Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
After you set up the length of the timer, tap Start when you're ready to begin. You can watch the
minutes and seconds wind down on the screen, if you have nothing better to do. Or tap Pause to
pause the countdown temporarily.
If you're doing anything else on the iPad — admiring photos, say — you hear the ringtone and see a
Timer Done
message on the screen at the appropriate moment. Tap OK to silence the ringtone.
Last, but not least, the Timer can stop audio or video after the specified length of time. To use this
feature (we think of it as the sleep timer), tap the Sounds button. Scroll to the bottom of the list of
sounds and tap Stop Playing.
Socializing with Social Media Apps
At first glance, it appears the iPad mini is light on social media support. What we mean is that Game
Center is the only sign of social media on a brand new iPad mini.
Still, iOS 7 is much more friendly to social media than it appears at first glance. Although your iPad
mini doesn't come with official Facebook or Twitter apps, support for the two most popular social
networks is baked right into iOS 7.
You can find free apps for these social media networks (and many others) in the App Store, but iOS
7 lets you install the Facebook and Twitter apps without even having to visit the App Store. Just tap
Settings
⇒
Facebook (or Twitter), and then tap the Install button to install the app you've chosen.
You don't necessarily need an app to participate in social networking. The networks
we talk about in this section can be fully utilized using Safari on your iPad mini. And frankly,
unlike the iPhone, where the Safari experience is hampered by the tiny screen and keyboard,
the websites are eminently usable on your iPad mini. So, if you want to check them out and
don't feel like downloading their apps, here are their URLs:
Facebook:
www.facebook.com
Twitter:
http://twitter.com
We'd be remiss if we didn't at least point out some of the niceties you get when you access one of
these social media networks using an app instead of a browser, so the following sections offer a few
of our insights.
