iPad

9 year old Utah boy uses smartwatch to escape kidnapper

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[VIDEO] This is an interesting story. It’s not about Apple Watch, and it’s from three years ago. Watch the video, embedded in the main Loop post.

At the heart of the story is a Gizmo smartwatch, specifically designed for kids. It sells for about $170.

What I find interesting about this watch is its incredibly simple design. It lets a child make and receive phone calls, but only to and from a specified list of phone numbers, a list that their parents set up and edit.

There’s a location tracker, presumably only available to their parents. And there’s a geofence, alerting parents when the watch leaves a specific location. So if the fence is set up to the grounds of a child’s school, the parents receive an alert if the child leaves that area.

There’s more to the Gizmo, but you get the idea. Now on to my point.

I’d like to see Apple add a mode like this to watchOS. All of the capabilities above exist already in watchOS. Imagine a starter Apple Watch with these limitations, perfect for a child, but also perfect for an elderly user, or for someone with limitations that might make it difficult to navigate the full watchOS.

And, while we’re at it, how about a similar, limited version of iPadOS? One with very large icons, and customizable. Boot it, and the only icons that show up are the ones it is set up with. And each of the icons can drive an editable shortcut. The shortcut might make a phone call to a specific person. Or send a text message. Or anything.

My mom is legally blind, and all the existing solutions in the Apple ecosystem are too complex for her to manage. She feels cutoff, but she’s smart, and eager for some solution she can manage. A limited Apple Watch or iPad would be a real blessing for her.

iPadOS public beta hands-on: The beginning of a transformation

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Scott Stein, CNET, walks through the big picture of the iPadOS public beta. Well balanced, pointing out the features that work well as well as the ones that fall short, all wrapped in a “it’s a beta, so have patience, this will likely change” sensibility.

Easy read, informative.

Federico Viticci’s first look at iPadOS

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Federico Viticci:

For now though, after using the iPadOS beta on my 12.9″ iPad Pro for a few days, I’d like to share some initial considerations on iPadOS and what it means for the future of the platform.

And:

What truly matters, however, is that the message Apple is sending with iPadOS is the kind of trajectory I wanted to see for the future of iPad. There are functionalities such as multiwindow and file management that the Mac figured out decades ago; in bringing them to iPadOS, however, Apple isn’t simply copying and pasting the same features from one platform to another: instead, they’ve taken those features’ underlying concepts and fundamentally rethought them for the iPad’s touch nature and iOS foundation.

Federico is passionate about iPad, has written more cogent detail about iPad than just about anyone else I follow. If you are an iPad user, take the time to dig in, get a sense of the iPad’s future.

NH man bitten by rabid bat hiding in iPad case

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[VIDEO] Not exactly sure what it is about this video (embedded in the main Loop post), but something just clicked. Maybe it was how cool this guy was about the whole thing, or that old school, weatherbeaten iPad case. Or just the fact that a BAT WAS IN THE IPAD CASE!

The best iPad keyboard shortcuts

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Josh Ginter, The Sweet Setup:

For those who use their iPad with an external keyboard, we’ve put together a list of more than 30 helpful iPad Keyboard Shortcuts to save you time and be more productive on your device. We’ve also included a cheat sheet of keyboard shortcuts to accompany some of our favorite iPad apps (such as Things, Ulysses, Lightroom, and more).

Use an iPad with an external keyboard? Have at it.

Last year I bought my 82 year old, Serbian grandmother an iPad

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Reddit:

Last year I bought my 82 year old grandmother an iPad. She never owned a smart device before, she never touched a computer and I don’t think she knew what “the internet” was.

It was my fathers idea to get her that iPad. Thanks to me, my dad became a huge fan of Apple devices and since both he and I spend the majority of our time overseas he thought it would be a good idea to get my grandmother an iPad so they could face time and he could show her where he is etc.

