This post is sponsored by Skillshare.

So if you are planning on getting the 6th-Gen iPad Mini or if you already have one, here are 6 main tips and tricks that you can expand further, which you could apply to really maximize the potential of this tiny little beast of a tablet!

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Tip #1 : Virtual Keyboard

First of all, let’s talk about how really versatile the virtual keyboard is.

Once you have your keyboard turned on, if you touch and hold the keyboard icon, you will see several options for you to choose from.

Firstly, there is the Undock function where it raises the keyboard just above the bottom part of the screen, which allows you to see the bottom of the screen of the app that you are in.

Next, there is the Split keyboard, which will make typing on the keyboard easier as it literally splits the keyboard into two parts, on the left and on the right, that makes typing with just using your thumb easier, whether or not is on a landscape or a portrait position.

Then finally there is the Floating keyboard option to make the keyboard float around the screen to type on it wherever you place it on the screen and here is where you can even do the swipe text feature to type a word, similar to what you get on the iPhone.

And to restore the keyboard, just drag it back to the bottom of the screen.

Now, if you notice on each letter on the keyboard, there are special characters greyed out over there, now instead of typically hitting the “123” number pad to switch to use those characters or even numbers, you can just touch that grey out letters and drag down that will immediately type that special character. Nice huh?

Then the final cool thing that you can do on Apple’s virtual keyboard is to use the Space Bar as a cursor.

For example, if you have a typo and want to go to the selected text to adjust the wrong letter, instead of trying to accurately go to where exactly you made the mistake, just touch and slide the space bar and there will be a sort of cursor to help you adjust accordingly.

So yes, this makes Apple’s virtual keyboard WAY more functional compared to using something like Google’s GBoard App, which most people tend to do.

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Tip #2: Palm Unlock

Now here is something crazy but interesting that I had to try first before confirming if it really can work, and yes it does!

Since the new iPad Mini 6th-Gen comes with Touch ID, you can unlock the iPad with your fingerprint.

Well, other than unlocking it with your fingerprint, try registering the side of your palm instead, where you can register both your palms no matter what orientation that you have the iPad in.

This way unlocking the iPad will be even more natural when you are holding the tablet in a landscape position.

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Tip #3: USB-C Everything

USB Accessories
Alright, since the iPad Mini now comes with a USB-C port instead of the Lightning port, it also means that there are tons of connectivity options that you can have on the iPad Mini.

Firstly, you can connect a USB-C Hub and with this you can extend the connectivity options even more to have things like putting a SD Card or even a HDMI connection as well.

You can even connect a USB-C SSD or NVMe storage, or alternatively you can get a USB-A to USB-C dongle to connect it with an external hard drive, if it requires you to use USB-A 3.1 instead.

Bluetooth Devices
Now if you would like to take your iPad Mini to a more Mini Desktop-like experience, you can get a little stand, to prop it up as a mini monitor and then connect your Bluetooth Mouse and Keyboard, which was really nice in terms of browsing and even writing my scripts.

And if you have a PS5 Controller, you can connect it and play games on it as well.

Charging Devices
What’s also nice is that you can also charge other devices, like your iPhone and since the new Apple Watch Series 7 comes with a USB-C connection, you can even plug that into the iPad Mini to charge your Apple Watch.

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Tip #4: Apple Pencil

Alright, since the iPad Mini does support the 2nd Generation Apple Pencil, there is more than just using it as just a writing and drawing tool, so here are some tips on using it.

Screenshot
Other than typically holding the power button and the volume rocker to take a screenshot, you can also just swipe from the bottom left towards the middle of the screen with the Apple Pencil, then of course you can draw or write on the screen accordingly, making it great for any situations where you would like to take notes on a particular website or picture that you come across.

Quick Note
Then if you would like to take a note very quickly, you can just swipe from the bottom right of the screen instead, which brings up Quick Note, where you can either use the Apple Pencil or just type in a note, then once you hit done, you can bring it back at any point of time and it brings back where you left off since it’s already saved in your Notes app, once you swipe from the bottom right of the screen again.

What’s really neat about this Quick Note feature is that if you have a website open, and if you have the Quick Note screen on, you can directly add the link of the website on the notes as well, instead of typically copying and pasting the website address.

And on top of that, if you go back to the website where you got your link saved, a small thumbnail for the Quick Note will appear towards the bottom right as well, to kind of give that sort of reminder that you have taken a note on that website! Now that is super sweet!

