3 Beginner Tips for iPad 2

Having only had my iPad 2 for about two weeks I went into a new gadget blind for the first time in a long time.  I had to learn on the fly and believe it or not I had not used an iPhone or iPod Touch so had very little experience with the iOS myself hands on.

Just from using the iPad 2 for the first few weeks I realized there were some things people should do right out of the gate.  Some iPad 2 tips are better for families who share an iPad, and others are just general.  You can pick and choose if any appeal to what you need.

Tip 1 – Setup Icon Groups in iPad 2

It annoyed me fast to have to flick and scroll through several screens to find my icons, and they were just disorganized and dragging them individually to separate screens was tedious.  I quickly learned that you can instantly create “icon groups” by dragging one iPad app onto another, the two apps will merge into a group (similar to a Windows Folder) and you can name the folder what you want.

This is a great way to create groups of similar applications, like Games, Social Media, Browsers, Media, Books…etc.

The only limitation is that only 9 apps can fit in the same group, so if you have more than 9 you have to spawn a 2nd group for the same category.

Tip 2 – Disable In Game Purchases and Deleting Apps

This is a must for families that share an iPad where you may give your kids the iPad to play a few games with for an hour or two.  Many of the free games have items you can purchase with your iTunes account to add more functionality or features to the game.  This is how they nickel and dime you, and as you only have to enter your password 1x every 15 minutes by default you can find your child purchasing items without you even realizing it from inside games.

Fortunately you can quickly and easily disable In-Game purchases so you can hand your child your iPad and let them play Talking Tom or whatever and not have to worry about them charging your iTunes account for some extra options.

Just go into your iPad Settings, under the “General Settings” and click on “Restrictions”.

If this is your first time you will be asked to set a 4 digit passcode to prevent access from unauthorized people.  You will also have to reenter your passcode.

After that you can set In-App Purchases to “Off” under the Allowed Content section.  You can also turn “Deleting Apps” off, my son who would click, click, click his finger on the iPad 2 on more than one occasion deleted icons before I got smart and turned off app deletion.  It is far more convenient for me to have to turn it on when I want to delete apps than to remember what he deleted so I can re-download it.

Once you set In-App Purchases to off, any app they have open where they try to purchase something, they will get kicked back a message saying they don’t have in app purchases enabled.

Trust me, if you have kids and let them use your iPad you will want to disable in-app purchases.

Tip 3 – Taking Screenshots on your iPad

One of the most brilliant features of the iPad I feel was practically put there for reviewers.  This is the default ability of the iPad to get a screen print of your device screen no matter what app you are in or on.  You simply hold the function button down and then press the lock button at the top of the iPad.  Do this quickly and you will hear a camera click and the screen will flash white, then you will have a screenshot saved into your photos of the app you were in.

Simple, brilliant and one of my favorite features.  I didn’t know the iPad 2 had a screenprint feature until I Googled how to do it myself.

What are some of your favorite tricks, tips for the iPad 2?

-Dragon Blogger

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