Pastor going iPad only?

[Garye]

I can promise you that feature parity is really important to us. I can't promise when we'll get there.

Wow. Thanks for this, very helpful.

[JayDee]

Maybe we can talk about usefulness of the iPad for a pastor in a more general way:

 

The bigger screen on the new 11' is quite nice. And Accordance is automatically using the full space - better for my eyes (im still young). Its not cheap but worth the upgrade - having it now for half a day.

 

I also believe the 12,9 size (as big as a DIN A4 paper) could be a good mobile tablet for preaching etc. Im using the iPad in classes there's a good  app called teacher tool made for the german school system with grade management and seating plan etc. (But teaching religion in the school isn't a thing for most pastors in the usa, or is it?)

 

For Accordance purposes: the 120Hz butter smooth scrolling is very nice (the pro 10,5 from last year does also have this feature).

-> more good features from the Mac version would be really cool - having your library directly in your hand is fantastic..)

 

Im also using readdle's pdf reader for forms (funerals/baptizes etc.) - one year ago they had to be in paper with through-printing.. now the digitalisation even comes to Germany... (and Apple Pay.. future is coming and boy the germans do love their cash)

[Joe]

Maybe we can talk about usefulness of the iPad for a pastor in a more general way:

 

The bigger screen on the new 11' is quite nice. And Accordance is automatically using the full space - better for my eyes (im still young). Its not cheap but worth the upgrade - having it now for half a day.

Can confirm that this is very nice. And actually, Accordance is not yet using all of the screen real estate. It fills most of the screen, but not all. But that is actually much better than many apps that have wider bars on the side in landscape. I suspect they just have to do very little to get it to take full advantage of the new screen layout.

[JayDee]

Can confirm that this is very nice. And actually, Accordance is not yet using all of the screen real estate. It fills most of the screen, but not all. But that is actually much better than many apps that have wider bars on the side in landscape. I suspect they just have to do very little to get it to take full advantage of the new screen layout.

Do you mean the small top and down black labels for the Time and the Dock Indikator line? In the Width accordance is using all. So everything is quite nice.

[Alex H.]

IMHO, Accordance iOS is inadequate as anything more than a Bible reader and light reference lookup. There's a long time mobile Bible app out there that doesn't have a patch on Accordance desktop but walks all over Acc iOS, but don't get me started on that topic.

 

I'd love to go all in on iPad as I use it extensively in my bivo job. I don't want to go Windows as they don't have the same form factor - had a look at the 13" iPad today and it's amazing.

[christopherchelpka]

I am a pastor and wrote on this topic recently. See: https://christopherchelpka.com/2018/10/30/can-an-ipad.html

 

I have been using Accordance a long time, on both platforms, and hope to write and Accordance-specific follow-up soon. Ask me your specific questions. I’ll try to answer them in my post.

[Garye]

Ok update here. Have been trialling iPad only for a couple of weeks.

 

FWIW my context is leading staff team of 8, three congregations, a campus ministry. So I guess quite wide ranging, but having staff means some tasks I never see (my device doesn’t have to handle everything the church throws up).

 

The short version is, my 10.5 pro, while a really nice bit of gear, is just not big enough for laptop replacement for me. Not being able to have two full sized apps on a split is limiting. Now with the 12.9 (just arrived), I can do 2 full apps at a time, swipe more easily between several split screens and generally have a good work flow. It’s working great so far, not missing mb pro yet.

 

This wouldn’t work as well if:

- we hadn’t just rolled over the lease on the photocopier/printer, getting wireless printing for the first time. Makes things much easier just printing from anywhere from the iPad.

- I wasn’t all iCloud. I’m a slave to apple . All my files being there makes it easier.

 

For preaching:

- Down side of the 12.9 is that it does feel a bit intrusive to hold in preaching teaching situations. Not too heavy, and I think I’ll get used to it. I do usually just leave it on the lecturn in church

- Upside is GoodReader and a bible app could share the creed and still both be a good size. Possibilities

 

More to come if people interested.

[ukfraser]

I do usually just leave it on the lecturn in church

.

You could always "Borrow" (nick) a music stand from your music group!!!!!

[danielamari]

I use Accordance on the ipad almost exclusively for research, especially with ancient texts in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin and Arabic. I expect that many would eventually want to move to the ipad or have already moved. The app on the iphone is adequate. But i do my serious work on the ipad. Accordance app has improved over time, and I feel that the accordance team realize the growing importance of the ipad, and the importance of offering a professional and advanced one.

 

No question asked there is some limitation on the iOS. But i expect that the various limitations will continue to be addressed by Apple. At the same time, i do not expect that all feature of Accordance on windows/mac to be ported. In fact, not all of them should. They are made for the laptop in mind. Accordance product team needs to focus instead, and they probably already are, on how to make a very professional app for the ipad with its own exclusive features that utilize the ipad workflow. The following are some examples:

 

1) The ipad user is probably utilizing Microsoft Office to write sermon, articles, books, so on and so forth.

