Using the iPad Web Browser

The iPad comes with a web browser called Safari.It isn’t the only web browser you can use on your iPad, but it’s a really good one.

Safari is a lot like other web browsers you’ve probably used (in fact,if you’ve used a Mac,you’ve probably used Safari).Here’s what the buttons in Safari’s top bar do:

• Back/forward arrows—Tap the left arrow to go back to the last web page you were on.If you’ve already tapped that at least once,the right arrow goes to the next page.

• Bookmarks—This menu stores your bookmarks (more on them in “Making Bookmarks,”later in this chapter).You can store bookmarks in folders,change their names,and delete them by tapping this button and then Edit.

• Action box—This box contains all kinds of neat options—for making a bookmark,emailing or printing a page,and adding a shortcut to a page to your home screen (this is like a bookmark,except it lives on your home screen,not in Safari).

• Address bar—Shows the address of the page you’re on.Tap the address, tap the X at the end of the bar to delete the text all at once,and then type in the address of a new site you want to visit.

• Search box—If you want to search for something using Google or another search engine,tap this box,type in what you’re looking for,and then tap the Search button on the keyboard.

• New tab—If you want to go to a new website but still keep the one you’re looking at open,you need to open a new tab.Safari lets you open many websites at once,but since you can’t browse four or five at the same time,it hides the ones you’re not looking at.It lets you keep those hidden sites,and switch to them,by using tabs—little rectangles with the name of the hidden site on them.To open a new tab,tap the + sign.You can have up to nine tabs.Switch tabs by tapping the one you want to look at.

• Close tab—To close a tab and the site in it,tap the X on the one you want to close.

Zooming In and Out

One of the really fun things about controlling the iPad by touch is that you can zoom in and out of websites using your fingers.There are two ways to do this:

• If you want to zoom in on a part of a web page,just double tap on that section.That section of the page will zoom to fill up more of the screen. To zoom out, just double tap it again.

• You can also pinch your iPad’s screen for greater control.To do this, put your thumb and index finger (the one you point with) together and then place them on your iPad’s screen.Without taking them off the screen, slide your fingers apart toward opposite sides of the screen.The page will zoom in.To zoom out,put your thumb and index finger at opposite sides of the screen and then pinch together until they meet in the center.

Opening a Link in a New Tab

By opening a web page in a new tab, you can see the new page without losing the one you’re already on.To do this, open a web page in Safari and follow these steps:

1. Find a link you want to open and then tap and hold it until a menu appears.

2. When the menu pops up,tap Open in New Tab.When you do that,the new tab opens,but you stay on the page you were on.

3. To see the page that you opened in the new tab,tap the new tab.

4. To close either tab, tap the X.

Emailing a Web Page

 If there’s a web page you want to share with a friend,teacher,or family member, you can email them a link to it.A link is a shortcut that they can click to take them to their web browser and right to the page you’re sharing.To do that,go to the web page you want to send and then follow these steps:

1. Tap the Action box.

2. Tap Mail Link to This Page.

3. This opens the email app.Enter the email address of the person you want to send the link to.

4. The email subject is automatically filled in with the name of the page,but you can change it to whatever you want.Just tap on the subject line and make your changes.

5. If you want to write a message to send with the link,tap the body of the email and write your message.

6. Tap the Send button.This doesn’t email the entire website,but it sends a link to the page so the person can easily check it out.

Emailing on Your iPad 

Following these steps, of course, means you have to have email set up on your iPad.If you don’t,you can learn how to set up and use email in Chapter 5,“Talk to Me:Texting, Chatting,and Email.”

Printing a Web Page

Printing a page isn’t that different from sending someone a link.You have to have an iPad-compatible printer.If you do,go to the web page you want to print and follow these steps:

1. Tap the Action box so that a menu appears. 

2. Tap Print to access the print options.

3. Tap Select Printer in the Printer menu to choose an available printer (if your printer isn’t already selected).

4. Tap Print.

Making Bookmarks

Bookmarks are shortcuts that make it easy for you to visit your favorite websites without typing the address each time.With a bookmark,you go right to your favorite site with just a couple taps. To create a new bookmark, begin by going to the website you want to book- mark and then follow these steps:

1. Tap the Action box to open it.

2. Tap Add Bookmark.

3. Each bookmark is named after the page you’re bookmarking,but you can change that (a good idea, since sometimes those names are long).To do that,tap the X in the top section and enter something shorter.

