Transition from PC to Apple (Pt 3)

Published November 23, 2021

Using a PC and iPad simultaneously. Who knew? Doing so has been a great bridge in my never-ending transition from PC to iOS. Actually, I’m not sure if the transition will ever be 100% complete, but I’ll keep trying.

I’ve written before about my rather bumpy transition from PC to iOS. When you have several decades of Windows PC experience under the belt, it’s not easy for this grandma to flip the switch. However, with a few tweaks and modifications, I can have my old trusty PC available whenever I need it. And, the best part of it is, I don’t need to leave my iPad to make it happen.

PC to iPad: Accessing two Operating Systems

By downloading the RD Client app, I’m able to connect to my Windows 10 PC via the iPad. Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out how to use the split-screen option in iOS that would allow me to view both devices side-by-side, but I can, however, use a slide-over window when needed. By using the slide-over window, I can view the contents of the PC while having access to an iPad app.

The above image shows Textastic HTML editor on the left and my 18-year-old version of Paint Shop Pro image editing on the right. I try not to default to PSP, but in a pinch, it’s there.

Image Editing Apps and Learning Curve

In working with the IPad’s photo app, I found there were a few features I needed that it didn’t have. Early on in my iPad journey, I watched a few YouTube videos and purchased editing apps they recommended (big mistake). As a result, I have the following apps:

• Affinity Photo: What was I thinking? I’m not anywhere ready to use this app. It’s not free ($21.99), it’s a large file (1.35 GB) and I’m in the zygote stage of image editing learning. This app is for a full-grown professional. Well, at least I’ve got something with room to grow.


• Procreate: Again, another app that’s beyond my capabilities. It’s less expensive than Affinity Photo with a price tag of $9.99. The file size is also smaller, weighing in at 592 MB. It’s also less complicated than Affinity, but I still need to grow into it.


• Autodesk Sketchbook: Well, here’s the one I should have started with. It’s free ($0.00) and has a smaller footprint of 107 MB. Also, I feel more comfortable working with it. Hopefully, as my skills improve, I’ll grow into the more complicated apps. For now, I’m happy with Sketchbook. Wish I had known about it before purchasing the premium apps. Oh well, no sense in crying over spilled milk.

Is Using My PC Cheating?

Well, in my book, it’s sort of like cheating since my goal is to totally forgo the PC in favor of the iPad. I’m having a difficult time of it, so the Remote Desktop hack helps.

I do find, however, that I’m using the PC less and less. But, my iPad purchasing mistake of not buying one with enough hard drive space is causing me to revert to my PC. My iPad is only 64 GB. I mistakenly based my iPad hard drive requirement on the amount of space I used on a PC.

You see, including all of the stored photos, I use less than 50 GB of my 1TB PC’s hard drive. With space-hog apps like Microsoft Office Suite and Dragon Naturally Speaking (about 4GB alone), I thought 64 GB would be more than enough space. I was wrong!

PC to iPad: New Device, New Interests

With the freedom of the iPad, I’m able to take my device on the road and that spawned a whole new interest. I can capture in real-time my adventures or things that interest me. Yes, I could have done that with my iPhone, but with an iPad I can not only capture the moment but turn it into a blog post or YouTube video without having to travel back home to access the PC.

My new interests take up quite a bit of hard drive space. As such, I’ve found 64 GB to be cutting it too close for my liking.

External Drives, SD Cards, and PCs

In my last post, I shared my challenges with storing photos and videos on an external drive. So now I carry around a small SD drive case (Affiliate link) to keep track of my various micro SD cards. Once I’ve completed modifying the files and creating the final video, I archive the footage on the PC because it has the space to store it.

All of this is a learning experience. Going forward, I’ll make sure to save enough money to buy an iPad with the most space Apple has to offer (and I can afford). In the meanwhile, I’ll use this workaround until something better comes along.

Last Modified: 4 September 2023