Tip: what you need to know about picture-in-picture on the iPad

iPads have been given new capabilities since iOS 9. One of these is the picture-in-picture function, where a video or FaceTime screen remains in the picture while you do something else. That is how it works.

With the arrival of iOS 9, you can multitask better on Apple tablets. The iPad Pro in particular is very suitable for this thanks to its screen size of 12.9 inches. This way you can watch apps side by side, or watch a video while you are doing something else. If you are FaceTiming with someone and you want to take notes at the same time, you can do that thanks to the picture-in-picture option.

This function resizes the video in question and moves it to the corner of the screen. This way you can just keep doing other things while the movie is playing. This has been around for some time, for example on computers. If you ever use the YouTube app, you may have already come across it. With that app you slide the video at the bottom of the screen, while you search for the next one.

ipad pro

This is how picture-in-picture works on the iPad

To enable picture-in-picture, you can complete the following steps:

  1. Open a video app (e.g. Netflix);
  2. Select a video to play and press Play;
  3. Select the picture-in-picture button (the icon representing a shrinking screen).

Now the video is in the corner of the screen and you can do other things in the meantime. Some apps automatically go into this mode, for example FaceTime.

Operate

Now that you have a scaled down video, don’t worry about it becoming unmanageable. You have fewer options, but you can still operate the player thanks to three buttons.

  • picture-in-pictureThe picture-in-picture button makes the screen fill the screen again;
  • The pause-play button pauses or resumes the video;
  • The close button closes the picture-in-picture window completely, so you can continue with a full picture without video;
  • You can also hide the window for a moment by holding your finger on it and swiping it to the edge of the screen. It then sticks out a little bit, so that you can quickly look further when it comes out again.

Reposition and resize

Of course it can happen that the video ends up in the corner where you didn’t want it. Don’t panic, you can do something about it. Press a finger on picture-in-picture, then swipe it to another corner. Let go and the window will remain.

You can also change the format. You do this by standing with two fingers on the window. If you then bring them closer together, the image will become smaller. If you spread them apart, it will get bigger. When you are satisfied, you let go.

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