Smartphone/Tablet Productivity Hacks
May 19, 2018 1:15 PM Subscribe
Tips, tricks and best practices to get it done with a tablet or smartphone as your primary computer.
Think "digital nomad traveling super duper light." Websites, articles, apps, anecdata all welcome. Battery power management, where to get Wi-Fi, and all the things I had no idea that I should have asked.
It is best to assume it is a super cheap tablet or smartphone and has limited data storage, etc. Think worst case scenario and under a deadline.
Thanks.
Think "digital nomad traveling super duper light." Websites, articles, apps, anecdata all welcome. Battery power management, where to get Wi-Fi, and all the things I had no idea that I should have asked.
It is best to assume it is a super cheap tablet or smartphone and has limited data storage, etc. Think worst case scenario and under a deadline.
Thanks.
Response by poster: For clarity's sake, this is not "Hi, I am a digital nomad who is facing down a deadline and I need internet strangers to rescue me last minute from piss poor planning." It is a request for generally useful information that fits certain parameters.
posted by DoreenMichele at 2:17 PM on May 19, 2018
posted by DoreenMichele at 2:17 PM on May 19, 2018
Android or IOS? Specific suggestions for apps depend heavily on the OS
posted by andycyca at 3:56 PM on May 19, 2018
posted by andycyca at 3:56 PM on May 19, 2018
Best answer: A couple thoughts of perhaps no particular use in no particular order.
In my neck of the woods, Optimum (one of the biggest ISPs) has sprinkled about 1 million (literally) wifi hotspots around for any of their customers to use. In my experience, it's always too slow to be really useful. I think other ISPs have done a similar thing. So, don't trust it to work. I'd be glad to hear other people's opinions.
I've had pretty good luck transferring small Excel worksheets to and from my Android device where they may be ported to Google, or maybe just used as is. I would not count on any and everything complex, or formatting, to survive but it works way better than my expectations.
I have Outlook for Android on my tablet. It sucks. As in combined totally unrelated email into a thread. Find a better email program. Actually the whole "let's combined these emails into one thread" think is terrible for business.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:07 PM on May 19, 2018
In my neck of the woods, Optimum (one of the biggest ISPs) has sprinkled about 1 million (literally) wifi hotspots around for any of their customers to use. In my experience, it's always too slow to be really useful. I think other ISPs have done a similar thing. So, don't trust it to work. I'd be glad to hear other people's opinions.
I've had pretty good luck transferring small Excel worksheets to and from my Android device where they may be ported to Google, or maybe just used as is. I would not count on any and everything complex, or formatting, to survive but it works way better than my expectations.
I have Outlook for Android on my tablet. It sucks. As in combined totally unrelated email into a thread. Find a better email program. Actually the whole "let's combined these emails into one thread" think is terrible for business.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:07 PM on May 19, 2018
Best answer: If you're doing command-line stuff, Termux might be useful. It's useful on Chromebooks too.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:59 PM on May 19, 2018
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:59 PM on May 19, 2018
I would not want to rely on WiFi. Just get a decent mobile data plan instead. And get a powerbank so you don't have to worry about battery life. Also add extra data storage to your device by adding a microSD card; they're cheap.
It's unclear to me what 'worst case scenario' means. It's also unclear what it is that needs to get done. Some information on these things might help.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:01 AM on May 20, 2018
It's unclear to me what 'worst case scenario' means. It's also unclear what it is that needs to get done. Some information on these things might help.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:01 AM on May 20, 2018
Best answer: A data plan is absolutely essential if you want
to be highly mobile.
Having to find a business with reliable, usable wifi, buy something, get login credentials, and set up shop there in the Panera or whatever is waaaaaaay more of a barrier than just flipping open your tablet and having internet access right away. I do a lot of work from my work van (using my phone, iPad, and laptop simultaneously) and it would not be possible if the iPad didn't have unlimited data on it. I occasionally will go into a service plaza or whatever if I don't feel like working from the van, but the setup/takedown time eats up a good chunk of my working window, and I still don't use the wifi because who knows how reliable it is or who is listening in on what I'm doing.
Being able to use your tablet as a wifi hotspot is also super helpful if at some point you find yourself running multiple devices. One of the main things I personally do is upload hundreds of images taken with a digital camera, which has to be done from a laptop. I use my iPad as a wifi hotspot, start the upload, and then just let the transfer happen while I'm driving around and doing other things.
