Week One
Buttons & Settings
In an effort to become more comfortable, it is important to understand how to find specific features on the iPad. The settings hold many features that can help make your iPad experience more enjoyable. This week we are going to explore some of the different settings that you will need when working with your iPad in general as well as with certain apps.
All the Buttons
When you look at the front of your iPad, there are some visible buttons and tools that are important to the function of your iPad. While most of them are self-explanatory, some of these buttons have additional functions that you might not realize.
Power Button - This is also referred to as the Sleep Button or the On/Off Button. You can click this button to put your iPad to sleep when you are not using it. This will reserve some of your battery power so it's not drained as quickly. To actually power your iPad off, you need to hold down the power button until you see the message "slide to power off." Follow those instructions and your iPad will power off. Holding the power button down after it is has powered off, will turn it back on. (Once you see an apple icon in the middle of the screen, you can let go of the power button.) Home Button - This button will wake up your iPad if it is asleep. If you click it twice quickly, you will see all the apps you have open. A single click in this mode will get you back to the main screen. There is a feature called Guided Access that also relies on the home button for initiation. So, if you click the home button three times quickly when you are in an app, you might get the Guided Access information. Should this happen, just click the home button once to exit.
Taking a Screenshot - If you press down the Power Button and the Home Button at the same time, you will take a screenshot of your iPad. This can be useful if you need to put together how-to instructions for your students or you need to ask a question about a specific message or issue on your iPad. The screenshot goes into the camera roll or photo app on your iPad. You will use the screenshot function in the Your Turn section today.
Dock Connector - This is where you connect the power adapter to charge the iPad via an outlet or your computer. If you have an iPad 2, you can also use camera adaptors in this port. Camera adapters will allow you to connect a digital camera for photo uploading to your iPad or photo uploading via an SD photo card. You can also use the adapter for the digital camera to connect an external microphone to your iPad for higher-quality audio recording. While the microphone on the iPad is sufficient for audio recording, it doesn't always pick up those quiet voices from timid or soft-spoken individuals. On either side of the dock connector, you will find the iPad speakers. |
Mute/Rotation Lock - Depending on your settings, this switch will either lock the rotation of your screen on the iPad or mute your iPad. The rotation lock comes in handy when you are using the iPad for a presentation and you need the screen to stay in one specific layout (portrait or landscape). It is also useful if you have a student who doesn't do well with the continual rotation of the screen. The only drawback to using the rotation lock is when you encounter an app that requires a specific screen layout. I have a few apps that only function in the portrait layout, so if the rotation lock is on the apps will not open for me.
This lock can be switched over to a mute lock for the iPad. Rather than locking the rotation, you can lock the sound into the off position. If you have enabled to mute lock, it will still allow you to turn the sound up and down on the iPad. This becomes an issue if you have forgotten that the mute lock is enabled and you cannot figure out why the sound is not working on your iPad. |
Settings
It is a good idea to become familiar with the features and options in your iPad Settings. We will explore just a few key features today, but the articles below will provide you with more insight into the iPad settings.
Notifications - Whenever you install and start a new app, it usually asks you if you want Push Notifications turned on. Notifications simply give you messages related to that specific app. For example, if I have notifications turned on for my Calendar, then I will get messages reminding me of specific and/or upcoming events on my calendar. Additionally, any app that is included in Notifications, will show up in the Notifications Center of your iPad. (To access the Notifications Center, use your finger to pull down at the top of your iPad screen.) In your Notifications settings, you can choose to include or not include specific apps as well as enabling any of the three specific notification types - Badges, Sounds, and Banners.
Notifications - Whenever you install and start a new app, it usually asks you if you want Push Notifications turned on. Notifications simply give you messages related to that specific app. For example, if I have notifications turned on for my Calendar, then I will get messages reminding me of specific and/or upcoming events on my calendar. Additionally, any app that is included in Notifications, will show up in the Notifications Center of your iPad. (To access the Notifications Center, use your finger to pull down at the top of your iPad screen.) In your Notifications settings, you can choose to include or not include specific apps as well as enabling any of the three specific notification types - Badges, Sounds, and Banners.
Badges: If you have this notification enabled for an app, you will see a number in a red circle on your app indicating new messages or information. In the image to the left, you will see the badge on the Gmail app indicating 9 new messages.
Sounds: When enabled, your iPad will make a sound when new information or messages are available on the app you have indicated. Personally, I don't use sound very often as it can get difficult to know what the sound is indicating if enabled for a large number of your apps. I leave the sound option on for specific apps where it is crucial to know there is new information or an incoming call - like Calendar, Messages, FaceTime and Hangouts.
