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The Complete Guide to Every iOS 27 Feature

How to share music with friends on iPad

by Abigail Shilets

After you create an Apple Music profile, you can share music with your friends. You can allow anyone to follow you or just those you choose, and block others.

Your followers see the playlists you create by default, though you can choose not to share some of them, hide music from your followers, and share a playlist with people who don’t follow you. You can share your profile with others, too.

Choose music to share with your followers

Your followers see the playlists you create by default. But you can choose to keep some playlists unshared.

  1. Start the Music app on your iPad.
  2. Tap the Show Sidebar button. Then tap your name at the bottom of the sidebar.
  3. Tap Music Profile, tap Edit, and then turn Shared Playlists on or off.

To share playlists with people who don’t follow you, touch and hold a playlist, then tap Share Playlist.

Note: When you change music you share (say, you edit or stop sharing a playlist), those changes are reflected on your followers’ devices.

Hide music from your followers

  1. Start the Music app on your iPad.
  2. Tap the Show Sidebar button. Then tap your name at the bottom of the sidebar.
  3. Tap Music Profile.
  4. Touch and hold the playlist or album (below Listening To).
  5. Tap Hide from Profile.

The listening history for this item won’t appear in your profile or be visible to the people who follow you. If you don’t want your followers to see any of the music you listen to, tap Edit on the profile screen, then turn off Listening To at the bottom of the screen.

Note: It can take up to 10 minutes before your followers stop seeing music you hide.

If you’d rather keep all the music you play hidden from your followers on Apple Music, read our guide, Tell Apple Music to ignore your listening habits.

Share your profile

You can share your profile using email, Messages, or another app you choose.

  1. Start the Music app on your iPad.
  2. Tap the Show Sidebar button. Then tap your name at the bottom of the sidebar.
  3. Tap Music Profile.
  4. Tap the More button and tap Share. Then choose a sharing option.

You can also share the profile of anyone you follow, or who follows you.

Choose who you share music with

  1. Start the Music app on your iPad.
  2. Tap the Show Sidebar button. Then tap your name at the bottom of the sidebar.
  3. Tap Music Profile, tap Edit, and tap People You Approve to be followed only by people you choose. (Everyone includes all Apple Music subscribers who have a profile.)

For additional privacy settings, see Hide music from your followers.

Respond to follow requests

If someone asks to follow you, you can accept or decline the request. You only receive requests if you select People You Approve in your profile. For details, see Choose who you share music with.

  1. Start the Music app on your iPad.
  2. Tap the Show Sidebar button. Then tap your name at the bottom of the sidebar.
  3. Tap Follow Requests, then accept or decline the requests.

You may receive follow requests in other ways—as a link in an email or a text message, for example. To accept, tap the link.

Turn on or off notifications about your friends’ activity

  1. Start the Music app on your iPad.
  2. Tap the Show Sidebar button. Then tap your name at the bottom of the sidebar.
  3. Tap Notifications and turn on (or off) Friend Activity.

    When the option is on, you get notified when friends follow you and add your playlists.

Prevent users from following you

  1. Start the Music app on your iPad.
  2. Tap the Show Sidebar button. Then tap your name at the bottom of the sidebar.
  3. Tap Music Profile and touch and hold a profile picture. Then choose Block.

    People you block won’t see your music or be able to find your profile. They can still play your shared playlists if they added them to their library.

Report a concern

If you have a concern about a follower, touch and hold their profile picture, then tap Report a Concern.

See also

Tag: Music
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How to annotate and save a webpage as a PDF in Safari on iPad

by Dave Johnson

You can mark up a webpage, highlight your favorite parts, draw and write notes, and share your document as a PDF with others. Markup works right inside Safari. When you’re done, your marked-up webpage is saved as a PDF in the location you choose.

  1. Go to the Safari app on your iPad.
  2. Go to a webpage, then tap the Share button.
  3. Tap View More, then tap Markup.
  4. Use the tools to annotate the webpage.
  5. Tap the Done button, then tap Save File To.
  6. Enter a name for the file, then tap Save.

See also

Tag: Safari
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How to set reading goals in the Books app on iPad

by Kevin Hollington

The Books app helps you keep track of how many minutes you read each day, and how many books and audiobooks you finish each year. You can customize your goals to spend more time reading, set new reading streaks, and receive encouragement to reach your goals.

The default yearly reading goal is three books, and you can count PDFs toward your goal, too. Finished books appear below Books Read This Year.

The Reading Goals screen showing stats for the user—such as today’s reading, their reading record for the week, and their books read this year.

Note: Apple Books isn’t available in all countries or regions.

Change your daily reading goal

Your daily reading goal is set to 5 minutes per day unless you customize it. Adjust it to how many minutes you want to read.

  1. Open the Books app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Home. Then tap the reading goals button at the top right of the screen.
  3. Tap the reading goal timer, then tap Adjust Goal.

    Note: To count PDFs toward your reading goal, go to Settings > Apps > Books, then turn on Include PDFs below Reading Goals.

  4. Slide the counter up or down to set the minutes per day that you want to read.
  5. Tap the Close button.

Change your yearly reading goal

When you finish reading a book, its cover shows up below Books Read This Year. Your yearly reading goal starts at three books per year, but you can increase or decrease it depending on how many books you want to finish.

  1. Open the Books app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Home. Then tap the reading goals button at the top right of the screen.
  3. Tap a book cover or a cover placeholder. Tap Adjust Goal.
  4. Slide the counter up or down to set the books per year that you want to read. Then tap the Close button.

Quick tip: To change a book’s status in your library to finished, tap the More button under a book or audiobook cover and then tap Mark as Finished.

Turn on coaching notifications

Books can encourage and nudge you toward your reading goals, with notifications you can turn on or off.

  1. Open the Books app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Home. Tap your account button in the top-right corner of the screen.
  3. Tap Notifications, then turn on Coaching.
  4. Tap the Close button.

Turn off reading goals notifications

You get notifications from Books when you achieve a reading goal or set a reading streak, though you can turn these notifications off or on.

  1. Open the Books app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Home. Tap your account button in the top-right corner of the screen.
  3. Tap Notifications, then turn off Goal Completion.
  4. Tap the Close button.

Turn off reading goals

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Apps, tap Books, and then turn off Reading Goals.

Turning off Reading Goals hides the reading indicators in the Home tab and stops reading notifications.

Clear reading data

You can clear your reading data, including reading goals, reading streaks, and time spent reading.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Apps and tap Books. Then tap Clear Reading Goals Data.

See also

Tag: Apple Books
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How to read PDFs in the Books app on iPad

by Stacey Butler

You can open and save PDFs in the Books app that you receive in Mail, Messages, and other apps.

You can open a PDF you receive in Books, share or print a PDF in Books, and mark up a PDF in Books, right alongside your other books and audiobooks. You can also save a PDF attachment to Books on your iPad.

Here’s how to read PDFs in the Books app on iPad.

Note: Apple Books isn’t available in all countries or regions.

Open a PDF you receive in Books

  1. Tap the PDF attachment to open it.
  2. Tap the Share button and then tap Books from the list options.

Share or print a PDF in Books

  1. Start the Books app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Library and tap the More button below the PDF.
  3. Tap the Share button. Then choose a share option such as AirDrop, Mail, or Messages, or tap Print.

Mark up a PDF in Books

  1. Start the Books app on your iPad.
  2. Open the PDF.
  3. Tap the page and tap the Markup button at the top of the screen to use the drawing and annotation tools.

See also

Tag: Apple Books
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How to lock your notes on iPad

by Abigail Shilets

In the Notes app, you can lock notes to protect your sensitive information. You can access your locked notes using your device passcode or a custom password, and if you have multiple Notes accounts, you choose the locking method for each one.

Using your device passcode means you don’t have to create and remember a separate password. Notes locked that way need iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, or later to open.

Lock notes with your device passcode

Using your device passcode to access locked notes means you have no separate password to create and remember, which reduces the chance of losing access to your locked notes. It also means you can use Face ID or Touch ID to access your locked notes.

When you sign in to the same Apple Account on multiple devices, each device’s own passcode, or the login password for a Mac, is how you access your locked notes on that device.

You need iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, or later to access notes locked with a device passcode, so you won’t be able to access the locked notes on devices with an earlier version of the OS.

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
  3. Tap Password.
  4. If you have multiple accounts, choose the account you want to set a password for.
  5. Tap Use Device Passcode.
  6. For added convenience, you can also turn on Face ID or Touch ID.

Lock notes with a custom password

A custom password for locked notes can provide additional security. Forget it, though, and you may lose access to your locked notes.