Scribble Features
Then there are also lots of scribble features like if you select the Pen with the “A” icon, it will automatically turn handwriting into a text and yes, I have tested this feature in many other tablets and NOTHING comes close to the accuracy of the Apple Pencil over here.

Some other Apple Pencil features:

• You can cross a text to delete a text

• Drawing a line through the words selects them or even drawing a circle around them

• Next, touching and holding down backspaces the text

• Or just draw a vertical line in between the words to add a space in between

These scribble features also work on the search bar on Safari to enter a website address as well.

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Tip #5: Software & iPadOS 15 Tips

While there are lots of improvements on the latest iPadOS 15, here are some that I think you would find extra useful.

Spotlight Search
So like the iOS 15, Spotlight Search makes it easy to search for anything whether it’s on your iPad or on the Internet, where all you have to do is swipe down in the middle from any of the home screens to go to the Spotlight Search, where not only you can search for your apps but search anything on the web in relation to what you are searching.

Text Size Indicator
Sometimes, there are certain websites or apps that by default have smaller fonts since they may not be made for a tablet and probably more for a smartphone instead.

Now here is where you can easily use the Text Size Indicator at the Control Center, where just in case it’s not there you can add it in there through the Control Center settings under the Settings app.
So with this cool feature, you can easily adjust the text not only for the settings app but the whole entire iPad Mini screen which was really neat!

Multitasking On the iPad
Having multitasking windows is surely a must on any tablet and multitasking on the iPad Mini is super simple.

So for example, if you open up any app, for this case YouTube, there will be a 3-dotted indicator in the middle, and after selecting it, you’ll have 2 multitasking options, where firstly there is the Split view where you can choose another app to split with.

For example, opening Safari while the Youtube video is being played. Then you can drag the bar in the middle to make any of the applications have a smaller or a bigger screen. And if you want to go back to the fullscreen, just choose the app and hit the 3 dots once again, and hit the full-screen option.

Then the other multitasking option is the Slide Over Option, where once you have clicked the 3-dotted lines and then select the second Slide Over option and open up a second app like Safari, and here is where you will have YouTube still while you can browse through Safari.

And this makes it very interesting that you can actually switch between both of the apps just by swiping the pop-up window to switch between any apps that you can add accordingly.

Customized Widgets & Pages
Then there is a minor but very useful update on iPadOS 15 which is the customized widgets that you can place anywhere on the screen and you can now add pages and delete pages to really customize the look of your iPad Mini as well.

App Library In the Dock
And finally, not only is the App Library on the iPad, but now you don’t have to go all the way to the last page of your iPad Mini to go to the App Library because now it is available in the dock as well.

SideCar
Then there are other super cool features that can integrate your iPad Mini with your Mac, like SideCar that turns your iPad Mini into a secondary display wirelessly.

Universal Control
And with the latest macOS Monterey update, you can use Universal Control to use the same mouse and keyboard to use between your iPad Mini and your Mac.

Import From iPad
Also worth mentioning is that you can even integrate your Mac with your iPad Mini by right-clicking on your home screen on your Mac and choosing Import from iPad to add a sketch, take photos and scan documents. And once you are done it will appear on your Mac’s desktop.
So yes, this could come in super handy in various types of work or personal situations.

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Tip #6 Pro Apps

Then as for tip number 6, it would be using the Pro Apps for maximum creativity.

While there are tons of apps which you can choose, these are the apps which I feel that would elevate your experience using the iPad Mini daily.

LumaFusion
As I mentioned in my iPad Pro video, it is the best and the most advanced video editing software.

Canva
Next is Canva, which is an app that I use a lot for my social media pages like creating my Instagram Stories post, creating a Presentation Deck, YouTube thumbnail and lots more over there.

Procreate
Then finally I would totally recommend for you to try Procreate, which is an amazing sketch and paint app which is perfect to use with the iPad Mini, especially with the Apple Pencil.

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Now, if you are wondering, but Adam? I have no idea how to use these apps man? Well, here is where the sponsor of this video comes in, which is Skillshare.

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What’s nice is that most classes are under 60 minutes so it fits well to fit any schedule and recently I have been learning a lot from Vashti Harrison on “Illustrating in Procreate”.

And another amazing class that I love is about the Canva App which I mentioned earlier by Maggie Stara on “Social Media Content Creation In Canva: From Beginner To Advanced”

And finally I have been tweaking my video editing skills on the go from Stuart Little on “Learn To Edit Video Using LumaFusion”.

So the good news is that the first 1000 of my subscribers to click the link below will get a free trial of Premium Membership, so you can explore your creativity.

And, thank you Skillshare for the sponsor!

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