centre, accessed with a swipe from the bottom, where you can see everything on one page.

Then there is the new Files app where my kids can access all their iCloud, Dropbox and Google Drive work in one place. In a family this is a big help. I've tried to consolidate us on one remote storage solution but that proved to be like herding cats. So having them all accessible more easily reduces those last minute hunts for homework that needs to be in tomorrow.

I unplugged the Smart Keyboard to show him a few additions to the on-screen keyboard. iOS 11 has a neat keyboard swipe feature where gesturing down on a letter will access the related number or symbol instead. This is a nice addition and really helps with passwords.

Credit: Andy Robertson

Plugging the keyboard back in, my son was keen to show me a few things. Firstly he'd discovered a whole load of useful shortcuts (CMD-Space to search, CMD-H for the home screen, Option-CMD-D for the dock). I asked how he'd worked these and he told me "you just hold down CMD, Dad, and they pop up in the middle". I hadn't realised this was a feature already in iOS 10 and it's really useful if you are using a physical keyboard -- it also extends to apps as well as the main OS.

Finally, I showed him the new feature to turn Live Photos into Long Exposure pictures, Bounce or Loop videos. This has created a new favourite pastime for him of leafing back through our old Live Photos and seeing how they look with the different effects applied. As you can see below, even with a picture not designed for this purpose you can get some great results. It's also been a nice way to revisit old memories in a new way.

Credit: Andy Robertson

There are still things we'd like to see added to iOS 11, particularly with the keyboard to make it even more like a proper computer. Currently you can't control the volume with a shortcut or start and stop music like you can on a Mac. Of course you can do this via the touch screen but a keyboard shortcut would be a nice option.

Also, the kids always have a million apps open. Closing these in the new Control Centre means you have to tap and hold and them tap the close button on each individually. Something like a close-all option of a quicker way of closing them would be good. Maybe there's a way to do that but I couldn't see how.

We have been trying iOS 11 on the new iPad Pro, which gives it a little extra zing. The larger screen size for a similar device footprint, and the newer A10X chip make it really feel like a proper computer. We've put it through its paces with video editing and image processing and in many cases its out performed our desktop computers.

Credit: Andy Robertson

One thing to note if you are upgrading from the older iPad Pro is that it's different dimensions mean that it isn't compatible with the older keyboards. You need to factor in buying a new keyboard at the same time as you upgrade devices. Or perhaps, give the new iOS11 keyboard a go and possibly not use a physical input device at all. Our kids are split, with some always using the keyboard but my older son finds he can actually type faster with the on screen input.

All in all the new iPad and iOS combo has become a family essential for us, and made some of our older tech obsolete. The remaining challenge is for me to get some time on the device to complete my review from the point of view of grown-up users. So far the "MacPad", as my son still calls it, is doing well for me too.

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