Chapter 24. Watching Videos
Although you can watch some videos through the iPod app (such as iTunes U courses or podcasts stored as video files), you may not want to wade through the mix of audio and video files stored in the iPod app. When you just want to watch video, you can load the Videos app and turn your iPad into a portable viewing device.
Before you can play any video files, you’ll need to load them into your iPad, as explained in Chapter 18.
In this chapter, you will learn how to watch and control video files on your iPad.
Choosing a Video File
When you watch a video file, you can use landscape or portrait mode. To see how to find a video file stored on your iPad, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Videos. The Videos screen appears.
Tap the Movies tab at the top of the screen. Thumbnail images of movie posters appear, as shown in Figure 24-1.
Tap the TV Shows tab at the top of the screen. Thumbnails of your TV shows appear. Tapping the Podcasts, Music Videos, and iTunes U tabs will display thumbnails of your files in the same way.
Viewing a Video
When you’re watching a video file, you can display controls by tapping the screen once. The controls appear at the top and bottom of the screen as shown in Figure 24-2. If you don’t use any of the displayed controls after a few seconds, they disappear again, which you can display by tapping the screen once more.
The available controls are as follows:
Volume slider Drag this left and right to adjust the volume.
Playhead slider Drag this left and right to play different parts of the video file.
Play/Pause button Tap to pause or resume playing of an audio file.
Rewind Tap to rewind to the beginning of an audio file or play the previous audio file in a list.
Forward Tap to play the next audio file in a list.
Full Screen Tap to expand the video to fill the entire screen; tap a second time to shrink the video slightly.
Note
To skip backward or forward in a video, hold your finger over the Playhead slider until a Hi-Speed Scrubbing message appears underneath the Playhead slider as shown in Figure 24-3. Slide your finger down away from the Playhead slider. As you move your finger down, the Hi-Speed Scrubbing messages changes into Half Speed Scrubbing, Quarter Speed Scrubbing, and Fine Scrubbing. Now slide your finger left or right to rewind or fast forward through your video.
To see how to control a video, follow these steps:
Follow the steps in Choosing a Video File in What You’ll Be Using to find a video you want to play.
Tap the image that represents the video you want to play. A list of episodes appears in the left side of the screen, as shown in Figure 24-4.
Tap Play. Your chosen episode starts playing, filling the entire screen.
Tap the screen once to display controls at the top and bottom of the screen.
Drag the Playhead slider to view a different part of the video.
Drag the Volume slider to adjust the volume.
Tap Play/Pause to pause and play the video.
Tap and hold Rewind. Your video plays backward.
Tap and hold Forward. The video advances and then stops when you release.
Tap Full Screen. The video expands to fill the screen.
Tap Full Screen again. The video shrinks slightly.
Tap Done.
Additional Ideas for Watching Video
By watching movies, music videos, and TV shows, you can get plenty of entertainment, so take some time to browse the various podcast and iTunes U course offerings available. By storing both entertainment and educational videos on your iPad, you can alternate between watching your iPad for fun and watching an educational video to stimulate your brain.
If you’re going on a trip with children, load some children’s movies or TV show episodes on your iPad and let them watch them so they don’t keep asking you every five minutes, “Are we there yet?”
Videos can be useful for work as well. By loading educational podcasts or iTunes U courses, you can improve your current work skills or develop new ones. For the intellectual challenge, download video iTunes U courses on topics that interest you so you can turn your iPad into a portable educational tool.
Bring along a pair of headphones or ear buds so you can watch a video on your iPad without disturbing others (although others will likely disturb you so they can see how the iPad works). With the ability to load so many different types of videos on your iPad, you have no excuse for not getting happier and smarter by watching videos wherever you happen to be.