2) The user utilizes cloud storage such as onedrive or others.

3) Content creation is growing and will become significant starting from 2019.

4) for serious users, physical keyboards is attached to the ipad.

 

Some enhancements needed:

 

A) As previously and eloquently stated, the ability to view two windows of two separate text can be very helpful. Especially for those who have the 12.9” ipad. This is a feature that cannot and must be supported by the iphone.

Again as previously stated, the ability to switch quickly and easily between dictionaries can be extremely helpful

 

Having said this, I am very thankful to the Accordance team. I am looking forward to the new changes in the Accordance App.

[Garye]

You could always "Borrow" (nick) a music stand from your music group!!!!!

Actually that’s all I preach from, just an old music stand. My ‘lecturn’.

 

Also by sharing ‘creed’ I obviously meant sharing ‘screen’!

[Joe]

Do you mean the small top and down black labels for the Time and the Dock Indikator line? In the Width accordance is using all. So everything is quite nice.

Yes, ghost black bars are what I’m talking about. If you do a spli view with an app that is fully compatible with the new iPad Pros the other app will be scaled back to using black bars as well. It’s admittedly a very minor problem. But, it drives me a little batty since accordance is built to not have black bars on iPhone X.

[Garye]

To affirm Daniel above that there will be plenty of people using iPads as primary device: it’s been 4 weeks since I went ‘iPad only’, after 16 years in OS X. I’ve learnt lots of tricks for iOS, and except for accordance I feel no qualms about ditching my Mb pro. One device means simplicity and a big saving for me.

[Garye]

To affirm Daniel above that there will be plenty of people using iPads as primary device: it’s been 4 weeks since I went ‘iPad only’, after 16 years in OS X. I’ve learnt lots of tricks for iOS, and except for accordance I feel no qualms about ditching my Mb pro. One device means simplicity and a big saving for me.

 

Thought I'd return to this for honesty's sake. The initial thrill and simplicity of being iPad only wore off before too long. What was I thinking. When tax return allowed I bought a new MBP. The scales came off my eyes. Light flooded in. Friction and frustration vanished from my work flow. Forgive me, macOS, for my foolish wandering!! 

 

IOW's, iPad is not even close to being the productivity machine the hype is suggesting it might be. I gave it a really good go - over a year. Very relieved to be back on the Mac. 

[Abram K-J]

Pastor here, with a similar experience a few years ago. At one point I asked myself: what is even the point of trying to go iPad only? It’s not like a laptop is that much heavier to carry around.

 

Now… Give me a fully featured Accordance iOS app with Info Pane and Research search, and I might change my mind....

[ukfraser]

Now… Give me a fully featured Accordance iOS app with Info Pane and Research search, and I might change my mind....

Or an ipad running the full os!!!!!!

 

(i even keep toying with the idea of a surface and running mac os in parallel on it)

Edited October 1, 2020 by ukfraser

[Rich]

Thought I'd return to this for honesty's sake. The initial thrill and simplicity of being iPad only wore off before too long. What was I thinking. When tax return allowed I bought a new MBP. The scales came off my eyes. Light flooded in. Friction and frustration vanished from my work flow. Forgive me, macOS, for my foolish wandering!! 

 

IOW's, iPad is not even close to being the productivity machine the hype is suggesting it might be. I gave it a really good go - over a year. Very relieved to be back on the Mac. 

 

Except, I'm not trying to replace my Mac.  You can pry my Mac from my cold, dead, hands!     But, there are times and situations where I just want to have more full features from Accordance in a tablet form factor.  I don't take my Mac to a Bible study, but I do take my iPad.  My MacBook would look pretty silly sitting on lectern of the pulpit, but the iPad does not (and I use my iPad every time I preach).  A laptop in bed is unwieldy but I read books from my iPad in bed often.

 

I don't need full feature parity with Accordance on my iPad (but it would be wonderful if it did), but I do need more than what is offered now.  This thread is almost two years old.  We are still limited to two panes and a difficult UI that seems to be constrained by its iPhone sibling.  I completely understand the resource struggle in determining what to focus attention, so I'm not complaining per se — but I do hope that a bit more attention is given to the iPad soon. 

[Guest]

iPad is not even close to being the productivity machine the hype is suggesting it might be. I gave it a really good go - over a year. Very relieved to be back on the Mac. 

 

I think it’s going to vary by use case. My 76-year-old father uses an iPad for everything, but his needs for a computer are probably very different from most of us on here. 

 

The keyboard cover with trackpad that Apple released for the iPad was a real game changer for me. During my workday I’m at my iMac, but almost any other time, I’m on my iPad Pro. Even right now with my internet out, I’m actually working from the iPad Pro because I have cellular service for it. I absolutely cannot use the iPad Pro for everything I do, but it’s a very much used secondary machine for me. In fact, since most trips were cancelled this year because of COVID, I don’t even currently own a MacBook of any kind. The iPad Pro covers most of those portable needs for me.

