Unless you’re a bilingual iPad user, there’s a good chance you’ve often wondered what the Globe key on Apple’s Smart and Magic keyboards stood for. But the truth is, Apple has rolled out a second global modifier key in iPadOS 15 that can be held down to discover, well, global system shortcuts: the Globe key. So far, I’ve only mentioned holding down the ⌘ key to discover keyboard shortcuts in apps using the new shortcuts menu of iPadOS 15. As a result, commands are easier to find, and developers are encouraged to add even richer support for keyboard shortcuts since the experience of learning them isn’t terrible anymore: Good third-party examples of this approach are MusicHarbor and Timery, which have reorganized their keyboard shortcuts in iPadOS 15 around categories. This is done using the UIMenuBuilder API, which lets developers design a single main menu system for keyboard shortcuts that seamlessly translates from iPad to Mac, and vice versa. And I think this is the case because Apple took the fundamentals of an idea from the Mac and reshaped it for iPad and its multiplicity of input methods.ĭevelopers can, of course, customize the keyboard shortcuts menu with their own categories and commands, which will carry over to Mac Catalyst apps as well. The net result of the refreshed keyboard shortcuts menu in iPadOS 15 is that it’s both more intuitive and powerful than before. You can filter keyboard commands by name if you just start typing. The latter is my favorite detail of the shortcuts menu since it lets me quickly find commands by guessing or partially remembering their name. You can tap or click commands to execute them, and if you just start typing when the shortcuts menu comes up, you can instantly filter it by name to find any command in it. The keyboard shortcuts menu is no different: while comparable in spirit and core concept, it adds its own flair to the classic menu bar.įor starters, the keyboard shortcuts menu is not a fixed element onscreen but can be contextually invoked by holding down ⌘ in any app additionally, you can scroll sections of commands to see their associated keyboard shortcuts, and there’s a search button you can press to search for a command by name if you don’t remember whether it exists or how to trigger it. As we’ve seen over the past few years, whenever Apple brings a long-standing feature from the Mac to iPad, they like to rejuvenate and modernize it with design choices and interactions that make more sense for the modern era. Besides these small differences, though, the keyboard shortcuts menu for iPadOS 15 is, effectively, Apple’s modern take on the menu bar.Īnd that, I think, is the key aspect to understand here. Additionally, unavailable commands are hidden by default on iPad. There are some design and implementation differences between the menu bar on Mac and keyboard shortcuts menu on iPad, of course: on macOS, the menu bar supports nested menus and displays unavailable commands with a grayed-out color in iPadOS 15, Apple has flattened navigation so that submenus aren’t shown in the menu, and everything is a top-level command. It’s fantastic, and it’s the kind of feature you’re going to learn to love in just a few days after updating to iPadOS 15. It all starts with iPadOS 15’s brand new look for the keyboard shortcuts menu: when you hold down the ⌘ key to view available keyboard shortcuts in an app, you’ll no longer see the paginated, translucent cheat sheet in the middle of the screen instead, you’ll get a full-blown menu at the bottom of the screen that organizes different commands by category, allowing you to scroll through dozens of commands or click through specific sections. By and large, the effort is a resounding success that leaves very little else to be desired. With iPadOS 15’s stack of keyboard technologies, Apple is sending a clear signal: the company is now comfortable with the idea of an iPad as a modular machine they want to make it easy for developers to make mature iPad apps that can evolve into Mac versions later, and for advanced users to be more efficient when working with an external keyboard. Safari for iPad: Compact or Separate Tab Barįor power users, the most important change to iPadOS 15 isn’t the multitasking menu, the Shelf, or the addition of center windows: it’s the complete revamp of keyboard shortcuts and navigation. Safari for iPhone and the Bottom Tab Bar.For Club Members: Shortcut Exporter Pro.Shortcuts Settings, Privacy, and Sharing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |