Will the Apple Magic Trackpad work with the iPad?

[Demandarin]

It wouldn't work, the iPad doesn't use cursors. Any pointing device is out of the question.

There is a jailbreak app/tweak, possibly the BT mouse stack, that adds an onscreen pointer. I'm not sure it will work with the magic trackpad though.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[HKWrite12]

This is a funny post!

 

[Mtnmedic]

You folks who are asking "What's the point?" and "Why?", citing there is no mouse cursor in iOS:

Folks like me have limited space. The iPad does everything I need it to for business and play. My only computer is a laptop that doesn't come out of its case unless a Windows/iOS update is needed. At my desk, the iPad is docked in a stand that raises and positions it to eye level very much like an LCD monitor and I use the Apple wireless keyboard. While iOS doesn't support a cursor, the Magic Trackpad would give folks a second, more ergonomic way to interact with the iPad while it's docked. Especially with page scrolling, pinch/zoom, etc., maybe some drawing and other stuff. Reaching for the screen to interact with the docked iPad does get old and tiring after a while when you're busy doing a lot of input via the keyboard at a desk. The iPad screen and onscreen keyboard are perfect when I'm using it anywhere else, like when I'm holding it or at a cafe table, etc. Like my keyboard, there's no way I would haul the Magic Trackpad with my iPad but I see a good potential for it at my desk.

Michael "Spam, spam, bacon, eggs and spam. Hold the bacon and eggs." Sent from my iPad 2 using iPF

 

[Hasty]

Read somewhere recently that someone had come up with a way to use the trackpad as a drawing tool. Would be cool if they could create an app, but I doubt apple would approve.

@mtnmedic I love the idea of minimal computing and have a mac mini server which I leave on 24/7. With that and my iPad all my computing wants are covered.
Using the touchpad app I can control it from my iPad anywhere in the house and stream all my docs, vids and photos.
It's such a pleasure to get rid of large noisy boxes and monitors and reclaim some space.
As Fraser Speirs said the real revolution is that you no longer go to your computer, rather you take it with you now.

 

[f4780y]

FWIW I have the trackpad working on my jailbroken iPad for several months. Requires you to install the free BTMouseStack tweak from Cydia. You don't get all the capabilities of the magic pad. No gestures or multitouch. It works just as a simple mouse like HID. It is invaluable to me in conjunction with the official keyboard dock.

 

[radavenport84]

You folks who are asking "What's the point?" and "Why?", citing there is no mouse cursor in iOS:

Folks like me have limited space. The iPad does everything I need it to for business and play. My only computer is a laptop that doesn't come out of its case unless a Windows/iOS update is needed. At my desk, the iPad is docked in a stand that raises and positions it to eye level very much like an LCD monitor and I use the Apple wireless keyboard. While iOS doesn't support a cursor, the Magic Trackpad would give folks a second, more ergonomic way to interact with the iPad while it's docked. Especially with page scrolling, pinch/zoom, etc., maybe some drawing and other stuff. Reaching for the screen to interact with the docked iPad does get old and tiring after a while when you're busy doing a lot of input via the keyboard at a desk. The iPad screen and onscreen keyboard are perfect when I'm using it anywhere else, like when I'm holding it or at a cafe table, etc. Like my keyboard, there's no way I would haul the Magic Trackpad with my iPad but I see a good potential for it at my desk.

Excellent points! I believe that many people are using tablets as their only devices/computers. If one uses an iPad in a corporate environment or at a desk-type location they do not want to be weighed down by the constant necessity of touching the screen. Steve Jobs attests to this (apple.com/apple-events/october-2010/). Skip to minute 56:15! It would be like using an All-In-One PC. (Who uses those, the way they were meant to be used?)

One might not want a cursor on the iPad, but rather a

more ergonomic way to interact with the iPad while it's docked

by the use of a multi-touch trackpad. Simply put, it would be like having a second iPad on the desk that one could use while watching the achieved gestures on a secondary monitor.

I'm imagining something like the MacBook Air, but better!

So for all the naysayers, get outside your box...use your brain.

 

[LawPad2]

FWIW I have the trackpad working on my jailbroken iPad for several months. Requires you to install the free BTMouseStack tweak from Cydia. You don't get all the capabilities of the magic pad. No gestures or multitouch. It works just as a simple mouse like HID. It is invaluable to me in conjunction with the official keyboard dock.

Thanks for an answer! Too bad it took three pages of whining, insults, and needless requests for justification to find it.

