Special iPad Features

As iOS has evolved, Apple has made an effort to make the iPad more than just a “big iPhone,” adding features that help you take advantage of its large screen. iOS 11 takes this to the next level with an overhaul of the iPad’s multitasking system and some other new features.

Work with Instant Notes

iOS 11 lets you quickly create or edit a note in the Notes app from the Lock screen—Apple calls this Instant Notes. Contrary to Apple’s marketing, this isn’t an iPad-specific feature, as I explain in Discover Control Center Functions, since you can use the Notes button in Control Center to summon an Instant Note.

However, if you use an Apple Pencil with an iPad Pro, there is an actual instant way to create an Instant Note. Wake your iPad Pro and tap the tip of the Apple Pencil on the Lock screen to create or open an Instant Note.

By default, Instant Notes brings up the last note you viewed in the Notes app. To instead create a new note every time you summon Instant Notes, go to Settings > Notes > Show Note on Lock Screen and select Always Create New Note.

If you keep it set to Resume Last Viewed Note, the Require Password setting dictates how long you can return to that note without authenticating with Touch ID or a passcode. The default is 15 minutes.

Manage the Dock

Apple has redesigned the iPad’s Dock in iOS 11 to make it more like the Mac’s Dock. It’s split into two sections. The left-hand section holds the apps you place there—up to 15 of them. The right-hand side presents recently and frequently used apps and Handoff apps, denoted by the Handoff icon on the app (see Learn About Handoff—Figure 47). You can turn that off with the Show Suggested and Recent Apps setting in Settings > General > Multitasking & Dock.

Apple has a video showing how to use the new Dock.

Reveal the Dock

The Dock is always visible on the Home screen, but is hidden when viewing an app. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal it. In some apps, you must first swipe up to reveal an arrow , and then swipe up again to reveal the Dock.

Tapping an app in the Dock switches from the current app to the app you tap.

Adding and Removing Dock Apps

To add an app to the Dock, simply drag it from the Home screen to the Dock. You can touch and hold until the icons shake, but there’s no need to do that. Items added to the Dock are removed from the Home screen.

Removing an app from the Dock works the same way—simply tap and drag an icon from the Dock to the Home screen. Note that you cannot do this in an app—you must be viewing the Home screen.

Multitask on the iPad

As with the iPhone, you can double-press the Home button to switch between apps. But the iPad offers gestures to help you switch between apps, and the iPad App Switcher has been completely overhauled in iOS 11. Also, unlike the iPhone, the iPad lets you use multiple apps at once.

Multitasking Gestures

Repeatedly pressing the Home button can contribute to repetitive stress injuries or even wear out your Home button prematurely. On the iPad, there are three gestures you can use to switch between apps:

• Return to the Home screen: Place four or five fingers on the screen, and move them in toward each other. (This works better with five fingers.)
• Bring up the App Switcher: Place four or five fingers on the screen and move them up toward the top of the screen. (This works better with four fingers.)
• Switch between apps: Place four or five fingers on the screen and move them left or right.

You can turn these gestures on and off in Settings > General > Multitasking & Dock.

Use Two Apps at Once

The iPad lets you use two apps on screen at the same time (plus an optional video using Picture in Picture). There are two distinct, yet interconnected, ways to do this:

• Slide Over: While working in one app, this approach lets you bring up a second app in a side column that is overlaid on the first app. You can work only in the app in the Slide Over column while referencing content in the main app. You can hide a Slide Over app off the right side of the screen and bring it back on the screen. Slide Over works on all iPads that support iOS 11.
• Split Screen: This approach lets you use two apps side by side simultaneously. A divider in the middle lets you adjust how much screen space both apps get. This only works on the iPad mini 4, iPad Air 2, iPad Pro, and later models.

To activate either one, reveal the Dock and drag an app from the Dock onto the app you’re viewing. Once you’ve done that, what you do next will determine if the second app opens as Slide Over or Split Screen:

• Open the app with Slide Over: The app you’re dragging will be surrounded by a rectangular outline. Release the app to open it as a Slide Over app (Figure 48).

  

• Open the app in Split Screen: Drag the app to the far left or right edge of the screen. The main app will shift over to one side. Release the app you’re dragging to open it alongside the first app in Split Screen (Figure 49).

Once you’ve made your choice, you’ll want to know how to manage multiple apps on the screen at once:

• Move a Slide Over app: Touch and hold the drag handle on top of the Slide Over app and slide it to the left or right.
• Hide a Slide Over app: Move it off the right side of the screen with the upper drag handle.
• Reveal a hidden Slide Over app: Swipe from off the right side of the screen to the left.
• Convert a Slide Over app to Split Screen: Touch and hold the upper drag handle and drag it down until the app shifts to the side.
• Adjust Split Screen panes: Touch and hold the drag handle in the center of the screen and slide it left or right. You can adjust it so either app fits into one column—making more room for the other app—or you can split the screen equally between the two apps.
• Close a Split Screen app: Drag the center drag handle and move it left or right until the desired app fills up the entire screen.
• Convert a Split Screen app to Slide Over: Drag the top drag handle down until the other app again fills up the screen.

Watch Picture in Picture Videos

Picture in Picture (PiP) lets you watch a video on your iPad while you use other apps (Figure 50). As with the other multitasking features, to work with Picture in Picture, video apps need to explicitly support it.

Here’s how to use Picture in Picture:

• Activate PiP: While watching a video in a supported app (such as Videos or FaceTime), press the Home button to leave the app. In some app, you can or should tap the Picture in Picture button in the video player. The video reappears in a small window.

  You can drag the PiP window around the screen to suit your tastes, though it always snaps to the edge of the screen. If you just want to listen to the audio, you can even drag the PiP window off the left or right edge of the screen. iOS replaces it with a small handle. To retrieve it, tap or drag the handle.

• Adjust the PiP window size: Pinch out with two fingers to enlarge the window or pinch in to shrink it.
• Pause the PiP video: Tap the PiP window and then tap the Pause button.
• Resume watching in fullscreen: Tap the PiP window and then tap the Fullscreen button.
• Close PiP: Tap the PiP window and then tap the Exit button.

Drag and Drop

iOS 11 lets you drag and drop elements between apps and even within apps. Here are some examples of what you can drag and drop:

• A headline from News into Notes
• Maps locations into messages
• Attachments between threads in Messages.
• Selected text into Notes.

To use drag and drop, open the apps in Slide Over or Split Screen, touch and hold an element until it seems to lift off the background, and then drag it onto the other app.

Keyboarding on the iPad

The iPad’s large screen size affords some special features that wouldn’t make sense on an iPhone.

Flick Down for Special Characters

iOS 11 makes typing alternative characters more efficient, by allowing you to “flick” down on a key to type an alternate character instead of having to cycle through keyboard layouts.

Look at each keyboard key. Tapping the key will insert the black character. Most keys also display a gray character. To type these, flick down on the key instead of merely tapping it. Think of it like flicking down a light switch.

If you flick slowly, you’ll notice the key rotating down and becoming the key you’re typing (Figure 51).

Split the iPad Keyboard

The standard iPad keyboard is fine if you’re resting the iPad in your lap, but if you’re holding the iPad in your hands and need to type with your thumbs, it can be impossible to reach the middle keys. Thankfully, iOS lets you split the onscreen keyboard so you can type with your thumbs:

• Touch and hold the Hide Keyboard key, and then choose Split (Figure 52).

  

• Or, touch and hold the Hide Keyboard key and immediately drag it up.

Either way, the keyboard splits and moves up to the middle of the screen.

To put the keyboard back together, either drag the Hide Keyboard key down or touch and hold the Hide Keyboard key and choose Merge or Dock and Merge.

Use Trackpad Mode

Selecting text can be finicky, so iOS lets you use the keyboard area as a trackpad to move the cursor and select characters:

• Move the cursor: Place two fingers on the keyboard and immediately slide them on the keyboard.
• Select text: Set two fingers on the keyboard until drag handles appear. Move your fingers to expand the selection. To remove the selection, lift your fingers and then tap the screen in the text-input area.
• Select a word: Place the cursor inside the word, and then two-finger tap on the keyboard.
• Select a line: Place the cursor on the line, and then two-finger double-tap on the keyboard.

Learn iOS Keyboard Shortcuts

You can technically use external keyboards with any iOS device, but they’re particularly well suited for iPads, especially when you pair an Apple Smart Keyboard with an iPad Pro. Here are some shortcuts every Smart Keyboard user should know:

• Unlock your iPad with the keyboard: Tap a keyboard key once to wake up the iPad and then again to show the passcode prompt. You can enter your passcode from the keyboard and press Return to unlock the iPad.
• Go Home: Press Command-H to return to the Home screen. Note that double-pressing this won’t bring up the App Switcher.
• Switch apps: Press Command-Tab to bring up an alternative app switcher (which is much like the Mac’s App Switcher—Figure 53). While holding Command, press Tab to cycle through apps from left to right. To cycle from right to left, hold Command-Shift and press Tab.

  

• Search: Press Command-Space to pull up the Spotlight search box. This also works inside apps. Press Command-Space again to dismiss Spotlight.
• Page Down and Page Up: Hold Option and press the up and down arrow keys to move up and down a page at a time. This works in Safari, but may not work in all apps.
• Home and End: Hold Command and press the up or down arrow keys to move to the beginning or end of the page.
• Discover keyboard shortcuts: Hold Command to see a list of keyboard shortcuts for the current app.