Are tablets good enough for blogging?

[will.i.earn]

An idea can pop up at anytime. I'm wondering if anyone here are consistently able to churn out blog posts using only tablets or iPads? If so, how are you able to do it? There was a time I tried writing in my smartphone. Obviously that didn't workout. My problem is that the enthusiasm dies down by the time I'm in front of the computer or when I'm able to pull out my laptop. I feel that a tablet is a far more mobile device and it could be there when an idea strikes. Thinking of finally buying one for myself if anyone can prove that it's good enough for work.

[Brian Altenhofel]

I don't do much writing from a tablet other than emails or IRC, but I do write code and troubleshoot remote servers often with a tablet. It just depends on what tools are available and how well you use them.

The first thing I do with any mobile device is install "Hacker's Keyboard" (I'm an Android user). I much prefer something that emulates a real keyboard rather than the default keyboards that are installed on most devices that supposedly make things "easier".

[Harold Mansfield]

If you're using WordPress there is a mobile app that allows you to access your blogs admin functions and publish from mobile devices.
Here's my advice, and this is coming from someone with 3 blogs, and has owned at least 4 tablets, and works from a laptop and a desktop work station...No. The average Android Tablet or iPad is not great for writing long articles. At least not for me.

Even with a keyboard attachment and using a mouse it's not a very enjoyable writing experience, not to mention you don't have access to your folders of images, tools, and you're probably not at home ( or else you'd be on your computer) so you're dealing with slow wifi. My blog posts usually consist of images, video, and possibly a few affiliate links. I find it difficult if not impossible to do that from a tablet. It's certainly not fast or efficient. It's actually frustrating.

The only exception may be the Surface Pro 3, and the Galaxy Tab Pro. Between the 2, the Surface is going to give you the full Windows Experience and you can probably mirror your most important blogging tools, keep your image files on a USB drive, and be just fine on the road just like a laptop.

The Galaxy Tab Pro is pretty powerful and has muti tasking capabilities so you can have more than one window open for say if you want to do some quick research while writing or grab a video or something like that. It's an awesome tablet, but you'd have to import your images using a micro SD.

Both of those are big tablets. 12" screens, which probably isn't the portability of something that you'd carry everywhere. May as well carry a laptop. Most people carry 7" tablets around and those just aren't very useful for writing full articles and posting them. Could you make it work if you HAD to? Or course.

I'd say write your ideas down with good old fashioned pen and paper, or if your phone has a note taking capability, and expound on them when you are ready to write a blog post.

If you're micro blogging or posting to social media profiles a nice phone or tablet can actually be pretty effective if you use the right productivity tools. I have posted to multiple accounts for myself or clients from both my phone and my tablets when out and about.

I still recommend buying a tablet. I use mine to keep up on the tech news of the day and read my favorite blogs, which inspire my some of my blog posts in the first place.

[vangogh]

It depends a little on the specifics of which tablet, where do you publish blog posts, and what's usually in those blog posts. Is it just text? Images? Video?

It can be done. I can only speak to an iPad, since it's the only tablet I own. I know there are several apps that will publish to WordPress, one is the WordPress App. I use an app on my Mac called ByWord (http://bywordapp.com/), which has an iOS app. It's a Markdown editor, which means it can work with Markdown syntax if you know what that is. Both the Mac and iOS apps can publish directly to WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr. Blogsy is another that can publish, though I've never used it. I think there are others and I would imagine there are similar apps on the Android side. The WordPress app should exist on every mobile platform.

A well known Apple blogger, Federico Viticci (http://www.macstories.net/), uses an iPad mini as his main work device, which for Federico means a lot of writing and publishing. He used Editorial (http://omz-software.com/editorial/) to publish and do quite a few things typical text editors can't do. Click the link on his name to visit his site. He's written a lot about using the iPad as his main work device.

I agree with Harold about typing. I can type on a tablet, but nowhere near the speed I can type on a full sized keyboard. Some people can. Federico can. I suspect people brought up with touch devices can type as fast as some people can on a physical keyboard. If you can't maybe invest in a wireless keyboard or a keyboard case.


My problem is that the enthusiasm dies down by the time I'm in front of the computer or when I'm able to pull out my laptop

That doesn't have much to do with tablets or computers though. That's something you're going to have to figure out on your own. If the enthusiasm is gone by the time you get to a computer, it's possible it wasn't a good idea. It's also possible you don't yet have complete enthusiasm for blogging too. Not every idea is a good one. I keep an app open all day just to write down ideas as they come to me. Most never get turned into anything. Some I have a lot of thoughts to add to the initial idea. Some I have just the idea. I go back to the list of ideas and thoughts when I'm deciding what to write about. What that also means is I don't need an app that can directly publish to my site. I use apps to collect ideas and thoughts that I import into my collection of ideas.