Also, get a decent stylus for your tablet. If your tablet is your primary device, you'll probably find that sometimes your finger just isn't quite precise enough for frustration-free working. Being able to switch to a stylus gives you another option in such cases. I use mine about 50% of the time, and 100% of the time if I'm diagramming or sketching.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 10:27 AM on May 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
to be highly mobile.
Having to find a business with reliable, usable wifi, buy something, get login credentials, and set up shop there in the Panera or whatever is waaaaaaay more of a barrier than just flipping open your tablet and having internet access right away. I do a lot of work from my work van (using my phone, iPad, and laptop simultaneously) and it would not be possible if the iPad didn't have unlimited data on it. I occasionally will go into a service plaza or whatever if I don't feel like working from the van, but the setup/takedown time eats up a good chunk of my working window, and I still don't use the wifi because who knows how reliable it is or who is listening in on what I'm doing.
Being able to use your tablet as a wifi hotspot is also super helpful if at some point you find yourself running multiple devices. One of the main things I personally do is upload hundreds of images taken with a digital camera, which has to be done from a laptop. I use my iPad as a wifi hotspot, start the upload, and then just let the transfer happen while I'm driving around and doing other things.
Also, get a decent stylus for your tablet. If your tablet is your primary device, you'll probably find that sometimes your finger just isn't quite precise enough for frustration-free working. Being able to switch to a stylus gives you another option in such cases. I use mine about 50% of the time, and 100% of the time if I'm diagramming or sketching.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 10:27 AM on May 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
It would probably also help to know what general type of work you do and whether you have any specific tasks that you need to do often. If all you need is note-taking, email, and web browsing then this is really easy. If you have more complex needs then not so much.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 10:32 AM on May 20, 2018
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 10:32 AM on May 20, 2018
Response by poster: I'm in the US.
Worst case scenario is: you don't have much storage, you are frequently working offline because you don't have consistent access to electricity, you may not be able to get a data plan and may be dependent upon Wi-Fi.
I would be open to also hearing app recommendations et al for iOS devices, but those tend to be more expensive than Android products and there are other logistical problems with them. However I have already had one conversation with someone who basically said "I would be willing to donate my parent's old iphones to such a project." So I may find myself dealing with Apple products anyway.
In essence, I am looking for free and cheap solutions, such as best practices, free apps and website articles. I am not looking for "just throw money at the problem" solutions.
I was hoping to crowd source some basic info, but that seems unlikely, given the responses so far. So, a follow up question in hopes of getting something meaty out of this: What kinds of problems do you have when trying to work on a tablet or smartphone and what sorts of work are you doing?
Thanks.
posted by DoreenMichele at 10:40 AM on May 20, 2018
Worst case scenario is: you don't have much storage, you are frequently working offline because you don't have consistent access to electricity, you may not be able to get a data plan and may be dependent upon Wi-Fi.
I would be open to also hearing app recommendations et al for iOS devices, but those tend to be more expensive than Android products and there are other logistical problems with them. However I have already had one conversation with someone who basically said "I would be willing to donate my parent's old iphones to such a project." So I may find myself dealing with Apple products anyway.
In essence, I am looking for free and cheap solutions, such as best practices, free apps and website articles. I am not looking for "just throw money at the problem" solutions.
I was hoping to crowd source some basic info, but that seems unlikely, given the responses so far. So, a follow up question in hopes of getting something meaty out of this: What kinds of problems do you have when trying to work on a tablet or smartphone and what sorts of work are you doing?
Thanks.
posted by DoreenMichele at 10:40 AM on May 20, 2018
Response by poster: It would probably also help to know what general type of work you do and whether you have any specific tasks that you need to do often.