On every device where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account, your custom password is what you use to access your locked notes. And with more than one iCloud account or an “On My iPad” account, each account can have a different custom password.

You won’t see notes locked with a custom password on devices with an earlier version of the OS. Those notes need iOS 9.3, OS X 10.11.4, iPadOS 13, or later.

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
  3. Tap Password.
  4. If you have multiple accounts, choose the account you want to set a password for.
  5. Tap Use Custom Password.
  6. For added convenience, you can also turn on Face ID or Touch ID.

    Don’t rely on Face ID or Touch ID as the only means of unlocking your notes. If you update your Face ID or Touch ID settings, or want to change your Notes password, you have to reenter your Notes password.

Important: If you forget your custom password, and you can’t use Face ID or Touch ID to access your locked notes, Apple can’t help you regain access to those notes.

You can reset your custom password, but this doesn’t give you access to previously locked notes. The new custom password applies to all notes you lock from now on. Go to the Settings app, tap Apps, tap Notes, tap Password, then tap Reset Password.

Change the locking method

A custom password isn’t permanent, since you can switch to using your device passcode. Any notes you accessed with the previous method begin using the new method when you change your locking method.

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
  3. Tap Password, choose an account (if you have more than one), and then choose a password method.

Lock a note

Locking is limited to notes on your device and notes in iCloud. Even then, notes with tags, notes with video, audio, PDF, or file attachments, and notes that use features from a newer version of Notes can’t be locked. The same goes for Quick Notes, notes shared in iCloud, and notes that sync with other accounts.

  1. Start the Notes app on your iPad.
  2. Open the note and tap the Note Actions button (at the top-right corner).
  3. Tap Lock.

A locked note’s title remains visible in the notes list.

To remove a lock from a note, tap the Note Actions button, then tap Remove.

Open your locked notes

For several minutes after you open one locked note, all your other locked notes in the same account stay open, so you can jump into another note or copy and paste information from another app.

  1. Start the Notes app on your iPad.
  2. Tap the locked note and tap the Lock button or View Note.
  3. To open the note, use Face ID, Touch ID, your device passcode, or your Notes password.

To lock your notes again, do any of the following:

  • Tap the Unlock button at the top of the screen.
  • Tap Lock Now at the top of the notes list.

See also

Tag: Notes
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How to add or remove accounts in Notes on iPad

by Moses Johnson

In the Notes app, you can use multiple accounts—such as iCloud, enterprise-managed iCloud, Microsoft Exchange, Google, and Yahoo—and keep all your notes in one place. Your notes stay up to date on all your devices that use the same accounts.

You can also have an On My iPad account for notes you keep only on this device. Notes in your iCloud account, along with your changes, show up on every iPhone, iPad, and Mac signed in to your Apple Account.

Note: With iCloud and the On My iPad account, you get all the Notes features described in this guide, but some aren’t available with other accounts.

Keep your notes up to date on all your devices with iCloud

When you’re signed in to your Apple Account on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, your iCloud notes appear on each, along with any changes you make to them.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap your name, then tap iCloud.
  3. Tap See All (next to Saved to iCloud). Then turn on Notes.

Add other accounts

The Notes app can also manage notes you keep in other accounts, like Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo, and Google.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
  3. Tap Notes Accounts and tap Add Account.
  4. Do one of the following:
    • Choose an account provider, then enter your account information.
    • If your account provider isn’t listed, tap Add Other Account, enter your email account information, then turn on Notes for that account.

Set up an On My iPad account

Notes in this account stay only on your iPad, but your iPad backups to iCloud include them.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
  3. Turn on On My iPad Account.

Remove an account

After you remove or delete an account, its notes won’t appear on your iPad anymore, but they remain in your internet account (for example, Google or iCloud.com) and on any other devices you’d already set up.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
  3. Tap Notes Accounts and tap the account you want to remove.
  4. Do one of the following:

    • Stop using Notes on the account: Turn off Notes.

      For an iCloud account, tap iCloud. Tap See All (next to Saved to iCloud), then turn off Notes.

      Note: You can continue to use the account for other services, such as Mail.

    • Stop using all services on the account: Tap Sign Out (for an iCloud account) or Delete Account (for other accounts).

      If you don’t see Sign Out or Delete Account, your account may be managed by your organization. See an administrator for removal instructions.

See also

Tags: iCloud, Notes
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How to read and share stories in News on iPad

by Emily Long

You can read and share News stories on iPad.

