Chapter 13. Browsing with Safari
Every iPad comes with the Safari app, which lets you browse websites on the Internet. If you’ve used any browser on a computer before, you’ll find Safari on the iPad works in similar ways. While you’re surfing the Web, you can rotate your iPad to portrait or landscape mode. Portrait mode lets you see more vertical content of a web page, while landscape mode makes it easier to see the entire width of a web page. No matter which way you decide to view Safari, you’ll find that browsing with Safari is easy and fun.
In this chapter, you’ll learn how to browse websites using Safari.
Navigating Safari
When using a browser on a regular computer, you can use a mouse to click links, menus, and icons. Safari on the iPad works similarly except instead of menus, it just displays icons to tap. Any link that you would normally click with the mouse, you can just tap with your finger.
To see how to navigate with Safari on the iPad, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Safari. The Safari screen appears.
Tap the Address field. The virtual keyboard appears.
Press the Backspace key, or tap the X that appears to the far right of the Address field to clear the contents of the Address field.
Type a website address such as www.nostarch.com. As you type, a list of previously viewed website addresses appears, as shown in Figure 13-1.
(Optional) Tap one of the website addresses in the displayed list.
Tap the Go key on the virtual keyboard. Your chosen website appears.
Tap the Back arrow icon. Your previous web page appears.
Tap the Forward arrow icon. The web page you viewed after the current one now appears.
Place two fingertips on the screen, and move them away from each other to zoom in on the currently displayed web page.
Place two fingertips on the screen, and move them closer together to zoom out on the currently displayed web page.
Double-tap on a column of text. Safari zooms to the column. Double-tap again, and Safari zooms out.
Tap any link on the currently displayed web page. The new page opens.
Searching in Safari
Typing a website address can be cumbersome, so a faster way to find a website is to use a search engine. Safari displays a Search field in the upper-right corner of the screen, which lets you search using Google, Bing, or Yahoo!.
To search the Web, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Safari. The Safari screen appears.
Tap in the Search field that appears in the upper-right corner of the screen. The virtual keyboard appears at the bottom of the screen.
Tap the Backspace key, or tap the X that appears to the far right of the Search field to clear the contents of the Search field.
Type a word or phrase that you want to find, and tap the Search key on the virtual keyboard. (While you’re typing, a list of possible words or phrases appears, which you can select by tapping.) Safari displays the results from your search.
Safari’s default search engine is Google. You can change your search engine by tapping the Settings icon from the Home screen, tapping the Safari section, tapping the Search Engine button, and then tapping the search engine you want to use.
Opening Multiple Web Pages
On a regular computer, you can open multiple browser windows or display web pages in separate tabs within a single window. On an iPad, Safari handles multiple open web pages differently. You can still open multiple web pages, but only one web page can appear on the screen at a time.
There are two ways to open multiple web pages in Safari. First, you can open a blank web page and then type in an address (such as www.nostarch.com) or use a search engine. Second, you can hold your finger over a link on a currently displayed web page and have that linked page open as a separate web page.
Opening a Blank Web Page
If you’re looking at a website (such as one related to work) and suddenly decide you want to check out another website (such as one displaying the latest sports scores or movie listings), but don’t want to close the first website, open a blank web page and view another website in this other web page.
To see how to open and switch between multiple open web pages, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Safari. The Safari screen appears.
Tap the Address field. The virtual keyboard appears (shown earlier in Figure 13-1).
Tap the Backspace key, or tap the X that appears to the far right of the Address field to clear the contents of the Address field.
Type a website address such as www.nostarch.com, and tap the Go key on the virtual keyboard. Your chosen website appears.
Tap the Pages icon (it looks like two overlapping pages). The screen shows your currently open web pages and a New Page web page icon, as shown in Figure 13-2.
(Optional) Tap the thumbnail image of another open website, which switches you to that website on the screen.
Tap the New Page icon. Safari displays a virtual keyboard at the bottom of the screen and Address and Search fields at the top of the screen, as shown in Figure 13-3.
Tap in the Address field, type a website address (such as www.apple.com), and tap the Go key on the virtual keyboard. (Alternatively, tap in the Search field, type a word or phrase to search, and tap the Search key.) Safari displays your chosen web page.
Tap the Pages icon. Safari displays thumbnail images of your open web pages. Now you can switch between the web pages just by tapping on the web page thumbnail image that you want to view. You can have up to nine web pages open at a time.
(Optional) Tap the Close button of a web page that you want to close. Your chosen web page disappears.
Opening a Link in Another Web Page
Normally if you tap a link on a web page, the linked web page replaces the currently displayed web page. If you don’t want to lose track of a website, you might prefer having a linked web page appear in its own web page.
To see how to open a link as a separate web page, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Safari. The Safari screen appears.
Tap the Address field. The virtual keyboard appears (shown earlier in Figure 13-1).
Tap the Backspace key, or tap the X that appears to the far right of the Address field to clear the contents of the Address field.
Type a website address such as www.nostarch.com, and tap the Go key on the virtual keyboard. Your chosen website appears.
Press and hold your finger over any link on the web page. After a few seconds, a menu appears as shown in Figure 13-4.
Tap the Open in New Page button. Your linked web page appears. (Tapping the Open button replaces the current web page with the linked page.)
Tap the Pages icon. Notice that your linked web page appears as a separate thumbnail image.
Tap a web page to view it.
Emailing a Web Page Link
If you find a particularly interesting web page, you can email a link to the whole thing to someone (even your own email account that you can open on a regular computer). To email a web page link, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Safari. The Safari screen appears.
Visit a website by typing an address, using a search engine, or visiting a previously stored bookmark.
Tap the Action icon (it looks like a square with a curved arrow pointing to the right). A menu appears.
Tap the Mail Link to this Page. An email message appears with a virtual keyboard as shown in Figure 13-5.
Type an email address to receive your web page link. You may also want to type additional text as part of your message.
Tap Send to send your email message.
Copying a Graphic Image from a Web Page
If you find a graphic image on a web page that you want to save, such as a picture accompanying a particularly interesting news story, you can save that image in the Photos app.
To copy and store a graphic image on a website, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Safari. The Safari screen appears.
Visit your favorite website (by either typing the complete address such as www.nostarch.com, or by searching for it in the Search field).
Press and hold your finger over a graphic image that you want to save. A menu appears as shown in Figure 13-6.
Tap Save Image. Your iPad saves your chosen picture in the Photos app.
Note
If you tap the Copy button, you’ll just copy the link to the graphic image, but not the graphic image itself.
Printing a Web Page
If you find a particularly interesting web page, you may not only want to bookmark it (see Chapter 14), but you may also want to print a copy, too. To print from an iPad, you need a wireless printer or a printer connected to your computer, although not all printers will work correctly with your iPad.
To print a web page, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Safari. The Safari screen appears.
Visit your favorite website (by either typing the complete address such as www.nostarch.com, or by searching for it in the Search field).
Tap the Action icon (it looks like a square with a curved arrow). A menu appears.
Tap the Print button. A Printer Options dialog appears as shown in Figure 13-7.
Tap the Printer button to select a printer.
(Optional) Tap the minus (-) or plus (+) button to increase or decrease the number of copies to make.
Tap the Print button.
Additional Ideas for Browsing the Internet
Browsing the Internet through Safari on your iPad is nearly identical to browsing web pages using a browser on your computer. Browsing the Internet on your iPad can be a great way to kill time; whenever you have a spare moment, you can look up sports scores, movie reviews, or the latest news from around the world.
With access to the Internet at your fingertips, you can browse for fun, for work, or for education. With Safari and an Internet connection, your iPad is a window to another world.