Pathfinder and the iPad

[XakTarsonis]

Has anyone used any of the main books, Core rulebook, APG, UC, etc, on an ipad mini? If so how did it look without having to zoom in? was it readable or was it just a pretty picture?

[Kolokotroni]

Paizo has released a set of 'lite' pdfs to go with their normal graphics heavy versions. Those lite ones still have all the art and such, and they run just find on my kindle fire, so they should work well on an ipad. They are readable without zooming on my kindle though I prefer a little zoom, should be fine on the larger screen of the ipad.

[Dorje Sylas]

Based on my expericance with the iPad 2 and iPod Touch, if you don't have GoodReader yet... you'll want it. The biggest thing is that you'll need to Crop off the margins and that will help.

Personally with this hobby and also keep other full sized book references I just never felt 7 or 8 inch screens were big enough for me. Once you use GoodReader cropping to remove the extra margin space most print material will fit almost 1:1 on a full sized iPad.

[Andrew Turner]

On the iPad, I find that iBooks works great for Paizo PDFs, including the larger files, like the rules books.

[ngc7293]

I am also using iBooks for several of the books. I have also downloaded many of the guides here into PDF form (doPDF ver7 print driver) and they look just fine. I do admit that I miss is the bookmarks that you get while in the PC version. It's a lot easier to scroll down through the pages that way. Other than that, it is better than not having it at all.

[Andrew Turner]

ngc7293 wrote:

I am also using iBooks for several of the books. I have also downloaded many of the guides here into PDF form (doPDF ver7 print driver) and they look just fine. I do admit that I miss is the bookmarks that you get while in the PC version. It's a lot easier to scroll down through the pages that way. Other than that, it is better than not having it at all.

You can select a grid view through the list feature, top left screen and right of LIBRARY; this shows all the pages and allows you to scroll down and select a particular page.

I used GoodReader very exclusively for a long time, but have recently found what I think is a much better PDF app: PDF Expert, which allows markups, annotations, and even handwriting. It's not quite as crisp as iBooks (IMO), but it may be more useful during play.

[Aranna]

I wouldn't recommend using a mini. The screen would be awfully small for reading full sized rulebook pages. I use a full sized Ipad with my rulebooks. The full 9.7 inches lets you see a whole page at a time and still see the text clearly. But if you don't mind zooming all the time then I guess the mini would be perfectly fine.

[LazarX]

Dorje Sylas wrote:

Based on my expericance with the iPad 2 and iPod Touch, if you don't have GoodReader yet... you'll want it. The biggest thing is that you'll need to Crop off the margins and that will help.

Personally with this hobby and also keep other full sized book references I just never felt 7 or 8 inch screens were big enough for me. Once you use GoodReader cropping to remove the extra margin space most print material will fit almost 1:1 on a full sized iPad.

Much of the old recomendations for GoodReader were based on old versions of IBooks. IBooks has come very far since then and has significantly improved it's speed of operation.

Adobe Reader though is still suprisingly rubbish.

DO remember to use the "LITE" versions of the PDFs.

[Dorje Sylas]

There are many reasons beyond PDF reading alone to get GoodReader. It's built in web browser and ability or handle a vast array of file types have made it a critical part of workflow on the iPad. iBooks may be quick but I still find it a lackluster offering.

Also does iBooks crop PDFs? GoodReader does and can annotate to boot, and writing with zoom/guard. It can run its own WebDAV as a way to pass files and handouts to a digitally enhanced group.... I can't think of any other App that has been worth well above its value and has kept its value with goinging developement.

[LazarX]

I have to admit that my experience has been colored by the fact that the iOS device I use to read my books is an iPhone 5 as I haven't managed an Ipad purchase yet. Something I'm looking to do though.

[The 8th Dwarf]

I will recommend Combat Manager for the iPad as well. It's free for the laptop but the app is worth purchasing.

[Sydrill]

I use GoodReader all the time, with the original files. I plan on moving toward the Lite versions, to increase search speeds. I love using a tablet for in game sessions. iBooks was barely useful, but I see above someone says it's now better, so this will be a free option, but I will probably stick with GoodReader since I love being able to tab between multiple docs quickly.