TBH I thought it was an incredibly stupid idea. My grandmother is an Eastern European, ex communist country simple, old woman. Imagine old grandmothers from funny “a normal day in Russia” clips and gifs, that’s what she looks like. First 15 years of her life she spent in a village that had no electricity. Over the last 30 years we’ve spent more time talking about her inability to handle a tv remote than anything else.

Read the post for how this played out. I wrestle with this issue a lot. My mom is legally blind and feels cutoff from the world. Try as I might, I can’t find a voice-assisted solution that she can master.

My uncle has vision issues as well, gets around just fine, but also feels cutoff. He used to use email, but age has robbed him of his ability to deal with those complexities.

I wish the iPad had a mode where it could boot into an incredibly simple interface (kiosk style), where there were just a few, dead-simple buttons to press. Big, big buttons, to help people with poor close-up vision.

One could be, take picture, send to Dave. Another could be, look at pictures Dave sent you. That kind of simple interface, with just a few hard-coded, but editable (perhaps via Shortcuts) buttons would bring joy to many folks with vision or cognition issues.

That aside, read the linked story. I love the way that played out.

Mouse and trackpad support is apparently coming to iPad with iOS 13

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Federico on the Connected podcast:

Something that I heard from a couple of people a few months ago sort of mentioned to me just casually, “Wouldn’t it be funny if you could have a mouse cursors on iPad as an accessibility feature?”

And:

But then I started doing some research and I learned that actually it’s already possible, if you have right accessibility hardware like special joysticks and motors, to have some kind of cursor on iOS. This is already possible and has been possible for years.

But what I heard from sources is that without any adapter you will be able to use a USB-C mouse, on your iPad, as an accessibility device.

And then this followup:

https://www.twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/1120447708215554049

I am fascinated by this possibility. Is this purely for accessibility, or is this a step towards a truly universal merging of iOS and macOS?

Growing number of iPad Pro owners complain of screen stuttering issues

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I’ve spoken with a few people who’ve had the issue. One comment:

https://twitter.com/donmcallister/status/1113439274098208768

Hopefully, this is a software issue introduced by the latest iOS update.

Not a fan of Apple not acknowledging hardware issues. Once an issue surfaces more than a few times in forums, that should be enough for Apple to address it in some way. I get that there’s a liability issue for Apple, that taking responsibility can affect the outcome of future lawsuits. But if a user brings in their iPad Pro with a stuttering issue, and a link to the linked MacRumors article, shouldn’t that be enough for:

  • A hassle free repair or swap out.
  • Interest within an Apple Store to get their hands on a malfunctioning device they can send back to Apple Park so they can get to the heart of the matter.

As is, many hoops were jumped through.

Pulling handwritten notes into a shortcut

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[VIDEO] This is a pretty interesting find by Matthew Cassinelli. In a nutshell, you can handwrite notes on your iPad using Apple Pencil, then send that text (as text, not as drawn text) to a shortcut.

To see this in action, watch the video (embedded in the main Loop post) and jump to about 2:12.

If you do a lot of handwritten notes, I can see lots of value here. Export the text to a shopping list, for example. Or, perhaps, append the text to a list of app ideas. I suspect you could even create a shortcut smart enough to figure out from context what list stuff should go to.

Of course, your success here will depend on how readable your handwriting is.

John Gruber’s review of the new iPad mini

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Nice long read, full of detail. One nugget in particular:

Here’s a really big pro in the iPad Mini’s column that I didn’t fully anticipate until diving in with it this week: it’s so much better for thumb-typing. Honestly, I hate typing on the on-screen keyboard on my iPad Pro. I hate it. I really do. If I have to do it I’ll put it in landscape and set it down on a table or counter and try to touch type with all my fingers. But holding the iPad Pro in portrait, I literally can’t type with my thumbs. When I try, everything comes out garbled. I can’t reach all the keys, and inexplicably, the iPad Pro keyboards no longer support splitting them into two smaller more reachable halves.

The iPad mini is a gem of a form factor. Perfect for so many people, especially those with small hands. But it’s also perfect for reading in bed. It’s big enough to see plenty of good-sized text but light enough to not be wearying on your arms.