While you read a story, you can read the next story or the previous story, return to the list of stories, and tell News what stories you prefer. You can also change the text size, share a story, and read the stories friends shared with you. Sharing works with options such as Messages or Mail.

Here’s how to read and share stories in News on iPad.

A news story in the News app. In the tab bar, Today is selected.

Note: Apple News and Apple News+ aren’t available in all countries or regions.

Read a story

  1. Open the News app on your iPad.
  2. Tap a story to read it. While viewing a story, do any of the following:
    • Read the next story: Swipe left.
    • Read the previous story: Swipe right.
    • Return to the list of stories: Tap the Back button at the top left of the screen.
    • Tell News what stories you prefer: In landscape orientation, tap the Suggest More button or the Suggest Less button at the top of the story. In portrait orientation, tap the More button, then tap Suggest More or Suggest Less. Your feedback is taken into account for future recommendations.
    • Change the text size: In landscape orientation, tap the Text Size button. Tap the smaller or larger letter to change the text size in the story and all other stories in the channel. In portrait orientation, tap the More button, tap Text Size, and tap the smaller or larger letter to change the text size in the story and all other stories in the channel. (Not available in all channels.)
    • Share a story: Tap the More button. Choose a sharing option, such as Messages or Mail.
    • Report a concern: If you believe that a story you’re viewing is mislabeled, inappropriate, offensive, or doesn’t display properly, tap the More button, tap Report a Concern and then follow the onscreen instructions.

Suggest More, Suggest Less, Save Story, and Report a Concern aren’t options in Apple News+ issues in PDF format. Read our article, Browse and read Apple News+ stories and issues.

Read stories shared with you

When a friend shares stories with you using the Messages app, you can easily find them in the Shared with You section in Apple News. (Your friend must be in your contacts list in Contacts.)

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Apps, then tap Messages.
  3. Tap Shared with You and then make sure News is turned on.
  4. Open the News app on your iPad.
  5. Tap Shared with You in the sidebar and then do any of the following:
    • Tap a shared story to read it in News.
    • Tap the name of the person who shared a story to reply to them in the Messages app. To reply while reading the story, tap the name shown below the channel’s logo.

See also

Tag: News
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How to follow your favorite teams with My Sports on iPad

by Emily Long

With My Sports, you can follow your favorite sports, teams, leagues, and athletes; receive stories from top sports publications, local newspapers, and more; access scores, schedules, and standings for the top professional and college leagues; and watch highlights.

You can browse all available sports, too. Before you can use it, you sign in to your Apple Account and the App Store on your iPad.

Here’s how to follow your favorite teams with My Sports on iPad.

Set up iPad to use My Sports

You must do the following before you can use My Sports:

  • Sign in to your Apple Account: Go to Settings, tap “Sign in to your iPad,” then enter your Apple Account information.
  • Sign in to the App Store: Go to Settings, tap your name, then tap Media & Purchases.

Get started with My Sports

To use My Sports, you first need to turn on syncing among Apple News, the Apple TV app, and the Apple Sports app (on iPhone). Once syncing is on, you automatically follow the same teams in all three apps.

  1. Open the News app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Sports in the sidebar or tab bar.
  3. Tap Pick Your Teams and tap Pick Your Teams.
  4. On the Manage My Sports screen, tap the Plus button next to sports, teams, leagues, and major sporting events to follow them.

    Sports topics you previously expressed interest in appear below Suggested. To search (by team name or location and more), tap the search field.

  5. Tap the Close button to close the Manage My Sports screen and then do any of the following:

    • View comprehensive sports coverage: Tap Sports in the sidebar or tab bar.
    • Check the most important sports stories at a glance: Tap Today in the sidebar or tab bar. Swipe up to the Sports group.
    • Get stories and team updates: After you follow a topic or team and allow syncing between Apple News, the Apple TV app, and the Apple Sports app (on iPhone), you can sign up for the Sports newsletter. (Not available in all countries or regions.) See Receive Apple News newsletters.
    • Get notified about a team or league you follow: Allow syncing between Apple News, the Apple TV app, and the Apple Sports app (on iPhone). Turn on notifications for Sports.

Browse all available sports

  1. Open the News app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Sports in the sidebar or tab bar. Tap All Sports at the top of the screen.
  3. Tap a sport or league to go to its feed.
  4. To follow that sport or league, tap the Follow button at the top of the screen.

