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Instagram famously has no iPad app, they’re iPhone only. Recently, they even said that they “would love to do an iPad app”, but it wasn’t in the future. That’s, obviously, utter bullshit because said iPad app has surfaced unintentionally several times.
But don’t worry, you can get Instagram on your iPad, without relying on third-party apps. Here’s how.
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One of the new features that I’m truly excited about in iPadOS 15 is Focus Mode. It’s an updated take on the Do Not Disturb mode, which is still there, but now more of a gateway to fine-grained DND settings.
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I’ve been using a new web browser on and off for a while, and chances are you haven’t heard of it. It’s called Insight, and it’s got something that Safari hasn’t yet: Support for extensions. The actual rendering engine is the same as Safari, of course. This is true for all browsers on iPadOS (and iOS for that matter), but Insight stands out with smart extensions on a per-site basis.
I shot a couple of questions to Abhinav Sharma, responsible for the product roadmap at Insight, to learn more about this new browser.
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There are plenty of news in iPadOS 15, such as widgets anywhere on the homescreen, just like on the iPhone, and the aforementioned excellent Quick Note feature. But not all new things are big, shiny features that makes for great screenshots. Some are just wonderful settings, such as this one.
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I’m sitting here, looking at the Punkt MP02. It’s a wonderful little thing, a pleasant device to fiddle with, a lovely non-touchscreen, and buttons you want to press. This is a device designed with purpose, with taste, and with a very narrow public.
I love it. I’ve loved it almost all the way through the iPad + dumbphone experiment. The only time I don’t like it is when I need to type more than five words in a row. Man, have we evolved since the T9 days! I’ll never complain of a cramped touchscreen keyboard again.
I even went as far as to try a foldable bluetooth keyboard paired to my MP02. Zagg was kind enough to send me their Tri Fold folding bluetooth keyboard, and I have thoughts about it. I’ll get back to you on that, I did try to carry it for a few days, but it requires a flat surface, and why wouldn’t I use the iPad in such a situation? That said, again, interesting product, more later.
Anyway, here I am, piecing the iPad + dumbphone experience together.
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I think we’re closing in on the gist of things for this experiment, which is closing in on two weeks sans iPhone. Can you imagine that, being smartphone-less for two weeks? Is it a hell for you, or a tantalizing notion? I get both angles, as it were.
This experiment was always about finding out what’d happen if I didn’t have my iPhone, but a dumbphone instead. Would the iPad be enough? I think we’ll know for sure soon.
But first, some words on authentication.
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There’s a new feature in iPadOS 15 called Quick Note. It gives you access to Notes in a special view, all over the interface, without actually leaving the app or screen you’re on. I gushed about this in Switch to iPad #52 (which is free to read, so pop over there if you like), and now, running the beta on two different iPads, I’ll confess to be in love with this new feature. However, I’m not using it the way I thought I would.
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It’s been a couple of days, and I think I’ve got things pretty much under control in my iPad + dumbphone experiment. There are some things I’m still struggling with, but overall, this works, the trade-offs are reasonable thus far, I think. Yesterday, after driving to the summer home (that really is an all-year home), I did start to think about iPad sizes, though. I’d like to share those thoughts with you.
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One of the most popular code editors for web developers today, is Visual Studio Code, or VS Code for short. It’s made by Microsoft and is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Unfortunately, there isn’t an official iPad app just yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use VS Code on your iPad. At least not if you use GitHub to manage your codebase.
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It’s been three days, and I’ve managed to survive without my iPhone. I did forget my camera on the first day, which was a bummer, but it’s been with me (and gotten use) since then. This was one of the goals, so I’m happy about that.
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