I have done writing, blogging, comicking, resume editing and website work on plug and play platforms, such as Blogger and Word Press. But this is a project aimed at a wider audience, so that information is given in hopes of jumpstarting discussion. It is not intended to limit discussion to those things.
posted by DoreenMichele at 10:47 AM on May 20, 2018
I have done writing, blogging, comicking, resume editing and website work on plug and play platforms, such as Blogger and Word Press. But this is a project aimed at a wider audience, so that information is given in hopes of jumpstarting discussion. It is not intended to limit discussion to those things.
posted by DoreenMichele at 10:47 AM on May 20, 2018
OK, well… if you only have wi-fi and you have low storage space and you don't have a laptop to offload things onto, then this will pretty much suck I think. The digital nomad life is predicated pretty heavily on having constant internet access, so that you can use the cloud as your storage bank and keep all your stuff synced up seamlessly. That said…
If you have limited access to electricity, you'll want a large USB battery bank. Make sure you have a charger at all times too, at least a dual-2.1A charger so that you can replenish your battery bank and run your tablet at the same time. Carry spare charge cords too, because they will fail on a fairly regular basis. If you'll be operating out of a car most of the time, get a 12V charger as well.
If your Android tablet has expandable storage, get the biggest microSD card you can afford and put it in there. I think the price/storage sweet spot is somewhere in the ballpark of 256gb right now, but I'm not sure. Get one from a reputable brand and a reputable seller, not the cheapest—garbage SD cards are an absolute plague at the cheap end of the market.
Get an account with a cloud storage service, even though you won't always be able to access it. I like Dropbox, but maybe you prefer something else; whatever works for you. This will not only give you more storage but also vastly simplify the sharing of medium- and large-sized files with people.
For your writing and word processing needs, I would probably go with the G Suite. In my experience those apps work well on tablets, they should integrate well with Android, and it will make sharing documents or editing them from another computer very simple. Maybe you have to use Microsoft's stuff, but I'd try to avoid it if possible.
Invest in a good case for your tablet, one that includes a screen cover. If you're drawing then you'll probably find a glass screen protector impacts the touch sensitivity too much, but if you're not then maybe that's the way to go. Tablets are fragile though, so whatever you do get a decent case.
If you write more than a little, definitely get a real keyboard. Only having the onscreen keyboard would be pretty crippling.
To be honest though, if I could have only a tablet or only a laptop, I think laptop would 100% be the way to go. They just do a lot more in a much more robust way. There are a lot of things my iPad can't do that I need my laptop for, including accessing some of the websites that I have to use for work which aren't optimized for mobile and don't have a usable app. If all you have is a tablet, you're going to end up trying to make it as laptop-like as possible but it'll never quite get there. Unless your specific job has a workflow that's already been well-optimized for mobile devices, a laptop (even a small, cheap one) is the better tool.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 11:18 AM on May 20, 2018
If you have limited access to electricity, you'll want a large USB battery bank. Make sure you have a charger at all times too, at least a dual-2.1A charger so that you can replenish your battery bank and run your tablet at the same time. Carry spare charge cords too, because they will fail on a fairly regular basis. If you'll be operating out of a car most of the time, get a 12V charger as well.
If your Android tablet has expandable storage, get the biggest microSD card you can afford and put it in there. I think the price/storage sweet spot is somewhere in the ballpark of 256gb right now, but I'm not sure. Get one from a reputable brand and a reputable seller, not the cheapest—garbage SD cards are an absolute plague at the cheap end of the market.
Get an account with a cloud storage service, even though you won't always be able to access it. I like Dropbox, but maybe you prefer something else; whatever works for you. This will not only give you more storage but also vastly simplify the sharing of medium- and large-sized files with people.
For your writing and word processing needs, I would probably go with the G Suite. In my experience those apps work well on tablets, they should integrate well with Android, and it will make sharing documents or editing them from another computer very simple. Maybe you have to use Microsoft's stuff, but I'd try to avoid it if possible.
Invest in a good case for your tablet, one that includes a screen cover. If you're drawing then you'll probably find a glass screen protector impacts the touch sensitivity too much, but if you're not then maybe that's the way to go. Tablets are fragile though, so whatever you do get a decent case.
If you write more than a little, definitely get a real keyboard. Only having the onscreen keyboard would be pretty crippling.
To be honest though, if I could have only a tablet or only a laptop, I think laptop would 100% be the way to go. They just do a lot more in a much more robust way. There are a lot of things my iPad can't do that I need my laptop for, including accessing some of the websites that I have to use for work which aren't optimized for mobile and don't have a usable app. If all you have is a tablet, you're going to end up trying to make it as laptop-like as possible but it'll never quite get there. Unless your specific job has a workflow that's already been well-optimized for mobile devices, a laptop (even a small, cheap one) is the better tool.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 11:18 AM on May 20, 2018
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posted by radioamy at 1:21 PM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]