CanadianAlison+3boys Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 I need advice. I have the opportunity to purchase a fourth generation iPad for a good price and I am debating whether it is worth it vs a different tablet. Though the price is good android tablets of various brands can still be bought for cheaper which is why I'm not sure yet what to do. Are there any apps or functionality or anything else that make an iPad better for a homeschooling family vs an android tablet of some sort? I have an old iPhone that has no service so I use it as an iPod touch and I do that specifically because on a day to day basis there are apps I use that aren't available for android but right now we don't use a tablet for homeschooling and this will be our first one for that so I don't know if there are apps I'll really wish I could have that android doesn't do. It'll be used by me and DH but also our fifth grader who has fine motor delays (going to set him up with some speech to text and also the ability to mark up PDFs without printing them and anything else we think of). We also have a 2nd grader and 1st grader who will use it as necessary. They have their own devices with library books and audible on them already. Any thoughts appreciated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth 2 Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 An advantage of the iPad is the ability to access the library and content of apps that you already have set up on the old iPhone. Not all apps that are available in both platforms will allow you to access the same content across platforms. We have kindle fires and while I like them, the family library aspect of apple products is a big draw for future purchases. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCB Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 One of the textbooks we use is an ibook and as far as I know you can only download those onto an Apple tablet. The other textbook we use on the tablet was available for either android or ipad, so it worked out best for us to get the ipad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternallytired Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 I've found that most apps are made for iPad first, and Android (maybe) later. It's frustrating that so many things I hear about that would be really fun and useful aren't accessible to us because we have all Android devices. Apple also has an approval procedure in place, so all Apple apps have to meet certain quality standards. Anyone and everyone can (and does) produce Android apps, so there's a lot of junk to wade through when looking for something good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Um_2_4 Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Well, we have all android. DH is forced to use an iphone for work. So the first question is what do YOU want to use it for? Sumdog, HOP, geography games? Which text to speech app? Do you mean read books to him? If so kindles do that (we have several fires). PDFs can be done on any device with Adobe, but I would suggest getting a larger screen. DS12 has a Samsung 10.5" note with the pen that would work perfect for that. I have yet to find any app I heard about here that I MUST have that was not on Android or I could not find something almost exactly alike. Maybe list the apps and we can recommend an alternative, or they may have been released in the mean time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 The reason "I" choose ipad over other is that I wanted the Barton Reading and Spelling app specific to the Barton dyslexic reading program. She made the app for the ipad and said that it would not be on android for the foreseeable future. I agree that many apps are made for i-devices first, but I don't know of anything that would keep me from getting a regular tablet for typical homeschooling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 We use our devices (kindle fire, Android tablet, decommissioned Android phone) regularly for Anki (free for Android, cost for i-products) and to check for email from an online class. We don't regularly use electronic devices for school outside of that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaInTexas Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 We are android users. All I can add to what has already been said is that you marry iproducts and date androids. Meaning; to change from apple to anything else is like a divorce and will cost you a lot of money because nothing is cross-compatible. However, with android, if you get fed-up with Samsung, you can buy a google product, or a Kindle, or a Nook, or, .... and keep all of your content by using apps (kindle for android, nook for android, etc....). So your device is much less important with androids than with iproducts. There is also a rumor that microsoft is trying to make windows compatible with google play. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 (edited) I love my ipad. My son uses it for school and loves it. My other son uses a Mac for his school, so I guess we are apple people. Edited September 20, 2016 by Peacefulisle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 (edited) IPad, but make sure it has plenty of memory. Also, you can purchase an inexpensive Bluetooth keyboard and type on the iPad as well. Edited September 21, 2016 by Heathermomster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 If there is some App you must use or that you want to use, that is only available for the iPad, maybe buy that. Consider that a new battery (actually, when you send your iPad for a new battery they will return a different iPad to you) from Apple, installed, is USD $100+. You could probably buy a good Android tablet for that. My impression and belief is that if you Install Apps from the Google Play store they have been vetted and that there is a low risk to installing something that will screw up our Android phones or tablet. If the Apps you use on your old iPhone are critical to you, then I would give weight to that. GL with your decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX Native Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 For schoolwork, I recommend the bigger screen than the regular sized iPad. If you download PDF worksheets to something you can "write" over, it is like a real worksheet on the bigger screen. The books are more textbook sized vs. paperback size with a bigger screen. I have the iPad Pro with the bigger screen and love it for homeschool. It has more memory so I can download curriculum PDFs, photos (we use a lot of saved images for school lessons), audiobooks, ebooks, and schedules to my heart's content. I ran out of space on my regular 16gb iPad. I am not sure if Android or iPad is better overall since I never used an Android tablet, but the bigger screen is better for the homeschool related things we do on the tablet. If I were you, I would go to somewhere like Best Buy and demo their iPads and android tablets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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