Chapter 3
Getting Going
Get ready to . . .
Download iTunes to Your Computer
Open an iTunes Account for Music, Movies, and More
Make iPad Settings Using iTunes
Sync the iPad to Your Computer Using iTunes
Your first step in getting to work with the iPad is to make sure that its battery is charged. Next, if you want to find free or paid content for your iPad from Apple, from movies to music to e-books to audiobooks, look into opening an iTunes account.
After that, connect your iPad to your computer and sync them so that you can exchange content between them (for example, to transfer your saved photos or music to the iPad).
If you prefer, you can take advantage of the new iCloud service from Apple to store and push all kinds of content and data to all your Apple devices — wirelessly.
This chapter also introduces you to the iPad User Guide, which you access using the Safari browser on your iPad. The guide essentially serves as your iPad Help system, to provide advice and information about your magical new device.
Charge the Battery
1. My iPad showed up in the box fully charged, and let’s hope yours did, too. Because all batteries run down eventually, one of your first priorities is to know how to recharge your iPad battery. Gather your iPad and its connector cord and power adapter.
2. Gently plug the USB end (the smaller of the two connectors) of the Dock Connector to USB Cable into the USB Power Adapter.
3. Plug the other end of the cord into the cord connector slot on the iPad (see Figure 3-1).
Figure 3-1
4. Unfold the two metal prongs on the power adapter (refer to Figure 3-1) so they extend from it at a 90-degree angle, and then plug the adapter into an electrical outlet.
If you buy the iPad Dock accessory, you can charge your iPad while it’s resting in the Dock. Just plug the larger connector into the back of the Dock instead of at the bottom of the iPad.
Download iTunes to Your Computer
1. If you are using a Mac, you already have iTunes installed. For Windows users, you should download the iTunes application to your computer so that you have the option of using it to sync (transfer) downloaded content to your iPad. Go to www.apple.com/itunes using your computer’s browser.
2. Click the iTunes Free Download link. On the screen that opens, click the Download Now button (see Figure 3-2).
Figure 3-2
3. In the dialog that appears (see Figure 3-3), or using the Internet Explorer 9 download bar if you have that version, click Run. The iTunes application downloads.
Figure 3-3
4. When the download is complete, another dialog appears, asking whether you want to run the software. Click Run and the iTunes Installer appears (see Figure 3-4).
Figure 3-4
5. Click Next.
6. Click the I Accept the Terms of the License Agreement check box in the following dialog and click Next.
7. Review the installation options, click to deselect the ones you don’t want to use, and then click the Install button, as shown in Figure 3-5. A dialog appears, showing the installation progress.
Figure 3-5
8. When a dialog appears and tells you that the installation is complete, click Finish. You have to restart your computer for the configuration settings that were made during the installation to take effect.
As of this writing, iTunes 10.5 is the latest version of this software. iTunes 10 requires that you have Windows XP SP3 (a freely downloaded service pack update) or later on your PC, or Mac OS X version 10.5 or later on your Apple computer.
Open an iTunes Account for Music, Movies, and More
1. To be able to buy or download free items from the Apple Store on your computer or iPad, you must open an iTunes account. First, open the iTunes app (you download it to your computer in the preceding task). You can open iTunes by clicking its option on your computer’s Start menu in Windows or by clicking the iTunes item in the Mac Dock or Launchpad).
2. Click the Store tab to open the Store menu and choose Create Account from the menu that appears (see Figure 3-6).
Figure 3-6
3. On the Welcome to the iTunes Store screen that appears, click Continue.
4. On the following screen (see Figure 3-7), click to select the I Have Read and Agree to the iTunes Terms and Conditions check box, and then click the Continue button.
5. In the Create iTunes Store Account (Apple ID) screen that follows (see Figure 3-8), fill in the information fields, click the last two check boxes to deselect them if you don’t want to receive e-mail from the Apple Store, and then click the Continue button.
Figure 3-7
Figure 3-8
6. On the Provide a Payment Method screen that appears (see Figure 3-9), enter your payment information and click the Continue button.
Figure 3-9
7. A screen appears confirming that your account has been opened. Click the Done button to return to the iTunes Store.
Make iPad Settings Using iTunes
1. Open your iTunes software. (On a Windows computer, choose Start⇒All Programs⇒iTunes; on a Mac, click the iTunes icon in the Dock or Launchpad.)
2. iTunes opens and if you’ve connected it to your computer using the Dock Connector to USB Cable, your iPad is listed in the Devices section of the Source List on the left, as shown in Figure 3-10. Click on your iPad and a series of tabs displays. The tabs offer information about your iPad and settings to determine how to download music, movies, or podcasts, for example. (You can see the simple choices on the Music tab in Figure 3-11.) The settings relate to the kind of content you want to download and whether you want to download it automatically (when you sync) or manually. See Table 3-1 for an overview of the settings that are available on each tab.
Figure 3-10
Figure 3-11
3. Make all settings for the types of content you plan to obtain on your computer. Table 3-1 provides information about settings on the different tabs.
