You first need iPadOS 13, the latest version of iOS for the iPad. What Do You Need to Use a Mouse With an iPad? Anything that works with your finger works with a mouse you can select text, drag pages to scroll or use the scroll wheel, and click and swipe up from the bottom and sides of the screen as you would with your finger. You can connect a bluetooth or USB mouse and click and tap to your heart’s content. With iPadOS, the iPad-focused version of iOS 13, there’s a mouse option hidden under iOS’ Accessibility settings. Not that it ever fully went away, mind you, but Apple’s iPad always pushed in a different direction, first with a finger-focused touch interface, later augmented with the Apple Pencil. IPadOS 13.4 will be released on March 24, Apple says, as a free update for existing iPad and iPad Pro owners.How to Use a Mouse With iPad | Techinch tech, simplified.ħ3 years after the invention of the mouse, and a dozen years after the iPhone made touchscreens feel like the inevitable future of computing, the mouse is back. The company's own core app suite, including Pages and Numbers, will have extra features too. While all apps will support the core features of iPadOS' trackpad support out of the gate, Apple will also have APIs for developers to add more specific functionality if they choose to. Trackpad gestures are also supported, for things like switching between apps. You'll be able to use it to navigate through the home screen to switch between apps, too. If you're over text, for example, it'll look different, and behave differently, versus over images.

Instead, Apple says, it's been rethought for a touch-first interface.įor a start it's contextual, the tool transforming depending on what you're pointing to.

They'll work connected over Bluetooth or USB.Īs for the software experience, the new cursor for iPadOS isn't just a copy of what you get on macOS. If you've got a favorite third-party mouse or trackpad, however, you'll be able to use that too. It'll work with any Magic Mouse 2, Magic Trackpad 2, or of course the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro.

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