As to the iPad Pro, the lack of a split for the onscreen keyboard is mystifying.

But that iPad mini? Delicious.

Rene Ritchie digs in to the new iPad mini (a bit of iPad Air too)

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[VIDEO] Lots to absorb here, but my favorite bit comes at about 1:40 in, when Rene compares the screen size and aspect ratio of the iPhone XS and the iPad mini. The advantage of the iPad mini is significant, and Rene does a nice job showing why.

Video embedded in the main Loop post.

John Gruber’s take on the new iPads and why they only support the original Apple Pencil

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John Gruber’s list of reasons the new iPads only support the original Apple Pencil:

  • The Pencil 2 requires an iPad with flat sides for the magnetic charging and pairing.

  • The flat sides of the newest iPad Pros go hand-in-hand, design-wise, with the edge-to-edge (or “edge-to-edge” if you prefer) round-corned displays, and Face ID instead of Touch ID. Those things all add to the price of iPad Pros.

  • In theory Apple could have given these new iPads flat sides just to support the new Pencil, sticking with the square-cornered display, larger chin and forehead, and Touch ID — but that’s not how Apple rolls. Such design elements are integrated with the whole.

And:

If Apple had wanted the new Pencil 2 to work on all new iPads, they would’ve had to put a Lightning plug on the new Pencil in addition to supporting conductive charging and pairing. But that’s really not how Apple rolls — that would have ruined one of the things that makes the new Pencil so much nicer than the old Pencil. Better to have a messy product lineup where some new iPads only support the new Pencil and others only support the old Pencil than to have a messy new Pencil.

All fair points. To get a sense of how Apple is handling this, take a look at the Apple Pencil buy page. If you are buying an Apple Pencil, Apple steers you here to make sure you don’t buy the wrong product.

My only quibble is with the product name. The original Apple Pencil is clearly very different from Apple Pencil 2. Both belong to the same product line, but Apple has a traditional of calling out the differences. Consider Apple Watch Series 4, or MacBook Pro 2018. Not sure why they didn’t do that here, but c’est la vie.

Apple’s updated iPad Air and Mini support eSIMs

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Engadget:

The iPad mini and iPad Air Apple quietly announced ahead of its big March event will come with eSIM support. Cupertino’s latest iPad Pros have eSIM support, as well, but these new entries are the first non-Pro models with the feature. While the Apple SIM works similarly — and present in older non-Pro iPads — it’s only compatible with the tech giant’s partner carriers. By giving these devices eSIM support, they’ll be able to work even on the networks of non-partner carriers.

A small thing, but really important for folks who travel.

Apple announces all new 10.5″ iPad Air and 7.9″ iPad mini, both with Apple Pencil support

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Apple on the new iPad Air:

Apple today introduced the all-new iPad Air in an ultra-thin 10.5-inch design, offering the latest innovations including Apple Pencil support and high-end performance at a breakthrough price. With the A12 Bionic chip with Apple’s Neural Engine, the new iPad Air delivers a 70 percent boost in performance and twice the graphics capability, and the advanced Retina display with True Tone technology is nearly 20 percent larger with over half a million more pixels.

Apple on the new iPad mini:

Apple today also introduced the new 7.9-inch iPad mini, a major upgrade for iPad mini fans who love a compact, ultra-portable design packed with the latest technology. With the A12 Bionic chip, the new iPad mini is a powerful multi-tasking machine, delivering three times the performance and nine times faster graphics.3 The advanced Retina display with True Tone technology and wide color support is 25 percent brighter3 and has the highest pixel density of any iPad, delivering an immersive visual experience in any setting.

From what I can tell, both devices only support the first generation Apple Pencil. All the images show the first gen and the linked footnote specifically says, “The first-generation Apple Pencil sold separately.”

Both iPads are available to order right now and in stores next week.

