iPad

From the latest news to the most comprehensive tutorials, learn how to get the most out of your iPad with our step-by-step guides and expert tips.

How and where to share faster with AirDrop

In the absence of reliable figures from Apple, it is not much more than conjecture to say that AirDrop is likely a feature often neglected by the average iOS user. The gut feeling persists though, simply based on day to day observations, and it is a tenable position to take until proven wrong by Cupertino or another reputable source. The file transfer protocol is indeed handy for the transfer of heavier media files (e.g. videos, photo albums), but often only becomes relevant to us when we for example have upgraded to a new device.

Next to sheer transmission speed however, there are other notable areas where AirDrop has the clear edge when it comes to sharing all kinds of material from your iPhone. The AirDrop icon has now fully permeated the sharing tab in iOS 10’s user interface and that is for a good reason: it is without fail going to be more nimble than iMessage, Mail or other contenders, often actually skipping steps that would throttle the process elsewhere. Such being the case, here are some unique scenarios where AirDrop excels on your iPhone and why you should try to embrace the feature more regularly.

Noctis9 adds a dark mode to many transparent interfaces in iOS

Many iPhone and iPad users have wanted some kind of dark mode setting for ages, and the energy was even more hyped up after Apple debuted dark mode on macOS for the first time.

That’s where a new jailbreak tweak called Noctis9 comes in, as it brings a system-wide dark mode to various transparent elements of iOS, including, but not limited to Control Center and 3D Touch menus.

Infuse updated with support for DVD videos, NFS streaming, Library and folder search & more

The versatile media player Infuse by aTV Flash Black developer Firecore was updated this week with several new features and enhancements, including the ability to play DVD videos saved as VIDEO_TS, .dvdmedia or ISO/IMG archives.

Other new features in Infuse 5.2 for iOS and tvOS include Library and folder search, the ability to stream media from NFS-formatted network shares, sort your media by release date and more.

ReachBoard lets you peek at your iOS clipboard in the Reachability view

For a lot of people, the space that comes up when you invoke Reachability is considered wasted space. It becomes a giant gaping hole of nothingness on your screen any time you use the feature to one-handedly use your large-screened iPhone.

A new free jailbreak tweak called ReachBoard aims to make good use of that empty space by filling it with anything that may be residing in your clipboard.

HomeKit has about 100 certified devices more than two years since inception

HomeKit, Apple's software framework for communicating with and controlling connected accessories in a user's home, currently works with about a hundred certified devices, Reuters said Friday.

By contrast, there are currently about 250 devices that are certified to work with Alexa, thanks to Amazon's open-systems approach and even financial incentives for some partners.

But HomeKit, which debuted alongside iOS 8 in September 2014, now has an agile competitor in Amazon's Alexa voice-controlled digital assistant which can also control smart accessories in the home with a few spoken words. The Reuters report outlines some of the requirements Apple imposes on device makers who wish to become HomeKit-certified.

HBO GO picks up support for Single sign-on and Apple’s new TV app

Apple today put HBO GO on the list of video apps supported in its new TV app via the Single-sign on feature that recently launched in iOS 10 and tvOS 10.

This lets HBO GO users sign in with their cable or satellite credentials on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple TV to enjoy instant access to HBO shows, not only in Apple's own TV app but in other supported video apps that their pay TV subscription includes.

Twitter rolling out enhanced Explore tab to iOS users

Image showing a blue Twitter bird with a black shadow set against an all-white background

Twitter on Thursday announced that it has begun rolling out an enhanced Explore tab for its mobile users. The updated feature combines trending topics, Moments, search and live video into a single spot to make it easier for users to see what's happening on the social network.

iOS 10.3 has hidden support for one-handed floating iPad keyboard

Another hidden keyboard has been uncovered in iOS, according to developer Steve Troughton-Smith who last night tweeted about his discovery of a one-handed floating iPad keyboard in iOS 10.3 beta code.

While not exposed to users just yet, Steve was able to activate this new keyboard by hacking Apple's iOS Simulator app that developers use to test work-in-progress code on their Mac.

iOS 10.3 will let apps change their Home screen icon at any time, no update required

Tucked away amid a flurry of new reports covering upcoming new features in Apple's operating system updates, like Theater Mode on Apple Watch and Siri in watch apps, Night Shift on Mac and Find My AirPods on iPhone, Apple yesterday quietly announced that developers will soon be allowed to change their app’s Home screen icon programmatically, whenever they like.

In other words, an update is no longer required to push out the new icon artwork.

The seemingly unimportant change opens up a world of new possibilities for interactions with your favorite apps that simply were not possible before.

Google Translate’s augmented reality feature, Word Lens, now works with Japanese

In addition to updating the Popular Times feature in Google Maps for iPhone and iPad with real-time data, the search giant also issued another noteworthy update, this one concerning its dedicated Translate app on App Store. Bumped to version 5.5, the free download can now translate photos of signs, menus and similar items from Japanese to English, and vice versa. That's because its augmented reality feature, called Word Lens, has been updated to recognize Japanese content on photos and video.

Google Maps for iOS now lets you see in real time how busy your favorite place is

Popular Times is one of the most useful features of Google Maps on the web. Android users have had the privilege of enjoying this feature in the mobile app for quite a few months, and now iPhone and iPad users can see how busy their favorite place is, in real-time, in Google Maps 4.27 for iOS. Aside from this feature, the free download includes the ability to quickly access addresses in the clipboard while searching and bug fixes.