Table of contents for Issue 30 in iPad User Magazine

Every year, our iPads get even better. Apple’s annual iOS upgrades add new features and enable new types of app to be developed, and iOS 10, which will be released in September, looks like it’s going to be a great update. You can find the full run-down starting on page 4, but there are huge changes to everything from Messages to Maps, to the Lock screen, to notifications. They don’t all look like ground-breaking, history-making new features at first, but they add up to mean that iOS 10 is actually the biggest change to how you’ll use your iPad since iOS 7 three years ago. And apps will be able to work in all-new ways as well, including special versions of apps that run within the Messages and Maps apps,…

A hough Siri can be extremely helpful, it has always felt contrained by its reliance on only a few sources of information, and compatibility with Apple’s apps only. Ever since we saw it working with third-party apps on the Apple TV, we’ve been hoping that functionality would come to iOS, and in iOS 10, it will. For the first time, developers will be able to make certain commands and information within their apps available to Apple’s voice assistant, so you can ask it to perform tasks without having to fiddle your way through the app itself. It can work in a very simple way, such as to trigger a call using an internet voice service: tell it “Call Jo using WhatsApp” and it can begin the call through WhatsApp’s VoIP…

Apple Pay comes to the Mac in Sierra – well, sort of, and only on websites that add an Apple Pay button to their checkout process. You’ll be able to click that button to tell a site you want to pay for your basket’s contents using Apple’s system, after which you’ll authenticate the payment by putting a finger on your iPhone or iPad’s Touch ID sensor, or double-clicking your Apple Watch’s side button. Apple says this will work in Safari, but makes no mention of it being possible in other browsers, such as Chrome and Firefox. Apple Pay will also be available on websites viewed in Safari on iOS 10, and you’ll also be able to use it to buy physical goods and services in apps, if they enable that…

Mail Drop stores things in iCloud, but attachments aren’t counted against your usual quota 1 Total file size Though you’re unlikely to hit Mail Drop‘s 5GB attachment cap, a cumulative total is shown. 2 iCloud Mail Unlike Mail for Mac and iOS, the iCloud Mail web app reminds you how much space is left for more attachments. 3 Download from iCloud Mail on the Mac downloads items sent using Mail Drop for you, yet the iOS version, the iCloud Mail web app (shown) and other apps instead prompt the recipient to download them manually, list each item’s size, and give the date until which they’re available. IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How Mail Drop works; how to use it on your Mac and iOS devices YOU’LL NEED…

Assembly is a brilliant app that lets you draw without the need for pen tools – just preset shapes 1 Save, export and Projects menu Tap here for options to export your work to share or edit, or go back to the screen that shows all your 2 Turn snapping on or off Smart guides and snapping are Assembly’s secret weapon. To position objects freely, though, tap here 3 Tool icons Tap to move the selected object in front of or behind others, flip it, duplicate it, rotate by 90° or delete it 4 Shapes, styles and text Find objects to add in the Shapes tab, add colour and formatting in Styles, or add text to your drawing IT WILL TAKE 30 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to place, resize,…

One big feature we wanted to see in iOS 10 is a more useful Lock screen, and that’s exactly what we’re getting. You’ll be able to 3D Touch notifications to access more instant options – so you can press on one from Messages to see the larger conversation and reply, or press on an event invitation to see your calendar for the day and accept or decline, all without unlocking your device or opening the full version of the app. Having this extra information and quick options to hand can really help you get meaningful things done fast. These capabilities only work with 3D Touch devices in the developer beta, but they’ll come to other devices too. Apple’s changing a few other things about how the Lock screen works:…

Apple added Continuity to the Mac and iOS two years ago. It’s a set of features rather than a single one, designed to reduce the disconnect you feel as you switch from one device to another. It‘s already easy to switch to your iPhone to finish writing something on the go, take phone calls on your iPad, or send text messages from your Mac. In macOS Sierra and iOS 10, a few new tricks have been added to Continuity’s repertoire. Auto Unlock You may never need to enter your login password again! Apps to do this already exist, but it’s good to see it built in to macOS. Where the apps generally enable you to unlock your Mac using Touch ID on your iPhone, Apple has only mentioned Auto Unlock…

