Duke and I have been in 2 apts in the last 2 years. He does great without having a yard, I'm sure it would be nice but we do take daily walk when its nice out and play catch also in the apt. We also go to the dog park when we can.
About the barking, Duke is also a barker but while inside, he only barks when there are new or strange noises outside. At first, he barked when neighbors would come to their door ( our doors are pretty much next to each other) but he just sniff the door now.
Duke has been trained on the pad (90% of the time
) so staying home while I'm at work has been working out good for us.
Good luck...