Table of contents for Issue 80 in iPad User Magazine

Apple’s latest range of iPads presents you with a tricky dilemma when it comes to choosing which iPad you should buy if you’re in the market for an upgrade, because there are just too many good options! It’s a nice problem to have in some ways, but does leave you with something of a quandary. You could save some cash and get a basic iPad, but anybody who checks out the specs of the basic iPad can surely hear the sleek and powerful iPad Air calling their name. Or you could throw financial caution to the wind and splurge on a new iPad Pro, which can function almost like a MacBook when paired up with a keyboard and mouse. But then you’re faced with the dilemma of which screen size…

The LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor used by the rear cameras of the iPad Pro and recent iPhones is a key part of Apple’s grand plans for the future of AR and VR technology. The LiDAR sensor helps to improve camera performance in low-light conditions, but it can also calculate depth within an image or scene. This is similar to the TrueDepth technology used with the front-facing camera to map the contours of your face so that you can use Face ID to unlock the iPad Pro or an iPhone. However, the LiDAR sensor is more precise than Face ID as it uses lasers to bounce rays of light off objects and measure their distance from the camera. This enables you to shoot photos and videos that contain accurate…

Folio Cases are one of the most popular purchases for any owner of a new iPad, providing wraparound protection for both the back panel and the front screen. Apple has two options; the basic Smart Cover (£45-£99), or the Smart Keyboard Folio with built-in keyboard (£159-£329). Apple cases are expensive though, and there are some great alternatives, such as the rugged Defender cases from Otterbox (£59-£89.99), or Logitech’s Keyboard Folio cases with built-in trackpad (£89.95-£199.95).…

1 Select the device With macOS 12.3 installed on your Mac, go to System Preferences > Displays. In this tutorial we’ll work with a solo MacBook Pro, but Universal Control is still available if you also have an external display. 2 Choose your control Click on Universal Control and you should see these options. For best results you’ll want to ensure that the first two are both checked. This enables you to move seamlessly between devices that share the same iCloud account. 3 Add your device Now we need to click on the Add Display drop-down at the lower left of the Displays window. This will give you a list of available devices, and it’s in two sections: ‘Link Keyboard and Mouse’ is the one we want here. 4 Move…

£12.99 FROM feralinteractive.com MADE FOR iPhone, iPad, iPod touch NEEDS iOS 14/iPadOS 14 or later Taking over Europe was a common pastime among royalty in the Middle Ages, it seems. They’re at it again in Medieval II, which takes you from Merrie England to North Africa and Constantinople. Total War games, with their combination of turn–based strategy and real time tactics, suit the touchscreen nicely, though they’re arguably a better fit for the larger iPads. Essentially, you send armies out into an abstract map to capture territory. When they meet another army, they fight, and the game changes to a view of your army, in which you deploy units, set behavior, and take direct control to take the fight to the enemy. It’s a big game in terms of both…

£179.99 FROM Zound Industries, marshallheadphones.com FEATURES Active noise cancellation, touch controls, charging case, IPX5 (headphones), IPX4 (case) Marshall delivers its signature style with its new true wireless headphones – its third stab at the genre – with the Motif ANC. They’re the most expensive of the bunch, but feature decent upgrades, including active noise cancelling (ANC) and a wireless charging case. Visually, they’re classic Marshall fare – the case is shrouded with a mottled effect black plastic, synonymous with its legendary amps, while the earbuds – black, naturally – feature AirPod-style stems with a knurled finish, like the control knobs on its pedals. The case is small and lightweight, with a small button for connecting the earbuds, along with a single LED for displaying the charge state. As wireless charging…

When the iPad first launched in 2011, it was very much intended as a device for entertainment, rather than work, with a focus on web browsing, music, video and FaceTime. More recently, Apple has attempted to position the iPad – especially the iPad Pro – as a versatile and lightweight alternative to a laptop, providing enough graphical horsepower for serious design and video-editing work. Last year’s adoption of the M1 processor in the 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pro – and now the 10.9-inch iPad Air in 2022 – takes the iPad into entirely new territory. A decade on from the iPad’s inception, these three iPad models now provide the same levels of power as the M1-based 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini or 24-inch iMac, making them a genuine alternative to…

As well as updating the iPad’s front camera to improve the quality of video calls, the current iPad range can all use Apple’s Centre Stage feature too. Centre Stage uses machine learning technology to automatically pan the camera and keep you in the centre of the image at all times. This enables you to put the iPad down and move around, perhaps while giving a presentation to colleagues or clients at work. If someone else enters the image, Centre Stage can also zoom out to make sure that both of you are kept in view.…

