Top 5 iPad Tips & Tricks
Over the next 2 posts, I'll show you 5 iPad tips that allow
you to use the iPad in new or easier ways.
#5: Screenshot
Want to capture a scene in an app? The screenshot can be a
very useful tool. Just press the
home button at the same time as the power button and you will hear a
traditional camera shutter sound and see a flash. If you get the timing right, the screenshot will appear in
your Photos app. You can then
email it, post it to Twitter, copy, print, or use it as a wallpaper. In therapy, a screenshot can save a
client's work in a writing or drawing app to email to a family member. If you use a therapy app that allows
you to import your own pictures, you may find it helpful to take screenshots of
pictures or scenes in other apps to import. Here,
a blogger uses scenes from MyPlayHome to write labels using DoodleBuddy.
#4: Split Keyboard
Typing on the iPhone is easy to do with your thumbs. OK, not exactly easy, but ... On the
iPad, it's most natural to type with it set up on a stand in landscape
orientation to use both hands. What if you have to hold it with both hands? How do you type then? Split the keyboard! With
the keyboard up, take two fingers or your thumbs and spread them in opposite
directions, just like you're pulling the keyboard apart. It will separate onto both sides of the
screen, making it easier to hold the iPad in your hands and type with your
thumbs. To get it back to normal,
just push two fingers in from both sides. If you can't master the gesture, there's another way to split the
keyboard. Hold down the Keyboard
button on the bottom right corner of the keyboard until the menu pops up. Select "Split" to separate the keyboard
and "Dock & Merge" to return to normal. Look! I took a
screenshot of this:
#3: Hidden Punctuation
I use this more than any other shortcut. When typing letters on the keyboard,
you have access to only four punctuation marks: comma, period, exclamation, and
question; for all others you have to switch to the number/punctuation
page. Or do you? There are actually two more symbols
hidden on the letter screen. Just
press and hold the comma to get an apostrophe; press and hold the period to get
quotes. Once the symbol shows up
in blue over the button, release and it will be typed! Want accents? Press and hold any letter that has an accent and you'll see
options. Play around with the
keyboard and punctuation buttons - press and hold each one to see what secrets
it holds!
Next week I'll give you two more ways to make the iPad even
more useful and easier to use. Stay tuned!