I've had this iPad Air 13" for about two three weeks now, and I'm slowly settling into how the different pieces of tech can work together and how things can flow.

Text from sketch

Getting used to SuperNote A5X + iPad Air 13"

SuperNote A5X:

• I prefer it for writing, sketchnotes
  • pen feel
  • strokes: exactly as I expect, no hooks or smoothing
  • lighter weight
  • no backlight
• Also nice for reading EPUBs, PDFs

iPad Air:

• Libby for library e-books
• Procreate, Simply Draw for art
• NetNewswire for RSS
• Copying & pasting is nice

Procreate replaces spaces with underscores and doesn't overwrite files. Instead, it adds 2 to the filename.

I want to start building up thought maps so I can see quick summaries and open questions. The laptop is probably the best place to do it.

Org Mode files with sketches, text, and links

• Export to HTML
• Also, add export to HTML gallery view?

Private sketches: Available through DS

Private web server on the NAS? I can just run my sketch viewer.

DS: Synology NAS drive

• Program the server to consolidate files?
• Consider moving metadata to subdir for easier flipping?

Ideas for next steps:

• Figure out easier doodling from iPad: resample, autocrop, insert with HTML markup
• Automate recolour/rename from Dropbox (phone? server?)

On the iPad, I've been mostly using:

• Procreate: drawing, painting
• Noteful: sketchnotes and thinking, although I'm not completely happy with the pen setup
• ZoomNotes: also experimenting with this one, might be better for relating several sketches together
• Simply Piano / Simply Sing / Simply Draw: tutorials
• NetNewsWire: RSS feeds
• Libby: reading

Moving data around is a bit of a hodgepodge: internal webserver or Dropbox for the Supernote, Dropbox and Synology's DS Drive for the iPad, and Syncthing for the server. I'm sure that'll settle down eventually as I figure out a better flow.

I like how drawing, singing, and playing the piano give me a way to distract myself from the urge to nag A+. Still definitely just starting out, but it's fun anyway. It's nice to be able to breeze through library e-books again, too.

I notice I've been missing the occasional calendar reminder from my phone, so that's probably a sign that I need to (a) set up the iPad for calendar access as well, (b) have more distinct notifications on my phone, and (c) take the phone with me as I go from room to room. On the plus side, that probably means I've been getting in the zone, yay! It seems a little easier to just take the whole stack of phone+Supernote+iPad when I move rooms instead of leaving them in different places and then having to go find them. The laptop is a lot heavier, though, so I tend to move that on an as-needed basis.

I set up a copy of sketches.sachachua.com server on the NAS (so it's just on the local network) pointing to my private sketches directory, so now I can flip through my private sketches fairly easily. They're mostly just various thoughts on parenting and emotions and life. Now I can review them from either my iPad or my laptop, yay!

Ideas for next steps:

• Keep distracting myself from fretting about A+ by completing various art/music tutorials.
• Have fun doodling.
• Contemplate whether I want to read my Org files on the iPad, and what the best way of doing it might be. (Organice? PlainOrg? Just do a PDF/EPUB export of stuff I'm focusing on? - update 2025-03-01: added Beorg)
• See if A+ is up for field trips to the art gallery or museum.

The iPad Air seems like a good addition. Let's see what I can do with it.