The first iPad was released on April 3rd, 2010. In the years since, it’s become one of the top-grossing consumer products, year after year, making its way into millions of homes around the world. From standard iPad features to the iPad tips and tricks your colleagues gave you, there are dozens of different ways to use this device.
But what if we told you there were things your iPad can do that you didn’t even know about? What if we told you there were roughly ten of those things? What can an iPad do that would well and truly blow you away? Join us, today, and get ready to discover a whole new side to your iPad.
1. Faster Scrolling
On a tablet, one of your biggest assets is the ability to scroll as easily as possible through whatever essential iPad apps or media you are viewing. It’s a landmark feature in iPads and all other tablets, made possible by its touch screen.
But even the increased precision of touch scrolling can get tedious during extensive editing work. The iPad has a useful “trackpad mode” as of iOS 12, to help with that. This mode allows you to easily scroll through the text you’ve typed, quickly scrolling to the bottom or the top of the page at the drop of a hat.
Activate trackpad mode by holding down spacebar until your keys gray out. From here, you can quickly scroll through the entire document like you’re using a trackpad.
2. Extended Battery Life
The iPad is known for its ridiculously long battery life, but this may dip drastically when apps run in the background and continue to draw power. Apple’s “Background App Refresh” app can help with how much power your iPad uses, but it’s important to turn this off to save even more battery life.
To disable the app, go to Settings, select General, then go to select Background App Refresh, and disable the feature from the top.
3. Hide Private Photos
There’s a great way to hide your private photos from your camera roll, for increased security when people scroll through them. To stash your photos away privately, open Photos and tap Select. Tap the photo you want to hide and select Share in the bottom left of your screen. Choose Hide from the menu and your photos are safe from prying eyes.
4. Snap Back To The Top Of The Web Page
Deep into a website and need to get back to the beginning in a hurry? If you’ve been reading for long enough, that might mean a lot of scrolling. Or you could use this neat trick to snap right back to the beginning.
Simply tap the title bar of your app or webpage, and the browser will return you to the top. In terms of ease of navigation, it doesn’t get much easier.
5. Scan Documents
This is one of my personal favorites. Scanners have become increasingly less common in most modern homes, which can be a problem when you need to scan something.
To scan literally any document, simply open your Notes app, start a new document, and hit the camera icon. This will ask if you’d like to scan your document, and you are given a complete range of scanning options, colors, and qualities. The end result is a perfect scan, ready to go.
6. View Two Apps Simultaneously
Multitasking apps is one of the best parts of using a PC or laptop, and the iPad has incorporated it, too. Simply open up your home screen and put both apps you want to use in the Dock at the bottom of the screen.
And learning how to use split view on iPad couldn’t be easier, either. Open the first app you’ll be using, then swipe up from the bottom so you can see that Dock, again, and press and hold the second app. Keep the icon held down and drag it to the right or left side of your screen. Both apps will open, simultaneously, right next to each other.
7. Type Like You’re On A Mobile Phone
One of the biggest reasons people get the iPad is literally the biggest – they get it because they want something bigger, more the size of a laptop, to work on. But something you give up with more size is the classic typing experience of your smartphone.
But what if you could type with your thumbs, exactly like a smartphone? The iPad’s keyboard can actually offer this, with half and half of the keyboard retracting to the bottom corners of your tablet. This lets you type with your thumbs like your iPad is a massive smartphone.
Tap and hold the keyboard icon in the lower right corner until a menu appears. Move your finger toward the word split without lifting it from the screen, and you’ll disconnect the keyboard in exactly the right way. Repeat the process and click Merge to go in the opposite direction.
8. Faster Charging
In your mission to get your tablet working like new again, you may be tempted to go the “hard reset iPad” route. But there is a way to put the spring back in your charger’s step.
We’re not going to pretend like the iPad charges quickly, as it is. It certainly takes its time. But there are safe ways to charge your iPad much faster than you otherwise might.
The Apple USB-C charging block for laptops works with the Lightning Adapter and will speed up your charging. The USB-C charger will get you up and running in no time.
9. Recording Your Screen
Screen recordings are a great business tool but also give you a great way to share your winning moments and great ideas with friends and family.
Simply swipe down from the top right to view the Control Center. Tap target icon and press record. A red band will appear to let you know when you’re recording. Tap the red bar and Stop, to stop, and you’ve got everything you need.
10. Search More Efficiently
Your iPad has an awesome built-in search engine for finding literally anything on either your device or the cloud.
Touch and hold the center center of your display and swipe down. A menu with a search bar will come up, and Siri will throw in a few suggestions, as well. You’ll also get recommendations based on your previous searches and activity.
This menu may also be available by swiping in from the left at your home screen depending on your version of iOS.
iPad Features
The iPad is a game-changing piece of tech with an endlessly useful design. Hopefully, today’s iPad features article has brought you one step closer to the perfect end-user experience with yours. After all, in the quest for easier, more efficient computing, it’s not the size of the tablet that counts, but how you use it.
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