4. If you want to put the bookmark in a different folder,tap Bookmarks and select one.

5. Tap Save.

Using Spotlight Search

If you want to find something on your iPad using Spotlight:

1. From your iPad’s home screen, swipe to the right until all the apps disappear and you see a search bar at the top of the screen and a keyboard at the bottom.

2. Type what you want to find.This could be a person’s name (which will get you their address book entry and any emails or texts they’ve sent you),the name of a book or a song (one tap on the search results will open or play it) or a piece of information (if that information is in a document or email,it will appear).Tap Search and results will appear.

3. Tap the search result that you want to view

Setting Up Find My iPad

To turn on Find My iPad, start by open- ing the Settings app and then follow these steps:

1. Tap the iCloud menu and log in using your Apple ID.If you don’t have one, Create a new one.

2. Move the Find My iPad slider to On.

3. A window will pop up asking you to allow iCloud to use your iPad’s location,which will also enable Find My iPad.Tap Allow.

4. With that done,Find My iPad is enabled.

Now that Find My iPad is turned on, you’ll be able to track your iPad if it gets lost or stolen.

Setting Up an iTunes Allowance

With an iTunes Allowance,your parents can put $10–$50 in your iTunes account every month.That way,you’ll always have money to buy songs,apps, movies,and books at the iTunes or App Stores and won’t have to ask your parents to buy something for you.
If your parents want to give you an iTunes Allowance (there are some tips on how to convince them in a minute),you need to have an iTunes account  and your parents need their own separate account. Then have one of your parents launch the iTunes program on a computer,log in with their account,and then follow these steps:

1. At the iTunes Store,click Buy iTunes Gifts.

2. Scroll to the Allowances section near the bottom of the screen.

3. Click the link Set Up an Allowance Now.

4. On the iTunes Allowance screen,fill out all the information asked for.

5. Click Continue to create the allowance.Now,you’ll be able to get new music and apps and other iTunes goodies every month! The money from your iTunes Allowance is available in iTunes on your computer or the iTunes or App Store apps on your iPad.Just sign in to your account,and it will be there next to your username in the right corner of the screen

Syncing your iPad with iTunes

You can use an iPad if you don’t have a computer;but if you do have one, there’s a good chance it’s full of music,photos,and other things you’d like to put on your iPad.To do that,you have to sync (syncing also backs up the data on your iPad to your computer for safe keeping).

iTunes will launch and the screen that lets you manage all the content on your iPad will appear. Each tab on this screen lets you control different kinds of content on your iPad. When you’ve made all your changes and want to save them and sync again,click the Apply button.You can do this after changing the settings on each tab or after you’ve completed all of them.

The Summary Tab

The Summary tab is the overview screen where you perform basic activities:

• Check for Update—Click this to check for,and install,an updated version of the iOS,the software that makes the iPad work.

• Restore—If your iPad is having major problems,sometimes you need to erase it and start from scratch That’s what Restore does.

• Backup—This option lets you decide whether the data on your iPad is saved for safekeeping.

• Capacity bar—This color-coded bar at the bottom of iTunes shows how much of your iPad’s storage space you’re currently using and how much is still available.The default information shows you how much space each type of data—music,apps,books,and so on—takes up.If you click a category at the bottom (for example,Audio),you’ll see other information, such as how many songs or apps are on your iPad.

The Info Tab

The Info tab is where you sync calendars,addresses,phone numbers,and email accounts.Here are the main options found on this tab:

• Sync Address Book Contacts—If you have your friends’and family’s names,addresses,phone numbers,and emails stored on your computer, you can sync them to your iPad.If you have this information stored in different programs,you need to merge it all into one because the iPad can only sync with one address book program.Check this box to sync your iPad and address book.On a Mac,your iPad will sync with the built-in Address Book program.On a PC,you can choose to sync with Outlook, Outlook Express,Windows Address book,or Windows Contacts.

• Sync Calendars—You can also sync your calendar or a family calendar to the iPad,which is good for keeping track of your days off from school,big homework assignments,and people’s birthdays (learn more in Chapter 8, “Get Organized with Calendar and Reminders “).If you want to sync calendars,check this box,click Selected Calendars,and choose the calendars you want.You can also just sync all of calendars on your computer by checking the All Calendars box.

• Sync Mail Accounts—If you have an email address set up on your computer,you can add it to your iPad by checking this box and then clicking the account you want to add.If you don’t have an email address,that’s okay.

