5 useful tips for the iPad

If reading from the screen becomes difficult, increase readability via Institutions > Screen and brightness. On iPadOS 13, tap Institutions > Display and brightness.

• Brighten the screen by moving the ‘Brightness’ slider to the right, toward the big sun. Make the screen less bright by sliding the button to the left.
• Tap on Text size and drag the slider to the right to enlarge text. You will unfortunately only see larger letters in apps that support this. But you can benefit a lot from it.
• Tap at the top Previous (from iPadOS 14) or Display and brightness (iPadOS 13).
• You can also bold the text on the iPad. This makes everything just that little bit more readable. Tap the slider behind ‘Bold text’. The bold text is applied immediately.

There are many punctuation marks on the keyboard. The default punctuation marks are under the key that says 123 and then you’ll find more under the key with #+=. Since iOS 11, the QuickType keyboard has made its appearance. From now on, every key also contains an extra number or character. This is above the primary letter. Swipe the key from top to bottom to activate the secondary number or character. As soon as you release the screen, the number or character will appear.

But what if you don’t want to type a euro sign, but a dollar sign? Or the e with an accent, like é? Many options are hidden under existing keys, but are easily accessible by holding your finger on the key for a longer period of time. Read more about it in the tip ‘Type accents on iPad and iPhone’ .

Safari is the app that allows you to surf the web. Save websites you visit often to your favorites. By default, Apple has already added a few favorites. You can remove these and you can add favorites yourself.

• Tap on Safari.
• A new page will open or open a new tab by tapping the plus sign at the top right.

Via the address bar you can go to a website, but you can now also open or delete a bookmark. The favorites are in blocks on the page. Delete a favorite as follows:

• Hold your finger on the icon of your favorite for a moment.
• Remove your finger from the screen when a menu appears.
• The ‘Delete’ option will appear. Tap this.

If you want to add a website to the favorites, you can do that on the iPad in a few movements. Read the tip ‘Make favorites in Safari’.

The Camera app allows you to take photos and videos. Tap the round circle on the screen to take a photo or start a video recording. Do this carefully, otherwise the tablet (and therefore the camera) will move while tapping. But it can be easier! You can also make a recording with the volume buttons. This way you can hold the iPad stably in both hands.

• Tap on Camera to open the app.
• Make a choice for a photo or video. Swipe the options until your choice is selected. Timelapse allows you to create an accelerated video and you can also take a square or panorama photo.
• Take a photo by pressing one of the two volume buttons. For a video, use a combination of the two buttons: start the video by pressing the upper volume button (for louder) and stop the recording by pressing the lower volume button (for softer).

Captured photos and videos can be found in the Photos app.

After an update of the iPad, bluetooth is always on. You do not need this by default and it consumes energy unnecessarily. Turn off bluetooth after every update.

• Tap on Institutions.
• Tap on Bluetooth.
• Tap the slider behind ‘Bluetooth’.

The option is no longer green and therefore disabled.

You can read more about updating the iPad in the ‘Secure your iPad’ article in the ‘Updating the operating system’ section.

Do you need to better master the basics of the iPad? Take the Online Course. Especially for SeniorWeb members.