 

Having said that, I will also admit that iPadOS has not progressed as quickly as what I and a lot of people would like. Multitasking is awkward in my opinion, and it would be nice to see support for multiple monitors. Right now, when connected to an external monitor, the screen does not even adjust for a different aspect ratio. 

 

Interestingly, though, we do have a number of iOS/iPadOS-only customers, even though our mobile app continues to play catch up to the desktop apps. I expect the number of these users to increase as all the shortcomings of mobile compared to desktop improve .

[Fabian]

Is it not possible to have 2 MS Words open on iPad? I think I have heard of this. If so then it would be good if Accordance is also able to release a version which the iPad users can open more than once. 

 

I see the Accordance for iOS is better with every release, but OT and e-S. are in some ways ahead. And that not since last year.

[Guest]

Is it not possible to have 2 MS Words open on iPad? I think I have heard of this. If so then it would be good if Accordance is also able to release a version which the iPad users can open more than once. 

 

Our devs are working on this, but implementation was not quite as easy as Apple made it out to be when this feature was first announced. 

[danielamari]

Notice that the version of the last update for the application is 3.1.0. And the features received were large collection of adjustments instead of full deep features. Which leads to questions such as: Is there 4.0? When is it coming? Would it include features such as separation between iOS accordance and iPadOS accordance, multiple configurable panes, research, copy as reference, and all the features necessary to make iPadOS app competitive to the macOS version?

 

I have no idea what is in the mind of the Accordance team. I wonder if they are waiting on apple to see if how close IPadOS is getting to MacOS (and also the other direction) and what tools will it provide to developers to streamline the process of providing the same app for both iPadOS and MacOS.

 

It is also true that the ipad has improved considerably from the perspective of hardware and software, so that one can no longer primarily attribute anything to the limitation of iPadOS. At the same time, I am looking forward to see what the new macs with new apple chipset look like.

 

More importantly than technology is return on investment. The decision makers see the needed changes in iPadOS app as both massive and long. Are there any users willing to pay for such a change? Are there enough users of ipad app to even merit that investment?

[JonathanHuber]

Are there enough users of ipad app to even merit that investment?

 

I'm pretty sure the answer to that is a resounding yes. It's not just the number of users; it's that face that many of the most passionate users on the forums plus employees at Accordance use iPads. I prefer a Mac for study kind of reading, but for just sitting back and reading through a book, a commentary intro, a long article in a journal or dictionary, studying grammars on the bus, taking electronic texts to church... my iPad has had a substantial impact how much value I get out of my Accordance library. I couldn't go iPad only, but I wouldn't want to go without it either.

[Michael J. Bolesta]

I'm pretty sure the answer to that is a resounding yes. It's not just the number of users; it's that face that many of the most passionate users on the forums plus employees at Accordance use iPads. I prefer a Mac for study kind of reading, but for just sitting back and reading through a book, a commentary intro, a long article in a journal or dictionary, studying grammars on the bus, taking electronic texts to church... my iPad has had a substantial impact how much value I get out of my Accordance library. I couldn't go iPad only, but I wouldn't want to go without it either.

Well said. Concur.

[Guest]

All I can say is that we are extremely committed to our mobile apps on both iOS and Android. Expect some really cool features coming up in the next few months. 

[Donald Cobb]

I'm pretty sure the answer to that is a resounding yes. It's not just the number of users; it's that face that many of the most passionate users on the forums plus employees at Accordance use iPads. I prefer a Mac for study kind of reading, but for just sitting back and reading through a book, a commentary intro, a long article in a journal or dictionary, studying grammars on the bus, taking electronic texts to church... my iPad has had a substantial impact how much value I get out of my Accordance library. I couldn't go iPad only, but I wouldn't want to go without it either.

 

Agreed! Thanks Jonathan, you sum up my situation very well.

[ukfraser]

I also agree with jonathan. I have found my back is much happier when i read in my 'stressless' chair rather than sitting at a desk. For me, the ipad is an ideal tool for web surfing, Youtube, email and accordance. (I dont use an additional keyboard.) 

While i miss features From the full fat version, im very happy with accordance on ios now and i now only have a 'nice to have' list Rather than a 'wish' list.

 

i rarely use my mbp but fInd i am using it for the final service and sermon prep as larger screen and keyboard are ideal for heavy editing and formatting. But im now only providing cover and no longer having to prepare and take services weekly.
 

the mbp is still used for any photography, music or serious Accordance research but the ipad is used for 95% of the time these days. I couldnt be purely ipad and doubt i ever will be for the foreseeable future But they offer such great convenience for Note taking at conferences (i can still read my notes years later), and they fit on music stands and lecterns and in a man bag!

 

I couldnt see the purpose of them when first released by apple but  now i Certainly wouldnt want to be without one.

Edited October 3, 2020 by ukfraser