Table 3-1 iPad Settings in iTunes
|
Tab Name |
What You Can Do with the Settings on the Tab |
|
Summary |
Perform updates to the iPad software and set general syncing options |
|
Info |
Specify which information to sync: Contacts, Calendars, E-mail, Bookmarks, or Notes |
|
Apps |
Sync with iPad the apps you’ve downloaded to your computer and manage the location of those apps and folders |
|
Music |
Choose which music to download to your iPad when you sync |
|
Movies |
Specify whether to automatically download movies |
|
TV Shows |
Choose shows and episodes to sync automatically |
|
Podcasts |
Choose podcasts and episodes to sync automatically |
|
Books |
Choose to sync all, or only selected, books, and audiobooks to your iPad |
|
Photos |
Choose the folders from which you want to download photos or albums |
Sync the iPad to Your Computer Using iTunes
1. After you specify which content to download in iTunes (see the preceding task), you can use the Dock Connector to USB Cable to connect your iPad and computer at any time and sync files, contacts, calendar settings and more. You can also use the iTunes Wi-Fi Sync setting to allow cordless syncing (Tap Settings, General, iTunes Wi-Fi Sync, and then tap Sync Now to sync with a computer connected to the same Wi-Fi network). After iTunes is downloaded to your computer and your iTunes account is set up, plug the data connection cord into your iPad (using the wider connector).
2. Plug the other end of the cord into a USB port on your computer.
3. iTunes opens and shows an item for your iPad in the Source List on the left (refer to Figure 3-10). Your iPad screen shows the phrase Sync in Progress.
4. When the syncing is complete, the Lock screen returns on the iPad; iTunes shows a message above the series of tabs (refer to Figure 3-10), indicating that the iPad sync is complete and that you can disconnect the cable. Any media you chose to transfer in your iTunes settings, and any new photos in the photos folder on your computer, have been transferred to your iPad.
Understand iCloud
There’s an alternative to syncing content using iTunes. When iOS 5 launched it also introduced iCloud, a service that allows you to back up all your content and certain settings such as bookmarks to online storage. That content and those settings are then pushed automatically to all your Apple devices through a wireless connection.
All you need to do is get an iCloud account, which is free, and then make settings on each device for which types of content you want pushed to each device. After you’ve done that, any content you create or purchase on one device — such as music, apps, books, and TV shows, as well as documents created in Apple’s iWork apps, photos, and so on — can be synced among your devices automatically.
When you get an iCloud account, you get 5GB of free storage; content you purchase (such as apps, books, music, and TV shows) won’t be counted against your storage. If you want additional storage, you can buy an upgrade from one of your devices. 10GB costs $20 per year; 20GB is $40; and 50GB is $100 a year. Most people will do just fine with the free 5GB of storage.
To upgrade your storage, go to iCloud in Settings, tap Storage & Backup, and then tap Manage Storage. In the dialog that appears, tap Buy More Storage. Tap the amount you need and then tap Buy.
You can make settings for backing up your content to iCloud in the iCloud section of Settings. You can have content backed up automatically, or do it manually.
Get an iCloud Account
Before you can use iCloud, you need an iCloud account, which is tied into the Apple ID you probably already have. You can turn on iCloud when first setting up your iPad or use Settings to sign up using your Apple ID.
1. When first setting up your phone after upgrading to iOS 5, in the sequence of screens that appear you’ll see the one in Figure 3-12. Tap Use iCloud.
2. In the next dialog tap Backup to iCloud.
Your account is now set up based on the Apple ID you entered earlier in the set up sequence.
Here are the steps to set up iCloud on your iPad if you didn’t do so when first setting up iPad:
1. Tap Settings and then tap iCloud.
2. Tap the On/Off button to turn on iCloud.
Figure 3-12
3. Enter your Apple ID and password and tap the Sign In button. (See Figure 3-13.) (If you don’t have an Apple ID, tap the Get a Free Apple ID button and follow the instructions to get your ID.) A dialog appears, asking whether you’d like to merge your iPad calendars, reminders, and bookmarks with iCloud.
Figure 3-13
4. A dialog may appear asking if you want to allow iCloud to use the location of your iPad. Tap OK. Your account is now set up.
Make iCloud Sync Settings
When you have an iCloud account up and running (see the preceding section), you have to specify which type of content should be synced with your iPad via iCloud. Note that content that you purchase and download will be synced among your devices automatically via iCloud.
1. Tap Settings and then tap iCloud.
2. In the iCloud settings shown in Figure 3-14, tap the On/Off button for any item that’s turned off that you want to turn on (or vice versa). You can sync Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Bookmarks, and Notes.
Figure 3-14
3. To turn Photo Stream, Documents & Data, or Storage & Backup on or off (so you can sync photos, documents created in iWork, or settings data, respectively), tap those options on the list (refer to Figure 3-14) and then tap the On/Off button for each particular setting in the subsequent screen.
4. To enable automatic downloads of music, apps, and book, tap Store in the Settings pane.
5. Tap the On/Off button for Music, Apps, or Books to set up automatic downloads of any of this content to your iPad via iCloud.
If you want to allow iCloud to provide a service for locating a lost or stolen iPad, tap the On/Off button in the Find My iPad field to activate it. This service helps you locate, send a message to, or delete content from your iPad if it falls into other hands.
View the User Guide Online
1. The iPad User Guide is equivalent to the Help system you may have used on a Windows or Mac computer. You access the guide online as a bookmarked site in the Safari browser. From the iPad Home screen, tap the Safari icon.
2. Tap the Bookmark icon. On the Bookmarks menu that appears (see Figure 3-15), tap iPad User Guide.
Figure 3-15
3. Tap a topic on the left to display subtopics, as shown in Figure 3-16.
Figure 3-16
4. Tap a subtopic to display information about it, as shown in Figure 3-17.
5. Tap any link in the subtopic information to access additional topics.
6. Tap the Home screen button to close the browser.
To find the PDF version of the iPad User Guide on your browser, see http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/iPad_User_Guide.pdf.
Figure 3-17