Anyone using a mouse with their iPad?

[Bobby Dazzler]

I see that the latest versions of iPadOS finally have support for a mouse, so I’ve ordered an Apple mouse to see what it’s like. Apparently you can use any old Bluetooth mouse, or even a cable mouse with a USB-A to Lightning connector. Anyone tried it yet?

 

[gaz_l]

It does beg the question, why would you bother? Surely the whole point of iOS is that it's designed around a touch interface. I can't actually think of anything I'd use a mouse for. Just another thing to carry around?

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[KillerHERTZ]

It works fine on Android (we had it 8 years ago, shocking Apple have only integrated it now!), its useful when you have an attached BT Keyboard and acts like a desktop machine when editing text docs, far better than touchscreen for this function.

 

[GeeJayW]

It works fine on Android (we had it 8 years ago, shocking Apple have only integrated it now!), its useful when you have an attached BT Keyboard and acts like a desktop machine when editing text docs, far better than touchscreen for this function.

I think the main reason Apple haven't included mouse integration for iOS before is because it would (might) hurt MacBook Air sales. Including it now probably helps iPad and iPad Pro sales.

My ageing iPad 4 is only able to support up to iOS 10, so I'm unable to update some apps and for some apps the old versions stop working. It is also quite slow compared to current iPads (missus has recently got an iPad Air). So I'm considering an upgrade to a new tablet and being able to use a mouse or trackpad would definitely be handy if also using an external keyboard.

 

[alabbasi]

I see that the latest versions of iPadOS finally have support for a mouse, so I’ve ordered an Apple mouse to see what it’s like. Apparently you can use any old Bluetooth mouse, or even a cable mouse with a USB-A to Lightning connector. Anyone tried it yet?

It's kind of like the guy who has a bluetooth dongle plugged into headphone jack of his Sony walkman so that he can play cassettes over bluetooth

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

It's kind of like the guy who has a bluetooth dongle plugged into headphone jack of his Sony walkman so that he can play cassettes over bluetooth

If you use an iPad for browsing, ie mostly looking and very little input other than swipes then there’s very little need for a mouse.

However once you hook up a keyboard they become a surprisingly effective machine for real work. Switching between keyboard and screen isn’t natural, but you can get used to it for all but serious text editing (where screen input slows you down), serious image and slide editing (where control accuracy using the touch screen is frustrating) and most spreadsheet work (where everything is slow and cumbersome. I suspect a mouse will make a positive difference for all of those.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

It does beg the question, why would you bother? Surely the whole point of iOS is that it's designed around a touch interface. I can't actually think of anything I'd use a mouse for. Just another thing to carry around?

Cheers,

Gaz

I think it depends how you use your iPad. When traveling light I just take the iPad, which is definitely better than my laptop.

When travelling and need to do real work I find an iPad, AirPods, charger and Apple keyboard to be a much much lighter and more compact alternative to my Windows laptop set up, with much better battery life and the need for just a lightning cable to charge everything. My Chromebook Pixel was better on battery life though.

Taking travel out of the equation, I’ve found though that my iPad can be almost all I need at home and in the office when all I’m doing is emails, viewing files, lightly editing files, and video calls, which is most of the time. I suspect that with a mouse I might never. Need by Windows laptop.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

It works fine on Android (we had it 8 years ago, shocking Apple have only integrated it now!), its useful when you have an attached BT Keyboard and acts like a desktop machine when editing text docs, far better than touchscreen for this function.

As GeeJayW suggests, I suspect that it was to protect sales of other products,, which Google didn’t need to worry quite so much about given that they use hardware partners for all formats, and are more interested in mobile as a platform than other formats.

I have to say though that my Chrome Pixel (Chrimebook) is an incredible machine. Even though ours are all more than five years old they still look fantastic and perform superbly - I don’t use mine but my kids use theirs and they’re brilliant.

 

[GeeJayW]

I have a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard for my iPad that is the same form factor as the tablet and attaches magnetically to form a clamshell cover. Effectively it works very well as a mini laptop when travelling or sat in the garden and has much much better battery life than my old Windoze laptop (which may get an SSD upgrade and a new battery just to try to breath some life into it). The iPad comes on instantly and is fine for light document editing, not that I do a lot of that these days. Unfortunately it hasn't supported current versions of Photoshop for iOS for quite some time. Throughout, I would have strongly welcomed mouse or trackpad support.

At home, I mainly use the iPad without the keyboard for web use, including interacting on this and other forums.

For more 'serious' stuff (mainly photography and music), I use a Late 2012 iMac 27 which is also getting a bit long in the tooth now. It may get replaced one day, but not for a while yet.

 

[gaz_l]

I think it depends how you use your iPad.

Taking travel out of the equation, I’ve found though that my iPad can be almost all I need at home and in the office when all I’m doing is emails, viewing files, lightly editing files, and video calls, which is most of the time. I suspect that with a mouse I might never. Need by Windows laptop.

True, true. I don’t use my iPad for anything much other than web browsing, or very brief emails. I do have a MacBook Pro, which I’ll take with me if I need to do any real work when I’m out and about, but that’s a rare occasion these days. Otherwise I’ve got an iMac at home (yes, I’m an Apple fanboi..)

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[gaz_l]

Actually, I have found a use for a mouse - running Windows 3.1 on your iPad. Welcome to things you find yourself doing out of sheer boredom during lockdown, #327..



Cheers,

Gaz

 

[GeeJayW]

Sometimes, just because you can...

 

[Wolfie1]

I have a first generation ipad pro that i use all time (its what im using now) and really fancy 1 of those new smart keyboards as sometimes the screen keyboard stops working because of all the typing you do because of the oils from your fingers

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Mouse has arrived. It works, but not used in anger yet.