• Sync Bookmarks—If you’ve got your favorite websites saved as book- marks in the web browser on your computer,you can sync all of those bookmarks to your iPad,too.Just check the box next to Sync Bookmarks. If you use a Mac,you’re done.On a PC,click the menu to choose what browser’s bookmarks you want to sync.Select the browser you use most often.

The Apps Tab

Here’s where things start to get really fun:adding apps to your iPad.When you use iTunes to download apps and games,they show up in this area. Here’s how you install them on your iPad:

• Sync Apps—Check this box to turn on the ability to sync apps.When you do this,the apps in the column below it light up.

• Select apps—To choose apps to sync to your iPad,check the box next to each app.

• Arrange apps—On the right,you’ll see a picture of your iPad’s home screen.Next to that picture are other boxes with apps on them.These are other screens.Click the #2 screen to see the apps that will be installed there.If you want to put those apps somewhere else,you can drag and drop them onto another screen or to another place on the same screen. 

• New screens—To create a third screen for your apps,click an app with your mouse and drag it over to the gray box labeled “3”next to the picture of your iPad screen.Let it go there and you’ll have three screens of apps.Repeat to create more screens.

• Automatically sync new apps—If you get apps using iTunes on your computer instead of using the App Store on your iPad,use this option. Check it if you want new apps that you download on your computer to be added to your iPad every time it syncs.

The Tones Tab

Tones are the sounds made by the iPad to let you know you’ve got a FaceTime call, new email,text message,or reminder.The iPad comes with dozens of sounds,but you can also add your own to make your iPad more personal.

To sync tones to your iPad, click the Sync Tones button.You can sync all the tones on your computer by clicking All Tones.Alternatively,you can choose just some of them by clicking Selected Tones.

The Music Tab

Here’s another fun tab.You can add music to your iPad so that you have your favorite songs with you wherever you go.

• Sync Music—Click this box so a check mark appears in it (if it’s already there,no need to click) to turn on the ability to add music to your iPad.

• Chances are your iPad won’t have enough space to hold all your music, apps,games,books,and everything else,so your best bet is to click Selected Playlists,Artists,Albums,and Genres button so that a black dot appears in it and then choose what music you want to have on your iPad.

• If you have music videos you want to watch on your iPad,click that box so a check mark appears in it.You can ignore the other two for now.

• If you decide to sync only selected songs,you have to choose which songs you want.There are four ways to do that: by playlist,artist,genre, and album.If you have created any playlists in iTunes and want to sync them,check the box next to the name of each playlist you want to add.

• If you want to add all the songs and albums by your favorite bands to your iPad with just one click,check the box next to their names.

• To sync all albums and songs in a certain genre,click the box next to the genre you want.

• To sync just one album at a time and have more control over what ends up on your iPad,click the individual album names.

The Movies Tab

If you rent or buy movies from iTunes,or download video files from the Web, you can watch them on your iPad.This is especially fun if you’re taking a long trip and want some entertainment.

• Sync Movies—Check this box to turn on the ability to sync movies to your iPad.

• You have two choices for syncing movies: automatically and one at a time.To choose automatically,check that box and then select the num- ber of movies you want to sync in the drop-down menu.

• If you want to choose which movies to sync,check the box next to each movie you want to sync.Taking a movie off your iPad,but leaving it on your computer,works the same way:Uncheck the box next to that movie.

The TV Shows Tab

Just like with movies,you can also watch your favorite TV shows on your iPad. Here,however,you’ve got a bit more flexibility because you can choose the specific episodes you want to sync.

• Sync TV Shows—Begin by checking the Sync TV Shows box.Just like with movies,you can either automatically sync shows or choose which ones you sync on a show-by-show basis.

If you choose to automatically sync,you then decide what you want to sync.In the first drop-down box,your choices are all unwatched episodes, the newest shows,the newest shows you haven’t watched,and the oldest shows.Pick the one you want from the drop-down.

• Use the second drop-down box to choose whether you want this choice to apply to all shows or just the ones you selected.I recommend using just the ones you select,because you may want to keep shows you’ve seen on your computer,but don’t want to add them to your iPad.

• If you want to choose specific shows to sync,don’t check the box next to Automatically Include.Instead,check the boxes next to the show you want to add to your iPad and then click the box next to each episode you want to sync.

The Podcasts Tab

Podcasts are like radio shows that you can download and listen to any time. Most of them are free,and there are thousands to choose from on all kinds of topics at the iTunes Store.In fact,you can even subscribe to your favorites so that when a new episode comes out,it’s automatically downloaded to your computer.