You should get used to collecting idea and drawing from them. The inspiration for writing doesn't come before writing. it comes during writing. My point is some of the trouble you're having in regards to lacking the enthusiasm by the time you get to a computer is something you have to figure out if you plan on blogging long term.

[shrinkme]

I would not write blog posts without an actual keyboard. That is my preference.

You could probably do speech recognition or post videos with a tablet. You could also use the Surface if you are a MS fan.

[ashleyidesign]

I frequently use my iPad to write articles. Generally I write the goal of the post and an outline on the iPad, and if I have enough motivation I'll keep going and write the whole post. The final thing, though, goes through editing on my laptop, as well as posting it.

I used to write directly in WordPress and save drafts there, but I've found it easier to keep the articles, as well as the rest of my various writing projects, in Google Drive.

[vangogh]

I would not write blog posts without an actual keyboard

It's hard for me to type without a full keyboard too. Given I'm on iOS, it's only recently I've tried new software keyboards. It's helping on my iPhone, but not so much on the iPad, where i'm still practicing. Most any tablet worth owning at this point can add a keyboard of some kind, where as part of a case or standalone. It'll cost a little extra, but so does the Surface keyboard.


I frequently use my iPad to write articles

I wish I could say that as well. If both are within reach, I'm going to write on my laptop, but it would be nice to take the iPad out and be able to write with it. I've thought about keyboard case of some kind. I know the apps are there. It's me being able to type that's the limiting factor. I suspect one's ability to type on a virtual keyboard has something to do with that person's age and whether they grew up using smartphones and tablets. A certain amount is also just practice.

[carloborja]

The process I do is quite cumbersome.

I always bring my iPad with me but not my computer. All of my drafts and quick ideas go to Evernote. I have a dedicated notebook for that. That makes me write anywhere with the iPad. I can most of the time finalize my thoughts in there.

But, for formatting, finalizing and publishing the posts I definitely need my computer.

[Harold Mansfield]

The biggest issue for me is not having access to my images, tools ( for resizing and cropping images), and needing to grab videos and Soundcloud embeds for the post. Also much of my content for the blog I post to the most comes in as press, so opening documents to reference for the post along with everything else is just too cumbersome for me to do on one screen, let alone a small one. But that's me.

If you're just writing and don't need to do all of that to create a post then you could probably make it work.

[MarkPoppen]

What I would do is drop the ideas into an app like Evernote and then, later, when you get to a full sized keyboard, use those notes to craft a blog post.

[ofesak]

My opinion is following:
Tablets is enough but assuming 2 criterias:

1. Only if blog is already created, you need to just type articles. Of course there are different applications for Android and iOS for creating Wordpress blogs, but me personally don't believe them.

2. You have additional hardware-keyboard for your device. For me display keyboard is very uncomfortable to type.

[BizAdvisor]

Just the thought of using a tablet to write a blog gives me fatigue and writer's block.

[LarsJ]

Macbook Air 11" is a nice hybrid :)

[MikeyBW]

I find nothing can replace the control available from a web browser on a laptop or pc. You just can't customise your post on a tablet as much as you can on a computer. I'm a perfectionist though.

[vangogh]

If I could type on my iPad as fast as I could type on my laptop and if I had similar keyboard control working on the iPad, I could use it for most everything I do. nearly all of my work is either typing code in a code editor or typing text in a text editor. I also work with images. All of those things can be done on a tablet. It's my inability to type that holds me up.

As I do most years, I picked up some iTunes gift cards as gifts this year. I decided to buy a few apps that I've read about that will hopefully make better use of both my iPhone and iPad for work. I don't expect I'll be giving up my laptop anytime soon. In fact I'm getting ready to buy a new one. I'm looking for ways to integrate all my devices into my workflow. There are a handful of iOS apps for the purpose of automating some tasks. For example an app called Drafts, is meant as an easy way to add any text quickly. Get an idea and the app is ready. The reason people use it is because you can set up some automation to send the text you entered somewhere else. It might be to Evernote or it might be to a to do app or it might be something you append to an article you're writing.

There are a few apps that can chain other commands together and again automate some tasks.

I've purchases a few, but haven't used any yet or set up any kind of automation. It's a goal for 2015 though. I think most people who grew up before all these devices exist have a hard time typing on them. People who are growing up with them don't have the same problem. Regardless of how well you type I think all your devices can be put to use. I don't expect to every work on a site or write an article on my phone, but I can easily record a few ideas for an article or login to a server to make a quick edit on a file. It's the device I'll have with me all the time.

My laptop is the one I'll use for most work, but my iPad is my device of choice for reading and anything sketching or drawing related. It could be better than the latter, but it's the next best thing to pen and paper.

What I also find is more and more apps sync across all devices. I may not sit down to work on my phone for a few hours, but I know I can use it for a number of things when it's the only device within reach.