As part of a small series of iPad/iPhone tips and tricks, an article that covers some tips and tricks related taking pictures including remote camera control for selfies, Copy and Paste pictures, iPad as Photo-frame, Ringtones, Home-Sharing, screenshots, AirPlay, iTunes Radio, etc. … features we all might overlook!
Please note that some of these features are just cool, and others are really helpful,…
The earbuds that came with your iPhone can be used to remote control your camera (this works with an iPad as well).
Simply press “+” or “–” of the Volume buttons to take a picture when you have the Camera app open.
Ideal for a selfie wouldn’t you say?
iPad/iPhone – Camera without Unlocking and Use Earbuds for a Selfie
You can access you Camera quicker when your iPad or iPhone is locked by swiping the camera icon up. In the image above (left), you’ll see the hardly visible camera icon in the lower right corner.
You can use you iPhone or iPad as a Nanny Cam, Security Camera or so called IP Camera.
Read more on how to do this in our article which describes it for old and unsupported iPhones as well.
For both iPad and iPhone taking a screenshot is quite easy – it took a while before Android followed this example.
Taking a screenshot is done by pressing the power button and pressing the “Home” button right after that.
See also this article that I wrote quite a while ago. The screenshots can be found in your photo album and is saved as a crystal clear PNG file.
Tip : Retrieving pictures with the free application iTools ( iTools-MacOSX.dmg (2.9 MB) or iTools-Windows.zip (3.6 MB) ) is super easy.
Take a Screenshot – Press & Hold Power, Press Home, Release both
iPad’s and iPhones have the ability to copy and paste pieces of text, but this works also for pictures.
For example: a picture on a website can be copied and pasted into messages. Or a picture from Messages can be pasted into, for example, Whatsapp.
Copy a picture:
Press the picture you’d like to copy. Depending on the app either a “Copy” button will appear, or a dialog at the bottom of the screen will appear with a “Copy” option.
Paste a picture:
Depending on where you’d like to paste the picture, simply go to the place where you’d like to paste the picture (after copying of course), and keep that spot pressed until a “Paste” button appears.
iPad/iPhone – Copy and Paste Pictures (example: Messages)
Saving Pictures to your Photo Album:
Of course there will be situations where you’d like to save a picture …
Most apps allow you to view a picture (Messages for example), where you’ll also find the share button. Tap the share button and choose the “Save Image” (or “Copy”) option.
In Safari and Google Chrome, pressing the picture will open a dialog with the “Save Image” option.
iPad/iPhone – Copy or Save Images in Detail View (Share Button)
You can have use you iPad or iPhone as a digital Photo-Frame, either with or without a slideshow of multiple pictures.
Prepare iPad/iPhone as a Digital Photo-Frame
iPad/iPhone as a Digital Photo-Frame
Quickly muting Audio can be done by keeping the Volume Down button on your iPad.
You can of course also you the Screen Orientation Lock switch for that by setting the “Side Switch” to “Mute”.
Settings General Use Side Switch to
Airplay can be used to play video or music back on your TV or your stereo, if connected to an Airplay capable device like for example the AppleTV. For just music, a XBMC setup will work just fine as well. For video however, you’re limited to using the AppleTV.
See How to Play Video from your Phone on your TV as this same trick works for Music as well.
Note : The screen of your iPad or iPhone can be displayed on your TV, which is cool for browsing for example.
You can even play games this way, but so far I’ve found that the screen lags a tiny bit too much for fast moving games.
iPad/iPhone – Airplay
The buttons on your earbuds have Volume Up and Down, we all know this.
You probably also know that there is a Pause button between these 2 Volume buttons.
But did you know that when you press Pause twice fast that it will skip to the next song?
And pressing Pause 3 times, that it will go back to the previous song?
It’s not very obvious how to do this, but it’s not really hard once you know …
Read our article(s) to find out how it’s done … for free:
– “Use MP3 or Movie audio as a ringtone on your iPhone for Windows” or
– “Use MP3 or Movie audio as a ringtone on your iPhone for MacOS X“.
Home Sharing is one of those undervalued options. It allows you to play tunes from the iTunes library on your computer on your iPad, iPhone or AppleTV.
To use this you computer will need iTunes with Home Sharing enabled, some songs, and of course an iPad or iPhone to play these songs.
First step is to enable Home Sharing in iTunes (iTunes Preferences Sharing Share My Library on the local network).
Next you might have to click the “Home Sharing” link in the list on the left side, so it allows you to login with your Apple ID.
On you iPhone or iPad, go to Settings Music and enter your Apple ID and password, at the bottom, for Home Sharing here as well.
Now when you go back to either the “Music” or “Video” app, you’ll see a “Shared” (Videos) or “More…” (Music) option in the lower right corner, giving you access to the shared Music and videos.
Note : Music and videos need to be synchronized, which can take a little bit.
With the arrival of iOS7, Apple introduced “iTunes Radio“.
iTunes Radio offers free music (yes!) pre-programmed, by predefined categories, like most radio stations do. It gives you way to discover new music and (of course) purchase it right away, or add it to your favorites list so you can purchase it at a later time.
Unlike regular radio, you might be missing talk shows (for now anyway), but the occasional (short) commercial are there for sure, although not in an annoying way.
What I miss on my regular radio is the “Next” button found in iTunes Radio, so you can skip songs that you don’t like. Commercials cannot be skipped though.
You can even create your own station based on genre, artist, etc.
iPad/iPhone – iTunes Radio, fun to play around with for a little bit
On this topic, we’ve already posted a few articles:
– Copy Video to iPad or iPhone with the Camera Connection Kit (no iTunes needed)
– Copy Video to iPad or iPhone with iTools (not iTunes)
– Copy Video to iPad or iPhone with iTunes
Your support is very much appreciated, and can be as easy as sharing a link to my website with others, or on social media.
Support can also be done by sponsoring me, and even that can be free (e.g. shop at Amazon).
Any funds received from your support will be used for web-hosting expenses, project hardware and software, coffee, etc.
Thank you very much for those that have shown support already!
It's truly amazing to see that folks like my articles and small applications.
Please note that clicking affiliate links, like the ones from Amazon, may result in a small commission for us - which we highly appreciate as well.
Comments
There are no comments yet.
You can post your own comments by using the form below, or reply to existing comments by using the "Reply" button.