iPad Only

The Swipe Keyboard on the iPhone, often called Swipe Text, Swype Keyboard, Slide to Type, or sometimes QuickPath, is available on the iPad as of iPadOS 13. Using the iPad’s floating keyboard, you can drag your finger from one letter to the next without lifting it, spelling out whole words in one quick motion. There’s no need for a keyboard app. To get Slide to Type working on your iPad, you’ll need to use the floating keyboard, and learn how to switch between the floating keyboard and the regular keyboard. Read on for quick instructions on how to use QuickPath and the floating keyboard on your iPad.

You can hook up a mouse to an iPad, as long as the mouse uses Bluetooth. I was delighted to discover that the iPad Pro has mouse support, and it even works on my iPhone! You have to register the mouse as an AssistiveTouch device in the Accessibility menu. The technique should work with most Bluetooth mice, although you may have to use a special workaround for some, including the Apple Magic Mouse. Read on for step by step instructions on how to get your iPad mouse working.

Want to use your iPad as a monitor for your Mac? No problem, Sidecar has you covered! With macOS Catalina and iPadOS 13, you can use a feature called Sidecar to turn your handy iPad into a second screen. Want to see your iPad mirroring your Mac's display? Not a problem either. Sidecar is easy to set up, and works like a charm. The ability to use an iPad as a second monitor for an iPad dual-screen setup has been possible with the third-party Duet Display app for a while. Now an even better way to do it is available to everyone, built right into the operating systems. Read on to find out how to set up this feature, and what requirements to check for if it doesn’t seem to be working.

Multitasking on iPad added Split View in Safari when iOS 10 was introduced for iPad. Previously, you could only open up two different apps simultaneously on iPad using Split View. But it only makes sense to use Split View in Safari since we often have multiple tabs open anyway—might as well be able to view two at the same time. There are multiple ways to open Split View in Safari on iPad; here’s how.

Apple introduced multitasking for the iPad with iOS 9. This includes Split Screen, Slide Over, and Picture-in-Picture. Most iPads are capable of using Slide Over and Picture-in-Picture, so long as they are running iOS 9 or later. However the Split Screen multitasking function is reserved for iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4, and iPad Pro users. It’s arguably the most useful of the three functions too, as it allows you to work in two apps simultaneously. That means you could read the news on one side of the app and take notes on the other. Here’s how to use Split Screen view on the iPad.

What is portrait orientation and what is portrait orientation lock? On iPhone, when you tilt your device on its side, the screen follows and rotates to landscape orientation. Turning on portrait orientation locks the screen so that no matter which way your iPhone is turned, the screen will stay in place. Instead of your iPhone screen flipping between portrait and landscape view, you can use portrait orientation lock. We’ll cover how to lock your iPhone screen and how to use a small workaround to lock rotation on iPad as well. And just in case your screen won't rotate, we'll also tell you how to unlock screen rotation on iPhone and iPad. Here’s how to lock your iPhone or iPad screen with portrait orientation.

The on-screen keyboard on the iPad may seem unmovable, but users actually have multiple options. One such option that’s pretty well known is the ability to split keyboard and have half for your right hand and half for your left hand. But did you know you can undock the keyboard from the bottom of the screen and move it anywhere you want? You can and it’s easy to do. Here’s how to undock the iPad keyboard and move it around the screen.

When you have an iPad, knowing a few keyboard shortcuts for your external keyboard is essential. Unless you enjoy touching the screen every two seconds, keyboard shortcuts are great for completing common tasks in a second. This tip will focus on two. Once you’ve used them a few times, they’ll become habit. Here’s how to Spotlight search and return to Home screen with keyboard shortcuts on iPad.

If you use a keyboard on your iPad or iPhone, keyboard shortcuts are a fantastic way to easily get around. Instead of constantly touching the screen, you can use keyboard shortcuts to quickly complete actions. This tip focuses on using keyboard shortcuts to browse through the Mail app and Safari. Here’s how to browse using keyboard shortcuts on your iPad.

The iPhone has a camera app for taking pictures, but the iPad also has a Photobooth app similar to the one most Apple computers have. Unlike the camera app on your phone, the Photobooth app has filters and effects to alter the image you’re capturing before you even take the picture. Personally, the Kaleidoscope effect is my favorite—everything looks cool. Here’s how to add and change effects in Photobooth on your iPad.

Picture in picture is one of the new iPad multitasking features introduced with iOS 9. Picture in Picture works with iPad Pro, iPad Air or later, and iPad mini 2 or later. You can use Picture in Picture with FaceTime or while browsing in Safari. If you come across a video you want to watch, with Picture in Picture, you can minimize the video window and continue to browse or use other apps while you continue watching your video. 

We're all familiar with the one-finger swipe and the two-finger pinch, but if you have an iPad, you may want to consider using all five fingers. Since iOS 5, Apple has added new gestures that make multitasking and navigating between apps more seamless than ever before. These gestures make it easy to see which apps are active, swipe between them, and quickly return to the Home screen.

With iOS 9, Apple introduces the iPad to split-screen multitasking. Also called Slide Over, this new function is supported by the iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 2, and iPad mini 3 and later. Located on the right edge of the screen and designed to run multiple apps, Slide Over allows you view another app without leaving the one you're in; however, the two applications won't run together side by side unless you have an iPad Air 2 or later. 

Forget running downstairs to where you left your iPhone, take the call on your iPad or iPod instead (as long as you have later-model devices running iOS 8).