Following navigational changes in iTunes 12.4, Apple’s revamping the way that iTunes for Mac, and Music for iOS, present your aural entertainment. In Music for iOS 10, the My Music tab is renamed Library and redesigned to explicitly list the different ways you can view your music – by artist, album, genre and other attributes – rather than expecting you to know to tap a specific item to uncover these options, as you must in iOS 9. The app structures information more clearly by presenting text in very different sizes and weights, alongside better use of cover art. The benefit of this is seen clearly in the For You page, where large headlines make it clearer what’s in each row and quicker to scan the various recommendations offered by Apple…

You don’t need instruments or expensive recording equipment to make songs in GarageBand 1 Track Labels Slide the drawer to the right to see per-track options such as volume, solo and muting. 2 Audio and MIDI tracks Colour-coded: blue for recordings, green for MIDI and yellow for Drummer tracks. 3 Settings icons Global options for your song – such as key and tempo – and settings for individual tracks. 4 Special effects The fun part for live scratching, mixing and filtering as your song plays! IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How GarageBand has everything you need to produce songs YOU’LL NEED A tune, or time to come up with one GarageBand is rightly praised for its beginner-friendly approach, but it has a lot in common with its…

Scanbot can snap almost any kind of document, straighten it, and save it as a PDF or JPEG IT WILL TAKE 20 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to use Scanbot to scan documents with an iPad YOU’LL NEED iOS 8 or later, Scanbot If you regularly find yourself needing to capture information from business cards, documents and notes, the brilliant Scanbot ( apple.co/1TJo0mh ) is just what you need. It uses your iOS device’s camera to snap almost any kind of document, as well as barcodes, QR codes and even photos, and then saves them as PDFs or JPEGs ready to share on a wide range of cloud-based services, on a WebDAV or FTP server, or by email. While the free version of Scanbot provides you with access…

When you open the Maps app, you’ll see more of the map, with just a search bar to get you started. Apple has added proactive suggestions from Siri, so if there’s an event with a location in your calendar, it’ll suggest directions to it – or it might tell you what the traffic’s like on your route to work, or where the nearest shops are. In turn-by-turn navigation, you can easily take a detour to amenities without breaking your overall route, with a live traffic view the whole way. Another feature places a pin at your car’s location when you get out of it. The really big news is developers can create apps that run inside Maps, enabling you to book a table based on searches, or call for a…

The Messages app is getting a huge boost in iOS 10, turning it into a truly modern chat app. Here we highlight all the great additions, but the key thing to know is that the app is getting much more fun and interactive. Conversations shown as simple, coloured speech bubbles decorated with emoji will be a thing of the past. Sadly, at the time of writing, Messages for macOS is only able to view these new features, not create them – though that may well change by Sierra’s release. Interaction You can now ‘Like’ a message with a thumbs-up (or others, including a heart). You can also add a blur effect, which the recipient must wipe away to see the message, giving things a dramatic flair. Animations You can make…

Apple’s efforts to give you control of your home – from alarms and cameras to lighting, window locks and much more – will be more approachable in iOS 10. A new unified app, Home, consolidates controls for all your HomeKit-certified devices, removing the need to learn several apps with often very different designs. The app’s opening page displays a list of your favourite scenes and accessories, with a customisable wallpaper behind them. Tapping an accessory in the grid of large icons toggles its status, so you can quickly turn on a light, say, or you can press harder or longer to access more options, such as a slider that you adjust simply by moving your finger up or down the screen. There are also shortcuts in Control Centre for sending…

This clever app works out the tempo and pitch of your recordings 1 Your ideas Tap this to go back to the list of all your recordings, where you can add names and tags to aid looking up ideas later on. 2 Editing tools Use these tools to trim your recording, add a text note and change timing and chord information, and to share ideas with people and other apps. 3 Your recording See how the app has detected pitch and timing, and drag the playhead to listen to different sections of your recording. 4 Rhythm section Tap the bass or drums icons to toggle those parts on or off. Hold a finger on those icons to pick an instrument and set the part’s volume and complexity. IT WILL TAKE…