You can do this for as many shows and episodes as will fit on your iPad.

• Sync Podcasts—To sync podcasts to your iPad,you first have to click Sync Podcasts check box so that a checkmark appears in it.

• Choosing what podcast to sync is a lot like choosing what TV shows to sync: First,you have to decide if you want to sync podcasts automatically or one at a time.If you choose automatically,then choose how many podcasts and whether you want to only sync ones you haven’t heard or all of them.

• If you want to sync only some podcasts,don’t check the box next to Automatically Include.Instead,check the box next to the podcast you want to sync.Then check the box next to each episode of that podcast that you want to sync.

The Books Tab

You can get e-books and audiobooks from iTunes and other sources.The iPad is a great place to read or listen to books because it can hold hundreds of them and the books can have pictures,sound,and animations.

• Sync Books—To sync books to your iPad,first click the check box next to Sync Books so a checkmark appears there.If you enable this option,use the buttons below to choose whether to sync all the books on your com- puter or just some of them.

• If you choose selected books,click the box next to the books you want.

• Adding audiobooks to your iPad works the same way.Scroll down the page to see and configure the Audiobooks options.

The Photos Tab

With its big screen,the iPad is awesome for looking at pictures—and having the built-in digital cameras makes it even better.If you store photos on your computer,you may want to sync your favorites to your iPad so you can have them with you wherever you go.

• Sync Photos From—Begin by clicking on the Sync Photos check box and then choosing where to sync photos from.If your computer is a Mac, choose iPhoto.If you use Windows,choose the program you use (there can be a lot of options,depending on what you have installed on your computer,but Windows Live Photo Gallery is the most common).

• Just like with other things,you first have to decide whether you want to sync all your photos or just some.If you don’t already,pretty soon you’re probably going to have a lot of photos stored on your computer.That can take up a lot of space—even more than you have available on your iPad. Because of that,it’s usually best to sync only your favorite photos.

• If you choose to sync only selected photos,you then have to choose what albums,events,or people (this option only works if you use iPhoto) to sync.Click the boxes in those sections.

Saving Your Changes 

Don’t forget that once you’ve changed all these settings,they’re not permanent until you click Apply in the bottom-right corner of iTunes.When you do that,the settings will be saved and the music,movies,and apps you’ve chosen will be added to your iPad.Now,whenever you sync your iPad,these settings will be used (until you change them).

After you’ve synced your iPad,you should eject it before you can unplug it from your computer.To do that,click the Eject button next to the iPad icon in iTunes.

Creating an Apple ID on the iPad

>>>step-by-step

Creating an Apple ID on 

the iPad

You need an Apple ID (aka an iTunes

account) for many features of your iPad

and to buy things at the iTunes or App

Store.You can create a free Apple ID direct-

ly on your iPad.This is definitely a place

where you’ll want your parents’ help, since

they may be paying for the music and apps

you buy or so they can help you use your

account.When you get to the Apple ID

screen of the iPad setup process, as shown

in step 8 in the previous section, if you

don’t have an Apple ID, tap Create a Free

Apple ID and follow these steps:

1.Enter your birthday using the

spinners.

2.Enter your first name and last

name.

3.Choose what email address you

want to use for your Apple ID (use

an address you’ll have access to for

a long time). If you don’t have an

email address, or want to get a new

one, tap Get a Free iCloud Email

Address. If you do have one you

want to use, tap Use Your Current

Email Address.Then tap Next.

4.If you chose to use your current

email address, enter it here and

tap Next.

5.Choose a password that’s at least

eight letters long, with at least one

capital letter, one lowercase letter,

and one number. Enter it a second

time to make sure you know it and

then tap Next.

Getting an iCloud Email

If you don’t have an email address, or

don’t want to use your main one for

your Apple ID, you can choose to get

a free iCloud email address. To do

that, just tap that option and tap

Next. The next screen will let you

create your new me.com email

address and continue.

6.You have to enter a reminder in

case you forget your password.

Choose a question from the spin-

ner or enter one of your own in

the Question field. Choose some-

thing you’ll remember but that

even someone who knows you

won’t be able to guess.

7.Enter the answer into the Answer

field.

8.If you want Apple to send you

emails announcing new products

or sharing other news, leave the

Email Updates slider On. If not,

move the slider to Off and tap

Next. You’ll then see a screen with

Apple’s terms for having an Apple

ID. You must agree to these terms

to use your Apple ID at the iTunes

or App stores. When you do this,

your Apple ID will be created and

you’ll be ready to go