Banners: This feature provides a banner message at the top of your iPad screen when new information or messages are available for a specific app. I have this feature enabled for my Apps Gone Free app. Each day the new free apps are available, I receive a banner message letting me know I can now look at the new free apps for the day. The banners do go away after a few seconds, but you can see those messages again in the notification center.
How to organize alerts in Notification Center... - This article gives you more information about the Notification Center. At the bottom of the article is a nice collection of specific detailed features in the notification settings.
Sounds: When enabled, your iPad will make a sound when new information or messages are available on the app you have indicated. Personally, I don't use sound very often as it can get difficult to know what the sound is indicating if enabled for a large number of your apps. I leave the sound option on for specific apps where it is crucial to know there is new information or an incoming call - like Calendar, Messages, FaceTime and Hangouts.
Banners: This feature provides a banner message at the top of your iPad screen when new information or messages are available for a specific app. I have this feature enabled for my Apps Gone Free app. Each day the new free apps are available, I receive a banner message letting me know I can now look at the new free apps for the day. The banners do go away after a few seconds, but you can see those messages again in the notification center.
How to organize alerts in Notification Center... - This article gives you more information about the Notification Center. At the bottom of the article is a nice collection of specific detailed features in the notification settings.
General Settings
There is some valuable information about your iPad available under the General settings such as the name of your device, the serial number, and the usage. You will also notice that the Side Switch or Rotation Lock feature is listed here, enabling you to set the switch for mute or rotation lock on your iPad.
Usage - In this section, you can view the battery usage, iCloud storage and iPad Storage. When you tap Manage Storage under the Storage section, you will see the amount of space each app is using on your iPad. This information becomes useful if you are running out of storage room on your iPad. Limited storage can prohibit the ability for new apps to be installed or installed apps to be updated. It can also limit your ability to take photos with your iPad. By seeing the apps with the highest storage usage on your iPad, you can decide to either remove those apps or clean out what is being stored within the app. For example, the highest usage app on my iPad is iBooks. If I start running out of storage room, I will want to go into iBooks and remove some of my books so I can obtain more room on the iPad.
Accessibility - As mentioned earlier, Guided Access is a feature available on the iPad. When you enable Guided Access the user is locked or restricted to using only the current app that is open. The only way to leave the app is by entering the correct passcode which was set within the Guided Access settings. Without the correct passcode, the user can do nothing else on the iPad. Guided Access can be disabled by powering down the iPad and then restarting it. Accessibility has many other features that can be useful to adults and students with reading and physical disabilities. Check out this site for more information on the Accessibility settings - Accessibility Tips and Tricks.
Usage - In this section, you can view the battery usage, iCloud storage and iPad Storage. When you tap Manage Storage under the Storage section, you will see the amount of space each app is using on your iPad. This information becomes useful if you are running out of storage room on your iPad. Limited storage can prohibit the ability for new apps to be installed or installed apps to be updated. It can also limit your ability to take photos with your iPad. By seeing the apps with the highest storage usage on your iPad, you can decide to either remove those apps or clean out what is being stored within the app. For example, the highest usage app on my iPad is iBooks. If I start running out of storage room, I will want to go into iBooks and remove some of my books so I can obtain more room on the iPad.
Accessibility - As mentioned earlier, Guided Access is a feature available on the iPad. When you enable Guided Access the user is locked or restricted to using only the current app that is open. The only way to leave the app is by entering the correct passcode which was set within the Guided Access settings. Without the correct passcode, the user can do nothing else on the iPad. Guided Access can be disabled by powering down the iPad and then restarting it. Accessibility has many other features that can be useful to adults and students with reading and physical disabilities. Check out this site for more information on the Accessibility settings - Accessibility Tips and Tricks.
10 iPad Settings to Change Today for a Better Experience - This article from 2014 addresses some main settings to focus on and adjust in your iPad.
Set Up Your iPad - This article from Make Use Of provides a detailed look at the General Settings.
Guide to iPad and iPhone Settings - This article looks at specific settings connected to the iOS8 (operating system) on the iPad.
Set Up Your iPad - This article from Make Use Of provides a detailed look at the General Settings.
Guide to iPad and iPhone Settings - This article looks at specific settings connected to the iOS8 (operating system) on the iPad.
