Table of contents for Issue 36 in iPad User Magazine

When it comes to creative software on the desktop, it’s often too intimidating to get started with. Even if you just want to have a play around, it can be so complex, with functions often so hidden, that if you’re like me, you just don’t start. But it’s different on the iPad. With the immediacy of a touchscreen, apps tend to be designed to be more obvious. You can just start drawing with a finger (or stylus). In a music app, you can play a facsimile of an instrument you recognise. Movie editing can just mean dragging stuff around for fun until suddenly you hit on something really cool. Even coding apps are usually designed differently, with touchable elements that make them easier to get to grips with. This issue,…

IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to open Safari tabs side-by-side, and go back to a single screen when needed YOU’LL NEED iOS 10 or later, supported iPad model Tabbed browsing has changed the way we surf the web, making it easy to quickly switch between web pages. That said, there’s no substitute for being able to view two web pages side-by-side in separate windows, allowing you to easily compare them. That’s easy on your Mac, but the good news is that – armed with a newer iPad – you can do the same in Safari too. Apple has enabled the Split View feature it introduced in iOS 9 to work within Safari in iOS 10. As the step-by-step guide reveals, you can quickly split your window…

1 Subscript and superscript There are two ways to apply these to your document. If you’ve not yet typed the character or word, skip to step two; otherwise, you need to select the character or word using Pages’ selection tools. Tap the Format Painter. 2 Apply formatting Tap the three dots (…) underneath the font name to open the Text Styles box. You’ll see both superscript and subscript listed under ‘Baseline’. Tap to apply, but remember to tap again when done to de-select it if you’re typing. 3 Text background colour Select your text, tap the Format Painter button and tap the three dots (…) as before. This time, scroll down to the bottom of the Text Styles box and tap ‘Text Background’ – swipe left and right for more…

1 Where to? The app shows the map and the info panel. Swipe up on the panel to browse smart suggestions of where you might want to go, including any address on the Clipboard, the last pin you placed, past searches, and your favourite places. 2 Specific destinations To go elsewhere, tap the search bar and enter details if you have somewhere specific in mind, or tap the category icons below the bar to find nearby amenities; tap one on the map or panel for details and an option to get directions to it. 3 Manually pinpoint Alternatively, pinch and swipe the map to find where you want to go, then rest a finger on it to mark it with a pin. Swipe up on the panel to take an…

NLY THOSE who have never used an iPad for any length of time could still cling to  the hoary old myth that these devices are good solely for consuming content, not creating it. Yet even if you’re a veteran iOS user, you might still be surprised at the sheer breadth of creative activities you can pursue using nothing more than your iPad or iPhone. In every artistic area, apps have now evolved and matured to such an extent that they rival – and in some cases, even exceed – anything found on the desktop. So, whether you want to make better photos, strike up a tune or two, write the next Harry Potter, or do anything else, there’s an app for you. Let’s go……

PYTHONISTA 3 £9.99 omz-software.com > This complete Python scripting environment makes the most of being specialised for one coding language, instead of several. It has a debugger included, tabs for multiple documents, a tool for quickly building visual interface prototypes, and even includes additional modules. Pythonista makes itself available as a sharing extension, so you can create Python scripts in other apps, and then run them in Pythonista. CODA £24.99 panic.com > This text editor supports syntax highlighting in a wide range of languages, including HTML, PHP, JavaScript, and more than we can list. A custom keyboard helps you write code faster, there are great editing tools including a special magnifying loupe for moving the cursor, and tabs for multiple open documents at once. There’s even a full SSH…

IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to stop apps using iCloud storage YOU’LL NEED iOS 10.3 It’s tempting to leave certain settings on your iPhone or iPad on their defaults, not least iCloud Backup – how many times has the importance of backing up been hammered into your brain, after all? That may seem like the safest strategy, but ask yourself whether it’s costing you more money than necessary. While writing this tutorial, we were shocked to discover that iCloud Backup was putting 941MB of data from Tweetbot, and 459MB from Amazon Music online. Neither of those apps stores anything precious, or that we can’t just easily download again when we need it. So, if you’re trying to stay within the 5GB Apple provides for free with all iCloud accounts,…

1 Open a blank tab In Safari, touch and hold the tab button in the top right-hand corner until a pop-up menu appears. Choose ‘Open Split View’ to split the window in two – your current page on the left, your Safari home page on the right. 2 Open link to Split View If you come across an interesting link on a page you’re browsing that you’d like to look at side-by-side with your original web page, tap and hold on the link, then choose ‘Open in Split View’ from the pop-up menu. 3 Convert tab If you’ve got two tabs open, you can convert them into Split Screen view by tapping and dragging one of the tabs to the right or left of the screen – wait until it…

