4 adjustments I make instantly on a brand new iPad

If you happen to hand around in Reddit tech boards for any size of time, you may inevitably see lots of repeat posts. Within the Apple Watch subreddit, for instance, newcomers are often asking if a specific measurement is just too large, or find out how to cease watchOS from switching to the Smart Stack view. A few of this may be blamed on individuals not looking out by way of previous threads — different issues may be blamed on the character of the product itself.

Within the iPad subreddit, many individuals prefer to announce that they’ve purchased their first iPad by asking for ideas. Whereas they could be overly excited, bragging even, I’ve some sympathy for them — iPadOS is not essentially the most intuitive software program in the event you’re coming from a Mac or Home windows PC, and even an iPhone.

These are a number of the issues I modify each time I am organising a recent iPad. Take into account that the software program is about to vary radically — within the fall, iPadOS 26 is poised to make it extra Mac-like. At the least a few of these tweaks ought to stay related, fortunately.

1

Activating Extra House mode

Why is not this on by default?

If you happen to want proof that Apple wasn’t actually involved about iPads serving as laptop computer replacements till lately, look no additional than the Extra House possibility, situated underneath Settings -> Show & Brightness -> Show Zoom. In actual fact, in the event you’ve already arrange your new iPad, go forward and take a look at it sight unseen — you may be shocked by the distinction.

For these of you who do not have an iPad useful, Extra House shrinks the scale of fonts and numerous interface components to suit extra content material onscreen. It could actually make an enormous distinction to usability. In the course of the workday, the choice lets me run three iPhone-sized apps on my iPad Professional — and that is on an 11-inch display. If I needed to make my iPad my main writing gadget, I merely could not do it with out Extra House creating sufficient room to run two decently-sized browser home windows.

There’s a tradeoff, after all. In case your imaginative and prescient is not the most effective, Extra House can doubtlessly make issues tougher to learn — however you possibly can all the time modify textual content measurement independently to compensate.

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2

Switching to Stage Supervisor

No exterior show crucial

iPadOS 26 will introduce a brand new multitasking system that would make Stage Supervisor irrelevant for many individuals, however in iPadOS 18, the characteristic is important if you need your iPad to behave extra like a “actual” pc. It permits extra management over positioning and resizing home windows than the split-screen system, and in the event you’ve acquired an iPad with an M-series processor, it helps you to push some home windows to an exterior monitor whereas preserving others in your iPad display. Voilà, a real multi-monitor workspace.

One other profit is Dock entry. If you happen to measurement all of your home windows in a approach that leaves room on the backside of the show, you possibly can maintain the Dock completely onscreen, identical to macOS. That makes it far simpler to open or swap apps, notably because the Dock consists of an App Library icon. As soon as you have cleared sufficient room, do a really brief swipe up from the underside of your display to make the Dock seem.

To get all the pieces going, head to Settings -> Multitasking & Gestures and choose Stage Supervisor. You possibly can toggle the Dock on or off as effectively, however I just about assure you may wish to depart it on.

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Stopping an terrible waste of house

On an iPad, there’s actually little level in filling your homescreen with app icons, in contrast to an iPhone. The Dock makes launching your most vital apps a snap, and if that is not ample, the mixture of Highlight search and a keyboard makes it straightforward to seek out apps by identify.

As a substitute, the most effective use of the homescreen is filling it with widgets for at-a-glance information. On my iPad Professional’s homescreen, I’ve widgets for my calendar, a seven-day climate forecast, and the battery standing of linked gadgets. That is simply scratching the floor — you possibly can, as an illustration, add a Information widget making it less complicated to open current paperwork, or a Reminders record displaying upcoming duties. Many third-party apps have their very own widgets, such because the information tickers supplied by Reuters and the Washington Publish.

You possibly can add widgets to your individual homescreen by tapping and holding on an empty house. When icons begin to jiggle, faucet Edit within the upper-left nook, then Add Widget. Keep in mind that some apps have a number of widgets you possibly can swipe by way of, typically in several sizes — one outsized Calendar widget, as an illustration, will present you most or your whole upcoming occasions for the subsequent a number of days.

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4

Disabling or limiting Auto-Lock

Be conscious of your safety scenario, although

By default, iPads are set to auto-lock after a couple of minutes. If you happen to’ve acquired a passcode (and/or Face ID or Contact ID) enabled, this could generally be a helpful anti-theft measure, making it more durable for thieves to entry your information in the event that they ambush you. With or with out safety, the characteristic can save energy in the event you’re susceptible to wandering away whereas a tool continues to be operating.

Auto-lock will not be solely pointless in lots of circumstances, nonetheless, however one other hindrance to utilizing an iPad like a pc. Once I’m not touring, my iPad Professional often serves as a secondary show, letting me maintain tabs on music, chats, widgets, and sensible residence controls with out losing house on my laptop computer. Auto-lock would make this impractical, forcing me to faucet or swipe on my iPad each jiffy, or no less than stare at its Face ID digicam. Think about in case your Mac locked in the course of studying a information article or analysis paper — you would not put up with that for lengthy both.

Go to Settings -> Show & Brightness -> Auto-Lock. If you need some type of failsafe, you possibly can select a delay as much as quarter-hour, however I would strongly counsel selecting By no means. Hitting the Sleep/Wake button in your iPad is not troublesome to recollect, and plenty of folio circumstances (just like the Magic Keyboard) will lock your iPad for you while you shut them. There’s simply no motive to have Auto-Lock caught at two to 5 minutes except you are the kind who likes to learn in your iPad in subways or public parks.

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