One side thought: The iPad mini is the smallest iPad to support Apple Pencil. It does not have a magnet for charging and attaching the Apple Pencil. Seems achingly close to Apple Pencil support for the larger iPhone. Would you like Apple Pencil support on your iPhone?

Painting along with Bob Ross using your iPad and Apple Pencil

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[VIDEO] Bob Ross taught generations of people how to paint. Gently.

In the video embedded in the main Loop post, iJustine watches Bob Ross step through his technique, laying paint on canvas, and replicates every step on her iPad Pro using Procreate.

I love this approach, especially the way the video is partitioned to show Bob Ross at work, Justine’s work in progress, all while keeping the big picture in the main frame.

The tutorial starts about 53 seconds in.

EVERYTHING You Need To Know About Working Off An iPad

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[VIDEO] This is a terrific video (embedded in the main Loop post). With the title word in all caps, I have to say, that EVERYTHING seems reasonable.

This is a great video to share with anyone new to iPad. There’s a lot here, all very understandable. [H/T Matt Birchler]

Apple, the iPad Pro, and “subtle deviations in flatness”

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Apple Support Note addressing bendy iPad Pros:

iPad Pro cellular models now feature Gigabit-class LTE, with support for more cellular bands than any other tablet. To provide optimal cellular performance, small vertical bands or “splits” in the sides of the iPad allow parts of the enclosure to function as cellular antennas.

On how those splits are made:

These bands are manufactured using a process called co-molding. In this high-temperature process, plastic is injected into precisely milled channels in the aluminum enclosure where it bonds to micro-pores in the aluminum surface. After the plastic cools, the entire enclosure is finished with a precision CNC machining operation, yielding a seamless integration of plastic and aluminum into a single, strong enclosure.

So far, so good. But:

The new straight edges and the presence of the antenna splits may make subtle deviations in flatness more visible only from certain viewing angles that are imperceptible during normal use. These small variances do not affect the strength of the enclosure or the function of the product and will not change over time through normal use.

Tucking this link away, on the off-chance I come across an iPad Pro that exceeds “subtle deviations in flatness”.

Apple confirms some iPad Pros ship slightly bent, but says it’s normal

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Chris Welch, The Verge:

Apple has confirmed to The Verge that some of its 2018 iPad Pros are shipping with a very slight bend in the aluminum chassis. But according to the company, this is a side effect of the device’s manufacturing process and shouldn’t worsen over time or negatively affect the flagship iPad’s performance in any practical way. Apple does not consider it to be a defect.

The bend is the result of a cooling process involving the iPad Pro’s metal and plastic components during manufacturing, according to Apple.

And:

My 11-inch iPad Pro showed a bit of a curve after two weeks. Apple asked if I would send it their way so the engineering team could take a look. But the replacement 11-inch iPad Pro I received at Apple’s Downtown Brooklyn store exhibited a very slight bend in the aluminum as soon as I took off the wrapper.

And:

Those who are annoyed by the bend shouldn’t have any trouble exchanging or returning their iPad Pro at the Apple Store or other retailers within the 14-day return window. But it’s not clear if swaps will be permitted outside that policy.

Tricky. Is this really normal? Look at the image in the linked article. Certainly seems like a manufacturing defect to me.

Past as prologue, can’t help but imagine a lawsuit brewing somewhere.

Apple has destroyed the potential of the Smart Connector on the new iPad Pro

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Andrew O’Hara, Apple Insider:

There are two primary issues with the port on the new iPad Pro — one that can be at least partially overlooked, and the other is going to be a show-stopper.

And:

The biggest criticism of the case was the requirement of having a full back cover that added unnecessary bulk and weight on an otherwise slim device. I’d have preferred a two-piece design that allows for a removable keyboard with an optional back cover.

As it stands, you are stuck with both a keyboard and a back cover, or neither. If you wanted to remove the keyboard but keep the back, sorry, that’s too bad.

And:

Second is the poor adoption we’ve seen from outside companies, which the shift will not help. Apple touted at launch that third-parties could make use of the port, and they even reiterated strong support with products in the pipeline just last year. Now that the port has completely moved, anything in the works based on the previous port location is dead-on-arrival.

