Henry T. Casey for LAPTOP Magazine:
Apple may not have promoted the iPad’s upcoming support for mice and touchpads, but developers wasted no time finding this feature in the beta. Curious, I tried it out for myself to see if this long-awaited feature is worth the work it takes to activate… iPadOS supports both Bluetooth and USB accessories.
I got my own mouse, the Logitech MX Master 2S, to work with the iPad we’ve got running iPadOS 13. First, I opened Settings and tapped Accessibility — which was the first sign that Apple doesn’t intend everyone to use this feature, and that the company thinks this is meant for those who need additional physical assistance.
I set my MX Master 2S into pairing mode, saw it show up on screen and paired the two. Instantly, a dark circular cursor appeared on my screen, as if a phantom digit was hovering… I know Apple isn’t telling me to use a mouse with the iPad, but I dig how it works so far. Sure, it didn’t flow beautifully immediately, but I didn’t expect the fluidity of the Apple Pencil for a feature that’s hidden so deep in iPadOS.
I’m also optimistic that Apple’s pro users can find more power in this feature.
MacDailyNews Take: Well, we’ll see where it goes, but mouse/trackpad are obviously not meant to be the primary input method on iPad.
As we wrote earlier regarding mouse support, we understand the sentiment as we all grew up using mouses to control computers, but the finger or pencil on the display is vastly more intuitive and direct than a mouse or trackpad controlling a pointer on a screen.
IPad is a useless product and ridiculously priced.
Hi brain dead Rob – should we call your mother?
Not now! We getting busy!
Really? I use my iPad Pro for 80% of my computing and work flow. Could not live without it!
Some of us can’t use our fingers or hold a pencil. I’ll take what I can get.
This is great because I can’t use my ipad pro for home office because the lack of mouse support. I really need a mouse for what I need to do.
I wish Apple would stop being so afraid of mice, trackpads and showing a true cursor. As long as Apple makes it a requirement that developers must create apps primarily for touch there won’t be an issue.
There behaviour is so frustrating as they’ve already developed Apple Pencil which in some respects is an even more precise and direct pointing device than a mouse. Adding Apple Pencil support didn’t break iOS/iPadOS and neither will showing a standard mouse cursor by default whenever you connect a mouse or trackpad to an iOS/iPadOS device.
This is THE game-changer for the iPad. Good job, Apple, finally. The mouse is about getting people’s hands away from the screen so that they can see what they’re working on without their mitts in the way. This will turn out to be huge.
Great option for those times at a desk! Love it!
“but the finger or pencil on the display is vastly more intuitive and direct than a mouse or trackpad controlling a pointer on a screen.”
But a mouse is vastly more faster and productive than swiping your arm and fingers all the time. Touch screen suck, especially inside a car. You have to take your eyes off the road to change a station or input source, etc. Such a stupid idea (putting them in cars). And dangerous, gotta believe there will be lawsuits at some point over these. Give me physical buttons where I can change settings while keeping my eyes on the road.
MDN: “Mouses”?…
🤔
Can someone let me know if the mouse is working on iPad Air 2? Since is compatible with iPadOS and I am not sure.
It works for me on iPad Air 2 and iPad Air 2014 version, although it needs more development. I hope someone will get around to finding how to duplicate the various mouse and keyboard combo actions as they are eventually (I hope) found or added.
Is Logitech’s Flow technology compatible with iPad OS13?