iPadOS: How to use the Five Finger Death Pinch

· Andrew Orr · Quick Tip

Andrew has a special iPad move called the Five Finger Death Pinch. It’s an advanced gesture and should only be used by trained professionals.

Finally, an Open Source Font App for iPhone and iPad

· Andrew Orr · Link

Fontcase app icon

One feature of iOS and iPadOS 13 was built-in support for fonts (Settings > General > Fonts). But as Michael Potuck notes, I’ve seen very few font apps in the App Store. But now there’s a new one called Fontcase, and it’s open source, too.

Installing custom fonts is super easy with Fontcase, once you have what you want in iCloud Drive or Dropbox, you just import the fonts in Fontcase, download and install a configuration profile, and they’ll be available across iOS/iPadOS.

iOS: How to Find and Use iPhone Emojis

· Andrew Orr · Quick Tip

iOS emojis for the emoji keyboard

Andrew shows you how to turn on the emoji keyboard and start using it in apps. Apple adds new emojis just about every year.

‘iPad Main Menu’ Concept Reimagines App Settings

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Alexander Käßner uploaded a concept video called iPad Main Menu. On Reddit he says it’s the result of a bachelor thesis. It introduces app menus that are accessible with an always-present icon on the dock, and/or a three-finger tap. It’s similar to the right-click menu we see on macOS. I love it because it gives you quick access to all app settings, which end up in different locations depending on the whim of the developer (hamburger menus notwithstanding). Main Menu is consistent.

The main menu is split into two columns. We find the most common actions on the left, such as cut/copy/paste, and app-specific features are on the right. Main Menu also works with a keyboard, so you “never lift a finger again.”

Update: Mr. Käßner also has a website for the concept here.

Apple Releases 13.4 Update for iOS and iPadOS

· Andrew Orr · Product News

Image of apple’s settings app

Apple just released the latest update for its operating systems: 13.4. It includes a redesigned system to support mice and trackpads, changes in Files, and more.

A Solution to Improve iPad Multitasking

· Andrew Orr · Link

Complaints about iPad multitasking have been making the rounds lately, and I largely agree with them. It’s not obvious how to put two apps into Split View mode for example. When I got my iPad Pro I had to look up how to do it. Ryan Christoffel of MacStories came up with a solution, reminiscent of macOS Catalina. As in, long press an app icon and see a menu with options for “Pair Left of App”, “Pair Right of App” etc. I have to say, I do hate this feature in Catalina, where you click on a Safari full screen button to drag it into Split View, but now there’s this same menu. It adds an unnecessary wait to a feature that was previously instant. However, I think it makes sense on the iPad because a long press already required a wait.

With a long-press on any app icon, on both iPhone and iPad, a context menu appears. This same gesture works whether the app icon is in your dock, on your Home screen, or in Search. Context menus currently display options like Edit Home Screen, Show All Windows, and any app-specific quick actions. Let’s add a couple new options that relate to multitasking.

Ten Years of iPad – TMO Daily Observations 2020-02-03

· Kelly Guimont · The Mac Observer's Daily Observations Podcast

TMO Daily Observations Podcast Logo

Andrew Orr and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss a decade of iPad, how it surprised the Windows team, and how it has evolved.

A Brilliant Discussion of iPadOS Design Problems

· John Martellaro · Particle Debris

iPad Pro with USB-C Port

There are some major weaknesses in the human interface to iPadOS. In a very readable essay, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber explains in awesome detail.