Tough investment for a peripheral company to deal with a complete redesign of a hardware interface. Not just moving a port/connector, but completely changing the way it works.

And I’d add to this issue the problem of putting any sort of case over the Apple Pencil magnet/charger. You have to find a way to convey that functionality with your case, no easy task. And, given the likelihood that Apple is not done innovating here, it may be some time before the functionality of these ports stabilize.

Wholesale change is tough business for a peripheral maker.

Grammy winning producer teaches audio engineer how to mix using iPad

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[VIDEO] Yesterday, we posted a video interview of top music producer Henny Tha Bizness and top audio engineer Ken Lewis talking about the value of using an iPad to produce music.

This video (embedded in the main Loop post) goes a bit deeper, actually showing the iPad screen as Henny teaches Ken the basics.

Lots to love here, but my favorite is watching their heads bob in unison as soon as the music kicks in.

How the iPad is revolutionizing music production

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[VIDEO] Nice find from Cult of Mac’s Charlie Sorrel. The video in the main Loop post is an interview with Grammy award-winning music producer Henny Tha Bizness and is his take on the iPad’s place in professional music production.

The whole video is interesting but, at the very least, jump to 6:28 into the video when Henny asks producer Ken Lewis about his take on using an iPad rather than a Mac.

Insightful take on the switch from analog (knobs and sliders) to a mouse interface, and back to analog (knobs and sliders that you touch directly). It’s all about feel.

Use your iPad as a display for your new Mac mini

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[VIDEO] Luna Display is a small hardware dongle you plug into any modern Mac, including the new Mac mini, that wirelessly turns your iPad into a touch display for your Mac.

You can see Luna Display in action in the video embedded in the main Loop post. I love this idea, and it seems a perfect solution for the Mac mini.

Beyond that, it feels like a missing link, that hybrid of macOS and iOS. My sense is that it supports Apple Pencil, but without pressure sensitivity. But that aside, this seems like a wonderful solution if you already have an iPad Pro and have a need for a Mac mini.

Face ID on the new iPad Pro is even better than it is on the iPhone

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Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:

In my time with the new iPad Pro so far, I’ve found Face ID to be a bit more forgiving here than it is on the iPhone. It seems more likely to try to authenticate you multiple times on its, as well as better at different angles. For instance, I can have my iPad Pro laying flat on my desk, and Face ID is still able to recognize me. This is something that isn’t possible on the iPhone XS, at least reliably.

And:

For everything it excels at, however, Face ID on the iPad Pro is not perfect, and the different use cases and overall size of the iPad present a couple of unique issues.

For instance, at my desk I like to use my iPad Pro with this Viozon stand. Face ID, however, is somewhat unreliable in this use case as it common displays a warning saying “Face is too far away.” I think I’ve been able to find the sweet spot in terms of how far is too far, but distance is definitely something I’d like to see Apple focus on with future iterations of Face ID.

Most people hold their iPhone in a reasonably predictable fashion, at a predictable angle, and a predictable distance from their eyes. The iPad itself, not so much.

As Chance points out in that last paragraph, people frequently place their iPad on a stand, sometimes flat on a desk, sometimes as a driver for an external display. True, the iPhone often lives in those spaces but, I’d argue, is far more likely to be held in typical phone fashion. Face ID on iPad just has more edge cases.

Ultimately, the best thing about Face ID on the iPad Pro, much like on the iPhone, is how passive it is. Unlocking is made even better by the double-click keyboard option, while things like accessing passwords, logging into apps, and more all work with no interaction at all.

I love that you can unlock your iPad by double-tapping any key on the keyboard. So smart, so easy.

More on third-party USB-C to Lightning cables

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John Gruber unpacks a lot of detail on USB-C to Lightning cables, the MFi program, and his take on the likelihood of USB-C making the move to iPhone.

This is a terrific, put your feet up, grab a hot beverage, chock-full-of details read.