    Sports and leagues you follow appear in the sidebar.

    If you don’t see the sidebar, tap the Sidebar button.

Manage sports topics

You can follow and unfollow sports topics after you set up My Sports.

  1. Open the News app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Sports in the sidebar or tab bar.
  3. Scroll down to My Sports, tap Manage, and then do any of the following:
    • Follow a topic: Tap the Follow button. Sports topics you follow appear in the sidebar.
    • Unfollow a topic: Tap the Unfollow button next to topics you want to unfollow and then tap Unfollow.
    • Reorder topics: Touch and hold the Reorder button, then drag topics to the order you prefer.
  4. Tap the Done button.

Show scores, schedules, highlights, and more

For your favorite teams, My Sports offers scores and schedules, video highlights, and stories related to your favorite teams, plus stats and stories for individual games and events.

  1. Open the News app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Sports in the sidebar or tab bar and then do any of the following:

    • Show scores and schedules: Swipe left on the scores at the top of the feed and then tap See More.
    • Show stats and stories for individual games: Tap a score at the top of the feed, or swipe down to a sports topic you follow. Tap a game.
    • Follow game updates with a Live Activity: During a game, tap a score at the top of the feed and tap Follow Live. You’ll get real-time updates from the Apple Sports app on your Home Screen and Lock Screen.
    • Watch a live game: Tap a score at the top of the feed. Tap Open in Apple TV (before or after the game) or Watch on Apple TV (during a live game). Or swipe down to a topic you follow and tap the game’s tile. Tap Open in Apple TV or Watch on Apple TV. If the game is available in your area and you subscribe to a service that broadcasts the game, you can watch it in the Apple TV app or in a supported app.

      Note: Supported sports apps may require a separate subscription. Not all games are available in all areas.

    • View highlights: Swipe up to the Highlights section and then tap the Play button in the thumbnail. Tap Highlights to see more highlights.

      Note: Highlights are available only for select leagues.

    • Read sports stories related to topics you follow: Swipe up to For You, then tap a story.

Stop syncing My Sports

You can stop syncing between Apple News, the Apple TV app, and the Apple Sports app (on iPhone).

Note: Once you turn off Sync My Sports, you can’t use My Sports anymore.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Apps, then tap News.
  3. Turn off Sync My Sports.

See also

Tag: News
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How to get News notifications and newsletters on iPad

by Moses Johnson

If you don’t want to miss important stories, you can use notifications and newsletters to stay on top of the latest news. Some channels you follow may send notifications, and you can also choose to receive newsletters from Apple News editors by email.

If you subscribe to Apple News+, you can also get notified when new issues of publications you follow are available.

Here’s how to get News notifications and newsletters on iPad.

Note: Apple News and Apple News+ aren’t available in all countries or regions.

Turn on notifications

Some channels you follow may send notifications about important stories.

  1. Open the News app on your iPad.
  2. At the bottom of the sidebar, tap Notifications & Email below Manage.

    If you don’t see the sidebar, tap the Sidebar button.

  3. Turn on notifications for your preferred channels, as well as notifications from Apple News, such as Apple News Top Stories, Apple News Spotlight, and more.

Apple News+ subscribers can also get notifications when new issues of publications they follow are available, along with New Features & Tips notifications.

Receive Apple News newsletters

Newsletters from Apple News editors can come to your email inbox if you’d like. They feature top stories, personalized based on your interests, and if you subscribe to Apple News+, they can also include new issues of your favorite magazines.

  1. Open the News app on your iPad.
  2. Swipe to the bottom of the sidebar. Tap Notifications & Email.

    If you don’t see the sidebar, tap the Sidebar button.

  3. Swipe to the bottom of the screen and then do any of the following:

    • Turn on Apple News Newsletters.
    • Tap Sign Up for Newsletters, then tap Sign Me Up.
  4. In the U.S., several different newsletters may be available. To choose which ones you want to receive, do one of the following:

    • Opt in: Tap Sign Up.
    • Opt out: Tap Subscribed.

To stop receiving newsletters, return to the Notifications & Email screen, then turn off Apple News Newsletters. In the U.S., tap Manage Newsletters, then unsubscribe from each newsletter you no longer want to receive.

Note: Personalized newsletters aren’t available in all countries or regions. To get the Sports newsletter, you need to first sync My Sports and follow a sports topic.

See also

Tag: News
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