 

[indychuck]

Well, that is not really the answer. I don't want to jailbreak the ipad, just use a trackpad in many of the ways discussed here. As far as whining, I don't see that either. We just want some different features and functionality...that would be very easy for apple to implement in the next os release. The "three pages of whining" and "needless justification" are really about people wanting to use devices in different ways which has been the norm since computers became a part of mainstream life.

 

[LawPad2]

Really? The guy asked a simple question, and in return, he's implicitly called stupid for wanting to use "his" device the way "he" wants to use it. Not sure how this is difficult to follow. Now, had he asked, "what are the pros/cons of using a trackpad with an iPad?" different story. I would not have wasted 3 minutes of my life (like now) wading through BS to find a simple answer.

Question One

I was wondering if it would work with the iPad

The antecedent of "it" is trackpad.
Question Two

Has anyone here ever managed to pair one of these with their iPad?

Insults and Justification, A few examples in no particular order:

A) why would you want to? B) what, exactly, are you going to "point & click" with?

What exactly would you use another Touch device to do??????
The iPad ALREADY does this.

The iPad is designed to use your fingers to "Poke" it so go ahead and do so?!?

What conceivable extra would you get from the Trackpad except more gadget,which I understand for sure.

Rather than answer the question, he's asked to supply further information, particularly "why" he wants to do something like "that." Additionally, this screws up the "search" function because the term is repeated 100s of times.

 

[scsfello]

Why Trackpad

I would like a trackpad as well, primarily for using the IPad as a remote desktop. I work 95% of the time in a virtual environment, professionally as a physician using citrix or on my own time running os x on a IPad using Splashtop. My preference would be a Bluetooth full size keyboard case with trackpad. It looks like iOS 5 will handle a trackpad. At least Crux is implementing one for Fall 2011. A MacBook air would perform admirably,but does not replace an Ipad, whereas an IPad with a well designed keyboard trackpad case would, for my purposes, replace a MacBook air. I want only one portable device. My last request. I hope someday that keyboard case people will acknowledge that grownups need full size keyboards. I suppose that will need to wait for a an 11 or 12 inch IPad as case designers are unable, so far, to violate IPad-width, keyboard-width symmetry. Given the uniformity of designs it must be genetic.

 

[ipadude]

......pretty judgmental as to why someone would or would not need a trackpad with the ipad....I could think of many reasons based upon the docking / positioning of the iPad, as well as the physical abilities of the user....maybe just an answer to the technical question would be best?????

 

[Elliern]

I also use Citrix to work from home as much as possible. A mouse/track pad would make filling out spread sheets, inserting data or other information in a document so much easier. Can't tell you how many times I have tried to touch the right spot for insertion only to go somewhere totally unintended. My iPad is mostly for entertainment purposes, but when traveling it is great for checking in at the office, answering email and 'putting out fires' without having to lug my large laptop everywhere.
I haven't had my iPad very long, and I did a search on using mouse or other device and found this thread from 2010. Hoping there is a solution to this problem at some point. Still, this was an informative thread.

 

[KenJr]

I simply can not understand why you would need to control a small portable device with another small portable device?

The iPad is designed to use your fingers to "Poke" it so go ahead and do so?!?

What conceivable extra would you get from the Trackpad except more gadget,which I understand for sure.

I really just do not get it?

The majority of responses on this page are in the same vein as yours .. i.e. They yield no useful information to an individual visiting this site who is curious, who is trying to think outside the box, who is looking to see if there are new and unique ideas that people have come up with that make the ipad all that much more interesting. When the majority of forum question responses yield no value, a visit to a forum like this can seem like a completely useless endeavor.

 

[xcanuc]

The majority of responses on this page are in the same vein as yours .. i.e. They yield no useful information to an individual visiting this site who is curious, who is trying to think outside the box, who is looking to see if there are new and unique ideas that people have come up with that make the ipad all that much more interesting. When the majority of forum question responses yield no value, a visit to a forum like this can seem like a completely useless endeavor.

I wish there was a like button. Nicely said.

 

[indychuck]

Well, I've been using my ipad for about a year and a half, and just ordered the new ipad. I'm convinced more than ever that for doing certain type of activities, having a cursor and using a trackpad type of device would be a big help. It can be frustrating trying to touch exactly the right spot with a finger, or even a pen. Also, the issues about using it as temp desktop for large amounts of work would be less stressful. I really like using the trackpad with my iMac. I know this can be done via a jailbreak, but I just don't want to go that route. So, come on Apple, unlock the iOS just a bit!