Chapter 20
Troubleshooting and Maintaining Your iPad
Get ready to . . .
Protect Your Gadget with a Case
Extend Your iPad’s Battery Life
Find Out What to Do with a Nonresponsive iPad
iPads don’t grow on trees — they cost a pretty penny. That’s why you should learn how to take care of your iPad and troubleshoot any problems it might have so that you get the most out of it.
In this chapter, I provide some advice about the care and maintenance of your iPad, as well as tips about how to solve common problems, update iPad system software, and even reset the iPad if something goes seriously wrong. In case you lose your iPad, I even tell you about a new feature that helps you find it — or even disable it if it has fallen into the wrong hands. Finally, you get information about backing up your iPad settings and content using iCloud.
Keep the iPad Screen Clean
If you’ve been playing with your iPad, you know (despite Apple’s claim that the iPad has a fingerprint-resistant screen) that it’s a fingerprint magnet. Here are some tips for cleaning your iPad screen:
Use a dry, soft cloth: You can get most fingerprints off with a dry, soft cloth such as the one you use to clean your eyeglasses or a cleaning tissue that’s lint- and chemical-free. Or try products used to clean lenses in labs such as Kimwipes or Kaydry, which you can get from several major retailers such as Amazon.
Use a slightly dampened soft cloth: To get the surface even cleaner, slightly dampen the soft cloth. Again, make sure that whatever cloth material you use is free of lint.
Remove the cables: Turn off your iPad and unplug any cables from it before cleaning the screen with a moistened cloth.
Avoid too much moisture: Avoid getting too much moisture around the edges of the screen, where it can seep into the unit.
Never use household cleaners: They can degrade the coating that keeps the iPad screen from absorbing oil from your fingers.
Do not use premoistened lens-cleaning tissues to clean your iPad screen. Most brands of wipe contain alcohol, which can damage the screen’s coating.
Protect Your Gadget with a Case
Your screen isn’t the only element on the iPad that can be damaged, so consider getting a case for it so you can carry it around the house or around town safely. Besides providing a bit of padding if you drop the device, a case makes the iPad less slippery in your hands, offering a better grip when working with it.
Several types of cases were available the first day the iPad shipped, and more are showing up all the time. You can choose the Smart Cover, from Apple, for example ($39 for polyurethane or $69 for leather), or a cover from another manufacturer, such as Tuff-Luv (www.Tuff-Luv.com) or Griffin (www.griffintechnology.com) that come in materials ranging from leather to silicone (see Figure 20-1 and Figure 20-2).
Figure 20-1
Figure 20-2
Cases range from a few dollars to $70 or more for leather (with some outrageously expensive designers cases upward of $500). Some provide a cover for the screen and back (refer to Figure 20-1), and others protect only the back and sides (refer to Figure 20-2) or, in the case of Smart Cover, only the screen. If you carry your iPad around much, consider a case with a screen cover to provide better protection for the screen or use a screen overlay, such as InvisibleShield from Zagg (www.Zagg.com).
Extend Your iPad’s Battery Life
The much-touted 10-hour battery life of the iPad is a wonderful feature, but you can do some things to extend it even further. Here are a few tips to consider:
Keep tabs on remaining battery life: You can estimate the amount of remaining battery life by looking at the Battery icon on the far-right end of the Status bar, at the top of your screen.
Use standard accessories to charge your iPad most effectively: When connected to a Mac computer for charging, the iPad can slowly charge; charging the iPad on certain PC connections, on the other hand, slowly drains the battery. Even so, the most effective way to charge your iPad is to plug it into the wall outlet using the Dock Connector to USB Cable and the 10W USB Power Adapter that come with your iPad (see Figure 20-3).
The fastest way to charge the iPad is to turn it off while charging it.
Your battery may lose power if you leave it connected to the USB port on an external keyboard.
The Battery icon on the Status bar lets you know when the charging is complete.
Figure 20-3
Your iPad battery is sealed in the unit, so you can’t replace it, as you can with many laptops or cellphone batteries. If the battery is out of warranty, you have to fork over more than $100, possibly, to get a new one. See the “Get Support” section, later in this chapter, to find out where to get a replacement battery.
Find Out What to Do with a Nonresponsive iPad
If your iPad goes dead on you, it’s most likely a power issue, so the first thing to do is to plug the Dock Connector to USB Cable into the 10W USB Power Adapter, plug the 10W USB Power Adapter into a wall outlet, plug the other end of the Dock Connector to USB Cable into your iPad, and charge the battery.
Another thing to try — if you believe that an app is hanging up the iPad — is to press the Sleep/Wake button for a couple of seconds. Then press and hold the Home button. The app you were using should close.
You can always try the old reboot procedure, too: On the iPad, you press the Sleep/Wake button on top until the red slider appears. Drag the slider to the right to turn off your iPad. After a few moments, press the Sleep/Wake button to boot up the little guy again.
If the situation seems drastic and none of these ideas works, try to reset your iPad. To do this, press the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time until the Apple logo appears onscreen.
Make the Keyboard Reappear
When you’re using a Bluetooth keyboard, your onscreen keyboard doesn’t appear. The physical keyboard has, in essence, co-opted keyboard control of your device. To use your onscreen keyboard after connecting a Bluetooth keyboard, you can turn off the Bluetooth keyboard by turning off Bluetooth in the iPad’s General settings, or by moving the keyboard out of range or switching the keyboard off. Your onscreen keyboard should reappear.
