This Mac tip is provided by Mark Greentree and was originally posted on Mark’s blog – Everyday Mac Support. For more of Mark’s tips visit his site, follow him on Twitter, or browse his archive of posts here.
How To: New Keyboard Options For iPad With iOS 5
Have you ever tried typing on the iPad when relaxing watching television?
Not much fun is it. When I attempt to type in this way I usually end up cursing at the iPad wishing it was a MacBook Air.
The good news is Apple has come up with a solution which makes it easier to type in a more natural way.
They have split the keyboard and allowed users to remove it from the default area at the bottom of the display.
Also, once you have decided exactly where you want the keyboard to be placed and how to have it presented it will remain in that position for each app unless you change it.
There are a couple of ways you can achieve these options. When you launch the keyboard in order to enter any keystrokes you will be presented with the following default view:
You will notice that I have highlighted the button in the bottom right hand corner. Tap and drag this button up and down the screen. The result of doing so will look like this:
As you can see the keyboard has been split allowing you to type by using your thumbs on either side of the screen. This also occurs when using the iPad in portrait mode.
To return it to the default setting simply tap and drag the keyboard button (as highlighted before) to the bottom of the screen at which time the keyboard will rejoin and increase in size.
Tapping and holding the same key again will bring up the following options:
Selecting Split will divide the keyboard as shown previously.
Undock will move the full sized keyboard from the bottom of the display and allow you to place it anywhere on the screen you desire as can be seen below:
When you are ready to re-dock your keyboard to the bottom of display simply tap and hold the keyboard button and select Dock as shown below:
Split will simply split the keyboard in the position you current have it in. For instance if the keyboard is at the top of the display then then split keyboard will also appear there.
When you have the keyboard in the split position the only option which will appear is Dock and Merge thereby taking the keyboard back to the default location at the bottom of the display and reconnecting both ends.
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