Wi-Fi network if one is available, they do so, even when a 4G, 3G, GPRS, or EDGE network is also available.
Last but not least, if you don’t see one of these icons – 4G, 3G, GPRS, EDGE, or Wi-Fi – you don’t currently have Internet access. Chapter 4 offers more details about these different networks.
Discovering the Delectable Home Screen and Dock Icons
The iPad Home screen and dock display 20 icons, with each icon representing a different built-in app or function. Because the rest of the book covers each and every one of these babies in full and loving detail, we merely provide brief descriptions here.
To get to your Home screen, tap the Home button. If your iPad is asleep when you tap, the unlock screen appears. After your iPad is unlocked, you see whichever page was on the screen when it went to sleep. If that happens to have been the Home screen, you’re golden. If it wasn’t, merely tap the Home button again to summon your iPad’s Home screen.
In the following sections, we tell you briefly about the icons preloaded on your iPad’s first Home screen page, as well as the icons you find on the dock that are always accessible from each Home screen.
Home is where the screen is
If you haven’t rearranged your icons, you see the following apps on the first Home screen, starting at the top left:
✓ FaceTime: Use this app to participate in FaceTime video chats, as you discover in Chapter 8.
✓ Calendar: No matter what calendar program you prefer on your Mac or PC (as long as it’s iCal, Calendar, Microsoft Entourage, or Microsoft Outlook or online calendars such as Google or iCloud), you can synchronize events and alerts between your computer and your iPad. Create an event on one device, and the event is automatically synchronized with the other device the next time the two devices are connected. Neat stuff.
✓ Photos: This app is the iPad’s terrific photo manager, which just keeps getting better. It lets you view pictures from a camera or SD card (using the optional camera connection kit), screen shots of your iPad screen, photos synced from your computer, saved from an email or web page, or saved from one of the myriad third-party apps that let you save your handiwork in the Photos app. You can zoom in or out, create slideshows, email photos to friends, crop, do a bit of image editing, and much more. And it’s where you’ll find the Camera Roll album with photos and videos you’ve taken with your iPad. To get started, see Chapter 9.
✓ Camera: You use this app to shoot pictures or videos with your iPad’s front- or rear-facing camera. You find out more in Chapters 8 (videos) and 9 (camera).
✓ Contacts: This handy little app contains information about the people you know. Like the Calendar app, it synchronizes with the Contacts app on your Mac or PC (as long as you keep your contacts in Address Book, Contacts, Microsoft Entourage, or Microsoft Outlook), and you can synchronize contacts between your computer and your iPad. If you create a contact on one device, the contact is automatically synchronized with the other device the next time your devices are connected. Chapter 12 explains how to start using the Calendar and Contacts apps.
✓ Clock: The Clock app includes alarm clocks, timers, and more. You hear more about this nifty app in Chapter 13.
✓ Maps: This app is among our favorites. View street maps or satellite imagery of locations around the globe, or ask for directions, traffic conditions, or even the location of a nearby pizza joint. You can find your way around the Maps app with the tips you find in Chapter 6.
✓
✓ Videos: This handy app is the repository for your movies, TV shows, and music videos. You add videos via iTunes on your Mac or PC or by purchasing them from the iTunes Store with the iTunes app on your iPad. Check out Chapter 8 to find out more.
✓ Photo Booth: This one is a lot like those old-time photo booths, but you don’t have to feed it money. You discover details about Photo Booth in Chapter 9.
✓ Notes: This program enables you to type notes while you’re out and about. You can send the notes to yourself or to anyone else through email, or you can just save them on your iPad until you need them. For help as you start using Notes, flip to Chapter 13.
✓ Reminders: This app may be the only to-do list you ever need. It integrates with iCal, Calendar, Outlook, and iCloud, so to-do items and reminders sync automatically with your other devices, both mobile and desktop. You’ll hear much more about this great app, but you have to wait until Chapter 13.
✓ News: This app is where you’ll find news culled from magazines, newspapers, and websites. You read more about News in Chapter 10.
✓ iTunes Store: Tap this puppy to purchase music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks, and more. You find more info about iTunes (and the Music app) in Chapter 7.
✓ App Store: This icon enables you to connect to and search the iTunes App Store for iPad apps that you can purchase or download for free over a Wi-Fi or cellular data network connection. Chapter 11 is your guide to buying and using apps from the App Store.
✓ iBooks: You use iBooks to read books, which you can buy in the iTunes Store.
✓ Settings: Tap this icon to change settings for your iPad and its apps. With so many settings in the Settings app, you’ll be happy to hear that Chapter 15 is dedicated exclusively to Settings.
Now, swipe from right to left across the first Home screen to make the second Home screen appear. Its icons include the following:
✓ Tips: This app offers tips from Apple on doing more with your iPad. And here’s a tip about Tips: Apple pushes new tips to the app every week, so if you haven’t looked at the app lately, consider doing so to see what’s new.
✓ Podcasts: Use the Podcasts app to (d’oh!) listen to your favorite podcasts, which you download and subscribe to (let’s all say it together this time) in the iTunes Store.
✓ Find Friends: See the locations of friends and family who opt in.
✓ Find iPhone: If your iPad (or iPhone or iPod touch) goes missing, use this app to determine its last known location.
✓ iCloud Drive:
