iPad Tricks and Treats

Here are a few tricks and treats for your iPad. Some are new and some are not. These were all tried with my iPad2 which was updated with the iOS6 operating program.

1. New with iOS6, you can now attach a photo to an email while composing a message. To do this, tap in the body of the email message and a menu will appear. Tap on Insert Photo or Video and you will be taken to the Photo App to choose a photo or photos. 

2. You can take pictures using the Volume-Up button on the side of your iPad rather than the on-screen camera button which can sometimes be a little awkward. 

3. Multitasking Gestures allows the use of  four and five finger gestures to close an app or switch between apps. Many users find this method extremely convenient; however, children who may use more fingers, will be easily frustrated when they leave apps unintentionally. I suggest turning this off if using the iPad with your students. To turn this feature on or off, go to Settings, General and turn off (or on) Multitasking Gestures. 

4. Replace "Sent from my iPad" with a personalized signature. Go to Settings, Mail, Contacts, Calendars and tap Signature. Clear the Signature "Sent from my iPad" and replace it with the desired signature. 

5. If you work in a classroom or share an office, you should turn off your e-mail alert chimes to minimize distractions. To turn off the alert chimes, go to Settings, Sounds, New Mail and change the Alert Tone to None.   

6. While in Sounds in the Settings app, you may also want to turn off those Keyboard Clicks. 

7. If you would like a larger font size (20 or more) in your Mail, Notes app, and Contacts then go to Settings, General, and Accessibility. Tap Large Text and choose the font size from the options. Tap on the Home button to save the change. 

To change the font size in other apps, you will need to change the size within each app’s settings. 

8. To type a smiley or emoji character, tap the "International" key on the keyboard to add any number of emoji characters. However, before you can do this, it must be enabled. Go to Settings, General, Keyboard, International Keyboards, and Add New Keyboard. Select Emoji. 

  

9. If your iPad apps freeze or the iPad won’t respond (the screen remains black), you can try a hard reset to reboot the system. Press and hold down the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time until the system turns off. Turn the system back on by pressing and holding the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.

This is especially important to know if you are using Guided Access as it has reportedly had some issues freezing the iPad. A hard reset, will be necessary if  the iPad freezes.

10.  If you haven’t used Guided Access, check out How toUse and Set up Guided Access on iOS 6.0  at ASHAsphere. With Guided Access you can lock students into the app of your choice, draw a shape over an area that you want to disable, and turn off motion and touch as needed.  

Diana

© 2012

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