Update Software
1. Apple occasionally updates the iPad system software to fix problems or offer enhanced features. You should occasionally check for an updated version (say, every month). Start by connecting your iPad to your computer.
2. On your computer, open the iTunes software you installed. (See Chapter 3 for more about this topic.)
3. Click on your iPad in the iTunes source list on the left.
4. Click the Summary tab, shown in Figure 20-4.
5. Click the Check for Update button. iTunes displays a message telling you whether a new update is available.
6. Click the Update button to install the newest version.
If you’re having problems with your iPad, you can use the Update feature to try to restore the current version of the software. Follow the preceding set of steps, and then click the Restore button instead of the Update button in Step 6.
Figure 20-4
If you’ve chosen to back up and restore iPad via iCloud when you first set up the device, restoring and updating your device happens automatically.
Restore the Sound
On the morning I wrote this chapter, as my husband puttered with our iPad, its sound suddenly (and ironically) stopped working. We gave ourselves a quick course in sound recovery, so now I can share some tips with you. Make sure that
You haven’t touched the volume control keys on a physical keyboard connected to your iPad via Bluetooth: They’re on the right side of the top row (see Figure 20-5). Be sure not to touch one and inadvertently mute the sound.
Figure 20-5
You haven’t flipped the Silent switch: If you have the Screen Rotation/Silent switch set up to the Silent feature, moving the switch mutes sound on the iPad.
The speaker isn’t covered up: It may be covered in a way that muffles the sound.
A headset isn’t plugged in: Sound doesn’t play over the speaker and the headset at the same time.
The volume limit is set to Off: You can set up the volume limit in the Music settings to control how loudly your music can play (which is useful if you have teenagers around). Tap the Settings icon on the Home screen and then, on the left side of the screen that displays, tap Music and use the Volume Limit control (see Figure 20-6) to turn off the volume limit.
Figure 20-6
When all else fails, reboot. This strategy worked for us — just press the Sleep/Wake button until the red slider appears. Press and drag the slider to the right. After the iPad turns off, press the Sleep/Wake button again until the Apple logo appears, and you may find yourself back in business, sound-wise.
Get Support
Apple is known for its helpful customer support, so if you’re stuck, I definitely recommend that you try it out. Here are a few options you can explore for getting help:
The Apple Store: Go to your local Apple Store (if one is handy) to see what the folks there might know about your problem.
The Apple support website: It’s at www.apple.com/support/ipad (see Figure 20-7). You can find online manuals, discussion forums, and downloads, and you can use the Apple Expert feature to contact a live support person by phone.
Figure 20-7
The iPad User Guide: You can use the bookmarked manual on the Safari browser to visit http:// manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/iPad_User_Guide.pdf and open a more robust version of the user guide that comes with your iPad.
The Apple battery replacement service: If you need repair or service for your battery, visit www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html. Note that your warranty provides free battery replacement if the battery level dips below 50 percent and won’t go any higher during the first year you own it. If you purchase the AppleCare service agreement, this is extended to two years.
Apple recommends that you have your iPad battery replaced only by an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
Find a Missing iPad
You can take advantage of the FindMyiPad feature to pinpoint the location of your iPad. This feature is extremely handy if you forget where you left your iPad or someone steals it. FindMyiPad not only lets you track down the critter but also lets you wipe out the data contained in it if you have no way to get the iPad back.
Follow these steps to set up the FindMyiPad feature:
1. Tap the Settings icon on the Home screen.
2. In the Settings pane, tap iCloud.
3. In the iCloud settings that tap the On/Off button for Find My iPad to turn the feature on (see Figure 20-8).
Figure 20-8
4. From now on, if your iPad is lost or stolen, you can go to http://iCloud.com from your computer and enter your ID and password.
5. The Find My iPhone screen appears with your iPad’s location noted on a map.
6. To wipe information from the iPad, click the Remote Wipe button (see Figure 20-9). To lock the iPad from access by others click the Remote Lock button.
Figure 20-9
You can also click Display a Message or Play a Sound to send whoever has your iPad a note saying how to return it to you — or that the police are on their way, if it has been stolen! If you choose to play a sound, it plays for two minutes, helping you track down anybody holding your iPad who is within earshot.
Backup to iCloud
You used to only be able to backup your iPad content using iTunes, but with Apple’s introduction of iCloud, you can back up via a Wi-Fi network to your iCloud storage. You get 5 GB of storage (not including iTunes bought music, video, apps, and electronic books) for free or you can pay for increased levels of storage (10 GB for $20 a year, 20 GB for $40 a year, or 50 GB for $100 a year).
1. To perform a backup to iCloud, first set up an iCloud account (see Chapter 3 for details on creating an iCloud account) and then tap Settings on the Home Screen.
2. Tap iCloud and then tap Storage & Backup (see Figure 20-10).
Figure 20-10
3. In the pane that appears (see Figure 20-11) tap the iCloud Backup On/Off switch to enable automatic backups. To perform a manual backup tap Back Up Now. A progress bar shows how your backup is moving along.
Figure 20-11