iPad stand tips and tricks

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Written by William About June 11, 2021

How to get the most out of using an iPad in a stand: how to enable Guided Access, turn on, turn off, and navigate around on the iPad using gestures.

You'll most likely want to make the following adjustments to the iPad setup. If we're setting the stands up we'll make these adjustments for you.

Turn the iPad on

At the base of the stand plug in a battery pack (don't forget to turn the battery pack on!) or charger to the USB cable.

After a few seconds you'll see the Apple logo on the iPad screen and the iPad will turn on. You can now remove the battery pack or charger, and disable auto-lock (see below).

Exit an app and return to the Home screen 

Use a "four-finger pinch gesture". Basically: place all the fingertips of one hand outspread on the iPad screen, then move your fingertips together in one giant "pinch" gesture. The current app will disappear and you'll be shown the iPad's home screen.

Turn the iPad off 

Open the Settings app, tap General (left hand side menu). Then, on the right hand side of the screen scroll to the bottom and tap Shutdown. Swipe along the top of the screen to confirm.

Turn up the screen brightness and disable auto-lock

  • Open the Settings app tap Display & Brightness in the side menu
  • Slide the Brightness slider all the way to the right (maximum brightness)
  • Tap Auto-Lock, then tap Never

Enable guided access

Guided access is the easiest way to lock the iPad to a particular app. The iPad can be unlocked using a passcode. 

Children seem to be particularly adept at guessing passcodes, so ensure that you pick a complex passcode (not something like 0-0-0-0-0-0).

  • In the Settings app tap Accessibility in the side menu
  • Towards the bottom of the right-hand side of the screen (you'll have to scroll) tap Guided Access
  • Slide the Guided Access switch to On
  • Slide the Accessibility Shortcut switch to On
  • Tap Passcode Settings, then tap Set Guided Access Passcode
  • Enter a six-digit passcode, and enter it again to confirm.

Use guided access

  • Open the app that you'd like to lock the iPad to
  • Press the iPad home button three times, in quick succession
  • If you got the triple-tap correct, the iPad screen will appear to "zoom out" a little bit and a Start button will appear in the top right corner. Tap the Start button.
  • You'll see a message briefly appear in the middle of the screen saying "Guided Access Started". The iPad is now locked into the app you've chosen.

Disable guided access

  • Triple-tap the home button
  • Enter your six-digit passcode
  • Tap the End button in the top-left corner of the screen