Synced Files vs Cloud Documents HELP

Has anyone successfully managed to use Cloud Documents in their workflow? Please help me!

I have a MacBook pro and iPad air. I have always used Synced Files (or "Creative Cloud Files") on my laptop to manage my files/projects with no issue. I recently started using an iPad in hopes to access and edit these files on the go. When I open the CC app on the iPad I can view all of my Synced files (Your Work > Files tab) as I usually would on my desktop. However, it seems that to actually edit any of these files (for example an Illustrator file), I have to open up illustrator and import that file as a Creative Cloud Document but then any changes will not be applied to the original file and I have to re-export back to the Synced Files Location which creates a separate copy of that original file. (Which is obviously tedious, time-consuming and frustrating.)

On the other hand, if I move everything to the in-app Creative Cloud Documents system and store all of my files there, I can no longer access these files from non-adobe software or from my normal local Finder files on my Macbook which is where I do 95% of my work.

I understand that Synced Files and Creative Cloud Documents are different systems, but why are they not compatible? Has anyone worked out a simple solution for using both a Macbook and an iPad?