Task 14: Learn all the functions of my iPad

For so long I've been aware that I was using only a fraction of the capability of my iPad and that I didn't know much of what it could do, let alone how to use it. On plane trips I often seemed to be sitting next to a bright young thing, watching her tap away on her iPad, organising lists, watching videos etc. Meanwhile I wasn't even using mine as the battery was dead, having been exhausted playing Candy Crush while waiting to board. This had to change and once again the Challenges provided the required spur to action.

What I hadn't hoisted in was quite how much there was to learn. The manual runs to 357 pages and some days I couldn't take in more than 20 at a time, as I needed to try out so many of the functions. I was able to speed up once it occurred to me that instead of reading and trying to memorise the instructions on my iPad, and then switching to the relevant facility on the iPad to see how it worked - and having to keep repeating the process as I nearly always forgot part of it - I could use 2 iPads at the same time. Although my old iPad doesn't work that well, I was able to download the latest version of the manual and view it with no problem, leaving my newer one available for testing out what I'd learned:

The most useful things I came across were:

• adding the iPad user guide icon to the home screen, so that I could access it immediately.
• opening the iPad by simply placing my forefinger on the main button rather than having to key in my 4 number password.
• in the evening, switching on the night setting which gives a softer light, making it easier on the eyes and apparently more likely to give you a better night's sleep.
• how to type a letter that has an accent. You hold your finger on the letter and options will appear. Slide your finger across and select the accent you want.
• how to search for a word or phrase on a web page and to find other instances of it in subsequent pages. This should save a lot of time and frustration when googling for information and coming across documents in web sites that apparently contain the key words, but because they aren't on the first page of the document it can take ages to find them.
• how to open a link on a website in split view, so that you can read the linked web page while still being able to see the original website.
• how to download my music and playlists from my desktop to my iPad. I've been meaning to do this for years, especially since last time I was in South Africa I thought I'd use Spotify instead, only to find that it doesn't work overseas after the first 2 weeks.
• the wonders of Siri. For example, you can use it to dictate an email (not perfect, but very handy if for some reason you want to keep typing to a minimum); identify music you hear by asking Siri "What song is playing", and Siri will tell you the name and artist of the song (which you can buy or add to your wish list if you're so inclined); play music stored on your iPad, by any particular artist or album, simply by asking Siri to play it; get directions to a location by car, on foot or public transport, showing traffic conditions and weather, and the current journey time; and find places of interest, eg if you say "Hey Siri, find a coffee near me", it will show you on screen the nearest cafes and restaurants, and give you the distance - with links to their websites, expedia/trip advisor reviews, etc.
• podcasts. I've rarely used them in the past, but now I realise what a rich source of entertainment and information they are - and free, too. It's particularly useful if you have to do something like exercises at home, which are boring but necessary and you want something interesting to listen to, to alleviate the tedium.
• in Maps, you can face a different direction by rotating the image with two fingers. Peter rolled his eyes when I was enthusing about this, as he can't understand why I need to have the map facing the direction I want to go in. I know I'm not alone in this, though.
• in Messages, how to send audio messages rather than just text.
• how to make text in Messages more interesting by using special effects, eg invisible text that's too blurred to read until you swipe it and which afterwards reverts to being blurred (could be useful, provided you're confident that your loved one or whoever isn't familiar with this feature); handwritten text that appears to the recipient as if it's being written while they watch (and you can save standard phrases like "Thank you", so you don't have to create it each time); messages including showers of confetti, balloons floating up the screen, attractive images (my favourite is of a teddy bear swinging its arms, which was how I felt after finishing my first gym session in years) etc. I owe my friend Rowena a big thank you for her patience in giving me feedback on my various attempts to master these features, so this particular teddy bear is for her:

• taking photos using the volume buttons (either of them) on the side of the iPad, rather than pressing the shutter button on the screen. This helps to get a steadier image - and reduced the number of times I accidentally included my thumbs.
• how to see the photos you've taken recently, while staying in Camera mode rather than having to switch to Gallery and back. You tap the thumbnail image below the shutter button, then swipe left.
• adjusting the exposure when taking a photo, by tapping the sunlight symbol next to the exposure rectangle on the screen.

There were two things I found surprising. One was that iTunes covers vastly more than just music, which is a little confusing. The other is that the safety instructions come at the very end of the manual, which was a big relief as it meant I could whizz through the last section, but I'd have expected them to be at the start. I was amused by the instruction that "Sleeping or sitting on the Lightning connector should be avoided". 

This challenge took much longer than I'd expected but it was definitely worth the effort - even though at times this section of the manual felt strangely familiar: "If iPad can't regulate its internal temperature, it goes into deep sleep mode until it cools".