Display & BrightnessBy default, the Auto-Brightness feature is enabled. This means the brightness of your iPad will adjust automatically based on the amount of light available in the room. While this can be a nice feature, it is not fool-proof. Even though the current lighting is dark, the iPad might not increase the screen brightness causing the iPad screen to appear dark. You can go into the settings and manually change the brightness yourself, but if this feature begins to annoy you, then go disable the Auto-Brightness feature by switching it off.
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WallpaperCustomizing your iPad can help you feel more comfortable with the device and give you a sense of ownership. Changing the wallpaper is a great way to put your personal touch onto the device. The iPad does come with a collection of photos to choose from, but you can also choose from any photo you took with your iPad by accessing the camera roll. You can also set two different photos on your iPad - one for the lock screen and one for the home screen. The lock screen will appear either when you wake-up the iPad or power it on. You will be prompted to slide the bar at the bottom of the screen and will then enter the home screen. The home screen is the background you see when looking at the pages and apps on your iPad. When using your own photo on the home screen, you want to make sure the colors are not too dark or too light that it becomes a challenge to view your apps.
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Passcode
Some people opt not to use a Passcode on their iPad, however, if you have little fingers at home or sticky-fingered students, you might want to reconsider adding a passcode to your iPad. After entering the Passcode settings, you will need to Turn Passcode On. If it is already on, it will say Turn Passcode Off. If you already have a passcode, you can change it to another simple 4 digit number or you can make it a more complex passcode, like a password you might use on your computer. When you turn off Simple Passcode, you will be prompted to change your passcode and the iPad keyboard will pop up at the bottom of the screen. This will allow you to create whatever passcode you want for your iPad. As 4 digit codes are easy to crack, this might be a good option to keep young ones off your iPad at home or to keep students off your iPad at school.
There are two other features you need to be aware of in the Passcode settings. Above the Simple Passcode button, is the option to set the time-frame for when your passcode will be required. You can set it on immediately, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 1 hour or 4 hours. The choice is yours, but there is no option for customizing the time-frame. The last option in the Passcode settings is Erase Data. Should you enable this feature, all of your data will be erased after 10 failed passcode attempts on your iPad. Should you enable this feature and someone enters 10 incorrect passcodes, your data will be erased and cannot be retrieved by any technical service.
There are two other features you need to be aware of in the Passcode settings. Above the Simple Passcode button, is the option to set the time-frame for when your passcode will be required. You can set it on immediately, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 1 hour or 4 hours. The choice is yours, but there is no option for customizing the time-frame. The last option in the Passcode settings is Erase Data. Should you enable this feature, all of your data will be erased after 10 failed passcode attempts on your iPad. Should you enable this feature and someone enters 10 incorrect passcodes, your data will be erased and cannot be retrieved by any technical service.
iCloud
The last feature that many people ask about in relation to iPads is should I use iCloud. This is really a personal preference. Basically, iCloud is an online storage tool that will save photos, contacts, mail, documents, Safari searches, notes and more. It's like have a digital file cabinet that you can access anywhere on any device. If you enable iCloud, you can control what information is saved automatically into iCloud. For more on iCloud, check out the following articles below:
Apple - iCloud - Shares the basics about iCloud and what is included
How to set up and use iCloud - This claims to be the ultimate guide to iCloud
Everything You Need to Know About Using iCloud Drive and iCloud Photo Library - Covers iCloud use on the iPad, iPhone and Mac Computer
Apple - iCloud - Shares the basics about iCloud and what is included
How to set up and use iCloud - This claims to be the ultimate guide to iCloud
Everything You Need to Know About Using iCloud Drive and iCloud Photo Library - Covers iCloud use on the iPad, iPhone and Mac Computer
Your Turn
Today you have looked at the iPad buttons and various settings. We discovered one way of customizing your iPad was to change your wallpaper. Your task for today is to use your iPad camera to take a photo of something that is important to you and then set it as the wallpaper for your home screen. You might also consider taking a different photo to use as on your lock screen. When you are finished, take a screenshot of your home screen.
Post your screenshot photo on the USD 495 Tech Challenges Facebook group and respond to one of the following about the iPad Buttons and Settings:
Today you have looked at the iPad buttons and various settings. We discovered one way of customizing your iPad was to change your wallpaper. Your task for today is to use your iPad camera to take a photo of something that is important to you and then set it as the wallpaper for your home screen. You might also consider taking a different photo to use as on your lock screen. When you are finished, take a screenshot of your home screen.
Post your screenshot photo on the USD 495 Tech Challenges Facebook group and respond to one of the following about the iPad Buttons and Settings:
- Something new I learned was...
- I didn't know...
- The most important takeaway for me from today's challenge was...