1 Add bookmark Bookmarks can currently be created in body text only. Select the text where you’d like to create your bookmark, then tap the ¶ button above the on-screen keyboard and choose Bookmark. The text will briefly highlight. 2 Link to bookmark To create a link, select your text, tap ¶ and choose Link. Tap ‘Link To’ and select Bookmark, then tap Bookmark to select an existing bookmark or choose from a list of suggestions (typically headed-formatted text). 3 Jump, edit, remove Tap the three dots (…) button and choose Bookmarks. A list of all bookmarks in the current document will appear. Jump to a bookmark by tapping it, or tap Edit to rename the bookmark or delete it (tap the red symbol).…

EDITORIAL £4.99 editorial-app.com > This is a text editor for the web age. Editorial has a number of features that make it perfect for writing, such as the ability to collapse sections of a document to keep them out of the way – but the killer features are its options for workflow. You can set up automated tasks to be run on your document with just a tap, performing checks as simple as scanning it to make sure brand names are correct, or as complex as finding, adding, and styling content found online based on triggers in your text – and much more beyond. You can find other users’ workflows online to easily add them to the app. PAGES Free apple.com > Pages is fine for writing, but…

Apple has added many new features to Pages for iPad over the years IT WILL TAKE 25 minutes YOU WILL LEARN Format text, apply ligatures, add equations and improve pie charts YOU’LL NEED Pages for iOS 3.1 These days, it’s easy to forget the controversial decision Apple took back in 2014 to revamp its iWork package by “dumbing down” the Mac version to bring it in line with the less powerful iOS iteration. In the years since, Apple has moved to restore missing features (and add new ones), with iPad users gaining many of these for the first time. Pages for iOS 3.1 in this vein. There are new text formatting tools for starters: you have superscript and subscript formatting options, support for ligatures – see the box on the next page…

1 Insert equation Place the cursor where you want your equation to go, then tap the ¶ button on the on-screen keyboard and choose Equation (swipe up if it’s not visible). The equation editor will open in maths mode by default. 2 Supported syntax Pages supports a limited number of LaTex commands and MathML elements (see support.apple.com/HT202501) – start typing these into the equation editor. To enter a grey symbol, tap and drag down on the key. 3 Preview and insert As you type, a preview of your equation will appear in the editor. If an error is displayed, check your equation to make sure it’s correct. Once finished, tap Insert. To edit an equation, double-tap it in Pages.…

1 Power to the people Reeder is a power-user app for news junkies. It assumes that you already know how RSS services work, so when you launch Reeder for the first time it simply presents you with a blank screen and leaves you to get on with it. 2 Pick and mix Click the ‘+’ symbol at the top of the screen to see the services that Reeder supports. You can subscribe to RSS feeds from individual websites, or link Reeder to your account on an aggregator service such as Feedly. 3 Read all about it Services such as Feedly or The Old Reader bring many feeds into one place – including syncing any you already have set up from those services elsewhere. Select one one, or just choose RSS,…

AMPLITUBE £19.99 ikmultimedia.com > This is essential for guitar players – it enables you to combine digital recreations of real amps, stomp boxes, cabs, and even mic placement to create just about any sound you want for your electric guitar. It’s not cheap (the iPhone and iPad versions are sold separately, and many new sounds require an in-app purchase), but it sounds amazing. KORG GADGET £39.99 korg.com > This is a synth-specialist production app that’s fantastic for live electronic music performances, but also great for anyone who wants to play with a range of cool sounds. Some synths are played on a keyboard, while things like drum machines have pad arrangements. You can record and mix within the app, or export your recordings. For a wide range of…

GRAPHIC £8.99 graphic.com > This is the closest there is to Adobe Illustrator on iPad (the iPhone version is bought separately). It’s a vector drawing tool that’s ideal for everything from technical drawing to coming up with funky logo designs, and supports the import and export of Photoshop files. LINEA £9.99 linea-app.com > This app is designed for sketching. Whether that’s rough art ideas, outlines for projects, app designs, or… anything really, Linea is laser-focussed on plotting out your drawings. The interface is optimized for Apple Pencil, though, meaning the controls are tiny in places. ASSEMBLY Free assemblyapp.co > Do you want to make cool graphic designs but find yourself lacking in experience or specialist art knowledge? This is a vector illustration tool without the drawing: It comes with a…