10 Typing Tips for iPad Power Users

You don't need to have used an iPad since the First one hit world retail shelves back in June 2010 to impress others with your tablet savvy. Master the skills outlined below, and you'll have everyone convinced that you're an iPad savant, even if you didn't try one until the iPad 2 arrived this spring.

1. Put your iPad's punctuation keys to work

Typing on an iPad isn't always as convenient as using a real keyboard, especially when you want to access frequently used punctuation that isn't even available on the virtual keyboard's main screen. Thankfully, this little-known trick can help.

Quickly swiping upon the comma key will insert an apostrophe; while swiping up on the full stop inserts a quotation mark. That's one quick swipe on the specific punctuation key, and not the more traditional method of a tap on the '.?123' key, followed by a second tap on the specific punctuation mark you're after.

2. Using virtual keys

Other virtual keys have special features, too. Press and hold down a vowel, for example, and a popup window containing accented versions of the selected character will appear. Consonants such as C, Sand N also offer accented alternatives when you tap and hold on their virtual keys. Similarly, holding down punctuation marks can provide extra options. The '-' key offers an em dash and bullet point. The '£' sign also hides symbols for numerous currencies. 

3. Use common shortcuts

When you connect your iPad to a standard keyboard, you can use some of the same shortcuts you've mastered on your Mac.
 

Text-editing key combinations - such as Cmd-C, Cmd-X, and Cmd-V for copy, cut, and paste, respectively - all work, as does selecting text with Cmd-Shift plus the arrow keys.
 

Other key combinations that work include Undo and Redo (Cmd-Z and Shift-Cmd-Z respectively), and cursor shortcuts such as Control-A, Control-E and Control-K.
 

4. Trust auto-correction

If you're slow at typing, then you probably make Frequent use of the backspace key. The easiest way to become a virtual typing pro is to use the iPad's auto-correct ion algorithm. We've trusted the iOS to fix typos in the past, so that when we type 'Dippieedl' the iPad recognizes we're after 'Supposedly'. Fix Fewer typos and your iPad typing speed will improve. 

5. Avoid application exits

We've all been there-you've noticed something you'd like to checkout more closely in an app at the exact moment you press the Home button. Instead of letting the app close, then finding its icon and waiting while it relaunches, you can tell your iPad to abort your now-unwanted Home button press. If you hold down the Home button a Few seconds longer, your iPad will stop closing the current app and carry on as before.

6. Close background apps

Ever since iOS 4 introduced multitasking, some of your apps can run in the background, even after you've closed them. Generally that's Fine; the iPad does a great job of closing apps when it's forced to by memory limits. Some apps. however- particularly ones that use GPS or VoIP - can eat up quite a bit of memory and battery life if they remain open when you no longer need them.

To ensure these apps don't tan your battery, you can Force them to quit. To do this, double-tap the Home button to bring up the multitasking bar, then press and hold on anyone app until all the apps start to jiggle. In the multitasking bar, tap the red circle on each running app you'd like to quit. The selected apps will now close. Freeing up more memory.  

7. Find the iPad's music controls

With the introduction of the multitasking bar. Apple made finding music playback controls a little bit trickier. After you double-tap the Home button, swipe the whole multitasking bar towards the right. Doing so will reveal several useful controls, shown at the top of the page- these are playback buttons (Reverse, Play/Pause, and Skip), along with individual sliders tot brightness and volume.

8. Search smarter

If you don't ever search For content within the iPad's calendar, audiobooks or podcasts. you can remove these from your Spotlight search results. You can also rearrange the orders in which Spotlight presents its search results.

Launch the Settings app, tap on General and then on Spotlight Search. Uncheck the categories you  don't want to search, and then tap and drag on the right-aligned handles to adjust the sort order.

9. Fill your dock

Brand new iPads Feature Four apps in the Dock, and because of that, many of us don't think to add any more. The Dock can, however, hold six. To keep your most frequently accessed apps in the Dock, you'll need to move them there.

To do so, simply press and hold to jiggle, and then drag the one you'd like to move right into the Dock, where it will stay.
 

10. Launch apps quickly

If you've got a lot of apps on your iPad - so many that it's hard to distinguish one home screen from another-turn Spotlight in to a virtual app launcher. Tap the Home button to get to your first home screen, and then either tap it again or swipe to reveal Spotlight. Start typing the First few letters of the app's name, and then tap on the appropriate result to launch the app instantly. Spotlight will put your most frequently used apps at the top of its matching results.