iPad mini 2019

[twerppoet]

Doesn’t the glare bother you when you read books on your IPad?

Indoors, or outside on a overcast day, it’s fine. Outside on a sunny day, you’ll want to find some shade. Or get a Kindle. Or stick with paper.

 

[amyberta]

I have a Kindle. Just curious if the glare bothered anybody.

 

[twerppoet]

Went to get some Panda Express to reward myself for a brisk day of leaf raking (left over from last Fall). The Verizon store is next to Panda Express, so I stopped in, out of curiosity, to see if they were carrying the new iPad Mini. They ‘had’ one.

I probably shouldn’t have, but I did.

 

[amyberta]

How do you like it?

 

[twerppoet]

How do you like it?

So far so good. I haven’t finished getting it set up the way I want, and I need to get some kind of case to make it easier to hold while using the Logitech Crayon (note taking being my main excuse for getting it), but both those will be easy enough.

Set up is taking a bit longer than it should, because I’m adding apps manually. The Mini only has 64 GB of storage, so I didn’t want to load it with everything the iPad Pro and iPhone have. It will be a bit more task focused.

I was a bit worried my old eyes wouldn’t like the smaller text, but because it’s easy to hold close to my face that hasn’t been a problem. I probably won’t read my comic books and manga on it anyway.

It is a bit disconcerting to have to use the home button and Touch ID again. I’m totally habituated to Face ID.

I got the Logitech Crayon instead of an Apple Pencil because I thought it would be smaller (it’s not), it’s cheaper, and I don’t need the pressure sensitivity to take notes. In some ways pressure sensitivity can make note taking harder. You often end up with a combination of thick and thin lines that make reading the text harder. Most note taking apps let you turn off pressure just for that reason.

I did a few brief test using Notes, Nebo, and Notability. Works as expected.

 

[amyberta]

Thanks for answering me. Can you make the text bigger?

 

[giradman]

Thanks for answering me. Can you make the text bigger?

Well, if you want the text larger just in your 'reader apps', then discussed previously - that's what my wife does w/ her Mini 4 - however, if you want the text larger in other apps, then try opening 'Settings," there General -> Accessibility - turn on 'Larger .... Sizes' and adjust the slider bar (see pic below) - as indicated the apps need the feature built into their code. Note this is for iOS 12.2, but likely is applicable to earlier versions. Good luck. Dave

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[PrismStudios]

RE: the pencil. I bought one, should be here Fri. I plan to use my power bank when on the go. There is a little adapter in the box that allows you to use a charge cord. I’ve played with the minis, but never wanted one. I like the larger screen of a standard, or larger iPad.

 

[twerppoet]

Thanks for answering me. Can you make the text bigger?

Note: Apparently I forgot to tap the post button on this reply. The question has already been answered by Girardman, but I'll finish sending this anyway.

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There are two places to increase the system text size. One is Settings > Display & Brightness. The other is Settings > General > Accessibility, where you have more size choices, including the ability to make the system text bold.

These settlings affect the most of Apple’s apps, and many third party apps. But some apps will ignore the settling, either because they haven’t been updated in the last couple years, or because the developer could not be bothered to support the setting.

 

[amyberta]

Thanks for letting me know.

 

[twerppoet]

You’re welcome

 

[twerppoet]

An unexpected bonus. iOS has a feature where your clipboard on one device can be pasted on another device (wi-fi and same iCloud account required). This means I can use the Mini as a kind of second screen for editing documents.

I like to use Notability to take minutes at my club. It allows me to record audio that is synced with my notes, so I can include stuff I missed, or double check myself for accuracy. But, Notability doesn’t give me a lot of control over the format, and the exports are limited. I usually end up copy pasting stuff to Pages. I can do this on the iPad Pro in split view but it’s even nicer with the separate screen. Mostly because split view doesn’t make it clear which app is in text editing mode. It’s easy to start typing in the wrong app; which is really annoying.

I’ve also started using it to reference Notes while creating Google Docs. Same issue, where is the text going to type.

Not what I bought the iPad Mini for, but it certainly makes me happier that I gave into my Apple tech addiction.

 

[jkingrph]

I like the size of the mini. I have an older Mini 2, and was never happy with the storage at 128gb. I wanted it as a reader and to carry my music library plus a bunch of drug/medical refrences to take to work as a pharmacist. I am currently using a ipad pro 10.5 and have been happy with it. I think this new mini has a more advanced faster processor, plus 256GB storage I should be fine. I am supposed to have one shipped tomorrow

I received my Mini 5 a couple of days ago. Setting up via the cloud was a breeze. Form factor, the same old size, large bezel don't bother me. Display seems a little brighter and sharper than the old Retina screen. I have a Kindle app and downloads for thse books are at light speed compared to the Mini 2, as well as updates to some of my medical apps.

 

[zipur]

Not at all - I read a lot of books on the iPad (now have the new Pro) using the Kindle app (and to a lesser extent Apple's Books app) - with the Kindle app, the brightness of the screen can be controlled (of course, also available in the 'Control Center') and the display colors can be changed, e.g. 'white on black' for nighttime reading, sepia, etc. (see pic below for the options). Dave
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Have you tried the new Kindle unlimited for $9 a month. Pretty good deal,it also includes audible/Kindle books

 

[giradman]

Have you tried the new Kindle unlimited for $9 a month. Pretty good deal,it also includes audible/Kindle books

Well, I've looked at the offer a number of times (as shown below for those not familiar - yet another Amazon service - ) - I probably buy a book on Amazon (or Apple Books) once a month, likely at about $10 USD, so maybe spend $120/year, so figured that I would be breaking even, although there are other features that I might explore?

Of course, when I 'buy' a Kindle book, it's mine to read later - assume that this KU deal is a 'loan', i.e. once one decides to quit paying the monthly fee, you would not be allowed to read the books again - assume that is correct but don't know? But, thanks for the mention of this service, might look again at the features - would certainly be a good deal if I was reading 2-3 books/month on my iPad and did not care to ever read them again. Dave

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