iPad: The Missing Manual

Appendix A. iPad Settings

Despite its slim good looks, the iPad is still a computer. And like most computers, you can customize its settings to suit your needs. Need to tone down the screen brightness, turn on Bluetooth, or add a new email account? You do it all right in the iPad’s Settings area. In fact, unless you go in there and poke around for a bit, you may have no idea how much of the iPad you can actually fiddle with—and that’s what this chapter is for.

In addition to allowing you to tweak the way your iPad works, the Settings area also has resetting options you can use when the iPad isn’t working so great (Appendix B has more on troubleshooting, by the way). So if you want to see where to find the controls for adjusting the iPad’s date and time, turning off Location Services, or powering down the cellular chip in your Wi-Fi + 3G when the flight attendant tells you to, turn the page to start the Settings tour.

Tour the iPad Settings

To get to any of the Settings on the iPad, start on the Home screen and tap the Settings icon. The column on the left lists all the categories of stuff you can change, grouped under headings like Brightness & Wallpaper and Safari.

Tap an item name in the list to see all its preferences and settings on the right side of the screen. Then tap the relevant button, link, or label to get to the setting you want to change. To return to the main Settings area, ...