The current iOS version has an interface geared toward the small screen of a phone. It's simple but efficient, esp. as a quick capture and retrieval tool. But porting the design to a huge screened iPad has resulted in its own problems:
Waste of screen real estate. The single-pane approach (with a full screen note list and a full screen tag list) works well on the phone, but wastes a ton of space on the ipad. Taking the tag list as an example, a list of short words/phrases each occupying a whole line means 80-90% of the screen is blank! Most similar apps have a two pane design on the ipad. The lack of nested tags also means the tag list can be very long. It's very inefficient to scroll through hundreds of lines of tags, while a redesign of the tag pane could put a few columns of tags on a single screen.
Less power. While there have been a lot of improvements, like rich text and table editing, there is a noticeable distance between the mobile version and desktop version in terms of features. Plugin support is practically nonexistent (e.g., the excellent Inline Tag Navigator, Context Utils, Insert YouTube Video--useful on the desktop as a workaround for the lack of built-in features). The beautiful themes you can tweak on your desktop are not available. Even basic syntax coloring is not possible. To change the font color of a word you have to code. There is no web clipper.
By comparison, Obsidian on iPad/iPhone has the same full feature set as the desktop version. Today the iPad is no longer a large iPhone. It's more powerful than many laptops and is many people's main computer while traveling. Don't take me wrong--this post is certainly not a rant, but an appeal for a fundamental reassessment of the role of the mobile versions in the Joplin product lineup.
I think you've described the current state of Joplin on iOS/iPad OS very well.
There's also an inconsistency between Joplin on Android and iOS which just adds to the challenges.
I've come to the realization that in practical use, Joplin is a desktop app with "courtesy" versions for mobile that can serve as reference/read-only but not as an integral part of entering and updating content.
That is not to say that entering/updating notes on mobile platforms is not possible... just more limiting and challenging.
Joplin is my PREFERRED notes app. I have 1000's of notes (spanning 50 years) with 1000's of links and 100's of tags all working wonderfully. But not having mobile versions with comparable functionality and visuals have me primarily using another app and periodically mirroring updates/changes in that app over to Joplin.
A few years ago, I would have invited you to deal with it. But we can’t ignore that tablets in general and iPad as become more and more a valuable alternative to laptops. It’s not a niche anymore.
This utility bar specific to mobile introduced some time ago, which lets me easily move lines and duplicate them etc, has been wonderfully helpful for those moments when the desktop isn't on hand.
Regarding that issue, multi window mode is optional though? You could just use it full screen and not have that issue, until it is fixed.
But on the main topic, I'd agree it would be good if the mobile app had a responsive layout to make full use of larger screens for a better experience.