Most iPad models now support the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard, with only the entry-level iPad still using the older Wi-Fi 5 (formerly known as 802.11ac). However, mobile broadband – referred to as cellular in the US – is an optional extra that costs £120-£150, depending on which model you’re buying. The iPad draws the short straw, only offering 4G LTE support for mobile broadband. In the UK, the Uswitch comparison website reports that the EE network provides the best 4G performance with average download speeds of 20-30Mbps. All other current iPad models support 5G mobile broadband, which currently provides average speeds of around 150Mbps. However, speeds vary a lot depending on your network provider and coverage in different parts of the country. If you buy a ‘cellular’ iPad model then…

Learn an instrument fender.com, gibson.com 1 Fancy being a guitar hero? Guitar makers Fender and Gibson both offer apps that’ll teach you to play like legends, and both have free trials – 7 days in the case of Fender and 14 for Gibson. They’re both brilliant apps for teaching guitar (and in the case of Fender, ukulele and bass too), but before you hand over your card details make sure you check out GarageBand first. GarageBand’s Smart Instruments enable you to mess around with guitars, basses, pianos and synths, and if you go over to your Mac you can download free guitar and piano lessons too. If there’s a specific song you’d like to learn, head over to ultimate-guitar.com where you’ll find guitar, ukulele and piano tabs and…

IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to change the function of the corner gestures on iPad YOU’LL NEED iPadOS 15.4 Being able to swipe from the corner of the screen to invoke the Quick Notes feature or take a  screenshot has proven useful. All you need to do is swipe with your finger or Apple Pencil from the bottom-left or bottom-right corner and you can start writing and sketching, or begin editing a screenshot depending on which tool is set to appear. By default, in iPadOS 15, Quick Notes is invoked when you swipe from the right, and screenshots are taken when you swipe from the left. But what if you want them the other way around or you want just one of those features to appear…

1 Find your card You will be asked if you own a library card when you first open the app. If needed, you will have to contact your local library to obtain a new card, which should be free. 2 Browse the library The next step, once you have validated your library card, will be to browse the available titles. There should be magazines, books and other types of content available. 3 A full experience When you select a book you will see a full summary of what to expect, and all of the information you would see in normal online stores such as Apple Books or Kindle. 4 Borrow a book Now click ‘Borrow’ to read the book in Libby. You will be shown the length of time you…

As we’ve mentioned, the iPad is a tremendously versatile device, but most iPad owners still need to buy an assortment of cables and adaptors in order to connect the iPad to other non-Apple devices. Apple makes its own range of cables and adaptors, with options such as its Digital AV adaptors (£49-£79) for HDMI displays and TVs proving essential for many. Apple’s accessories are expensive, though, so it’s worth exploring alternatives from companies such as Belkin, which makes a wide range of Lightning and USB-C adaptors that enable the iPad to work with external displays, wired Ethernet networks, and audio devices. Of course, many iPad owners also have an iPhone, as well as AirPods and an Apple Watch, and we’ve seen some great multi-charger devices, such as the BaseLynx from…

Apple can be really annoying at times. The iPad, iPad mini and iPad Air all start with just 64GB of built-in storage – which really isn’t enough. This means you’re pretty much forced to pay around £140 to upgrade to 256GB. However, that’s the maximum storage available for those iPad models, so if you need more than 256GB of storage, you’ll have to pay for a top-of-the-range iPad Pro. The iPad Pro can be upgraded to 512GB, 1TB and even 2TB – although that 2TB option weighs in at almost £2,000. But don’t forget that the iPad mini, Air and Pro now have USB-C ports, which enable you to connect an external USB drive or a flash drive. It’s not an elegant solution, but it’s a lot cheaper than Apple’s…

IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to control your iPad with your Mac YOU’LL NEED macOS 12.3+ and iPadOS 15.4+ The much-delayed Universal Control finally rocked up in March 2022. It builds on Sidecar, which can turn your iPad into an extra Mac display, but this time it keeps the iPad as an iPad: it enables you to connect an iPad or Mac and control them with the same keyboard and mouse, and you can also drag and drop between them. It feels a bit like magic. It’s very easy to set up Universal Control and it works brilliantly In order to use Universal Control, you’ll need to take care of a few things first. The iPad or Mac you’re adding must be running the latest iPadOS…

1 Launch Settings To make changes to the corner gestures (you can turn them off or assign different functions), launch the Settings app on your iPad and tap ‘Notes’ from the left-side menu. 2 Tap ‘Corner Gestures ’ Scroll down the right-side of the screen until you reach the Quick Notes section (the corner-swipe function was designed for Quick Notes). Now, simply tap ‘Corner Gestures’. 3 Turn it off You have two main options here: you can toggle the green button at the top of the screen to turn corner gesturing off. Or you can customise what happens when you swipe. 4 Change left side To alter the function associated with swiping from the left corner, tap ‘Left Corner Swipe’. This is set to taking a screenshot but tap ‘Quick…