Source: https://mayphus.org/ipad-first-ai-workflow/
Title: An iPad at the front, a workspace behind it
Metadata: {"date":"2026-10-06","kind":"article","language":"en","locale":"en","route":"/ipad-first-ai-workflow/","slug":"ipad-first-ai-workflow","tags":["workflow","ai","ipad"],"type":"article"}

An iPad at the front, a workspace behind it

I am trying a different division of work. My iPad Air M1, with a keyboard and mouse, is becoming my main personal interface. I can use familiar shortcuts when I need to type, touch the screen when that makes more sense, and start a task by voice or chat from my iPad or iPhone. I still like the portability of the tablet and the directness of touchscreen Maps.

The iPad does not have to run every tool itself. PB62, an always-on Ubuntu machine, is my preferred local workspace for terminals, files, browser sessions, and hardware connected to the desk, including the SO101 robot arm. For suitable jobs, I also use OpenAI cloud computer and coding environments. GitHub holds the work that should be versioned; Cloudflare serves my website; Hugging Face and Kaggle are useful when a model, demo, or GPU experiment calls for them.

## What a day can look like

I describe the outcome I want on a phone or tablet. An AI agent investigates, edits files, runs commands, and checks the result in the environment that fits the task. I make the higher-level decisions: what is worth doing, what can be public, and whether the result is actually finished. I do not want to repeat manual operations just to move between devices.

The work needs to leave something more durable than a chat. My [GPT-124M training project](https://mayphus.org/gpt124m-restartable-training/) reached a completed run with tested checkpoints and a public model and demo. Today, two photographs became a [photo story about Xiamen Air’s 100th aircraft above Qingshui Gong](https://mayphus.org/xiamen-qingshui-gong-flight/). I also started a local Debian virtual machine, verified that I could log in, and shut it down. These are different kinds of tasks, but each has a concrete result that can be checked.

## Still an experiment

For months, my MacBook was mostly a way to open ChatGPT. I am gradually retiring it as my main machine, rather than claiming that the iPad can replace every computer or app. An external 4K monitor is an idea I may try, not part of this setup yet.

The edges are visible. A delegated browser was initially unavailable; later I could use the browser on PB62. An X photo attachment picker then failed, and I stopped that post. The workflow is useful because I can choose the right machine or cloud environment for a task, but it still needs verification and occasional hands-on decisions.