Chapter 1. Turning Your iPad On and Off
Your iPad can be in one of three states: on, off, or sleep. If you have the 3G model that can connect to a cellular phone network, you can also put your iPad in airplane mode. By learning the advantages of each state, you’ll know when and why to use them.
When your iPad is on, you can use it. When your iPad is in sleep mode, you’ll conserve its battery power while keeping it ready to start up right away. Sleep mode is best when you are not using your iPad but plan to return to it soon.
Airplane mode turns off your iPad’s ability to access email or surf the Web through a 3G cellular phone network. This essentially cuts off your iPad from the rest of the world while letting you do most other tasks, such as play music, read books, check your calendar, or browse your list of contacts. As its name suggests, airplane mode is perfect for when you’re in an airplane and can’t risk having your iPad interfere with the airplane’s navigation systems.
If you know you won’t need to use your iPad any time soon, you might as well turn it off to keep it from running down its battery.
In this chapter you’ll learn how to turn on your iPad, put it to sleep, put it in airplane mode, and shut it off completely.
What You’ll Be Using
To turn an iPad on and off, you need to use the following:
Turning On Your iPad
When your iPad is off, you can turn it on by following these steps:
Hold down the Sleep/Wake button at the top of your iPad, as shown in Figure 1-1, until the Apple logo appears on the screen.
Note
If you see a blank screen after pressing the Sleep/Wake button, your iPad may not have enough power to start.
Wait a few seconds until the Home screen appears, as shown in Figure 1-2. This tells you that your iPad is now on.
Turning Off Your iPad
The main difference between turning your iPad off and putting it to sleep is that turning the iPad off conserves its battery power. The drawback is that if you turn the iPad off, it takes a few seconds longer to start up again when you need it.
When an iPad is on, you can turn it off by following these steps:
Putting Your iPad to Sleep
After you’ve turned on your iPad, you can change it from on to sleep mode to conserve battery power while still being able to quickly access your iPad the moment you need to use it again (rather than wait for it to boot up). To put an iPad to sleep that is already turned on, do this:
Press the Sleep/Wake button. The screen darkens.
Note
At a glance, you cannot tell whether an iPad is turned off or in sleep mode. If you press the Home button and your iPad turns on, then you’ll know it was asleep. If you press the Home button and nothing happens, then you’ll know that it’s turned off. You’ll have to hold down the Sleep/Wake button to start it.
Putting Your iPad to Sleep Automatically
Since sleep mode is critical in conserving your iPad’s battery, you may be happy to know that if you leave an iPad on, it will put itself into sleep mode after a fixed period of time. To change this fixed period of time, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings screen appears.
Tap General. The General settings screen appears, as shown in Figure 1-3.
Tap Auto-Lock. The Auto-Lock settings screen appears, as shown in Figure 1-4.
Tap one of the available options: 2 Minutes, 5 Minutes, 10 Minutes, 15 Minutes, or Never.
Press the Home button to return to the Home screen.
Waking Up Your iPad from Sleep Mode
When you put an iPad to sleep, you must wake it up to change its state from sleep mode to on. To wake up an iPad in sleep mode, do this:
Press the Sleep/Wake button on top of the iPad (or press the Home button). A slider appears on the screen.
Drag the slider to the right. The Home screen appears.
The slider forces you to slide your finger to unlock your iPad. That way, your iPad won’t accidentally turn on if you press its Sleep/Wake button in your briefcase or purse.
Note
If you fail to use the slider to unlock your iPad after a few seconds, your iPad will automatically return to sleep mode.
Turning Airplane Mode On and Off (3G iPad Models Only)
On many airlines, in order to avoid possible interference with the plane’s navigational systems, you are not allowed to access a cellular phone network. To comply with this rule but still use your iPad for other tasks, such as jotting down notes or watching videos, you can put your iPad in airplane mode by following these steps:
Make sure your iPad is turned on.
From the Home screen, tap Settings.
Tap Airplane Mode. The button will show ON, and an airplane icon will appear in the upper-left corner of the screen, as shown in Figure 1-5.
Note
When in airplane mode, your iPad displays an airplane icon in the upper-left corner of the Home screen.
To turn off airplane mode, just go into Settings again and tap the Airplane Mode switch a second time. It should now read OFF.
Additional Ideas for Turning Your iPad On and Off
As a general rule, turn off your iPad whenever you know you won’t be using it for a while. If you plan on using your iPad soon, then put it in sleep mode.
Airplane mode is most useful when you’re stuck in an airplane and don’t feel like interacting with any of your fellow passengers, preferring to let your iPad amuse you instead. It’s also a good way to save your battery life.
Now that you understand the basics of turning your iPad on and off (and everything in between), the rest of this book will teach you how to use all the other features of your iPad so you can do something useful with it.