Using a mouse on the iPad was a very popular feature for users and finally, Apple has incorporated it with the arrival of iPadOS, the new operating system for the company’s tablets.
This new feature is hidden within the accessibility settings and in the following lines, I explain how to access it so you can start using any wireless mouse with your iPad, iPad Mini, iPad Pro and even iPhone or iPod Touch.
It is important to mention that when you activate this option you will not find a cursor as you can have on any computer.
The iPad cursor is much larger and circular. The reason is that it is really designed for people with mobility problems and in many cases also for vision (either by sight problems or by not being able to easily change posture), so the large cursor is an aid for the use Of the device.
Despite this, the operation of the cursor is perfect, there is no lag, it moves fast and if you missed using a mouse with the iPad you only have to configure it as I explain below.
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How to connect and use a mouse on iPad, iPad Air, iPad Mini and iPad Pro
To configure the mouse you must do the following:
- Access Settings – Accessibility – Touch – AssistiveTouch.
- Activate the AssistiveTouch option.
- Now access the section Pointing devices – Bluetooth devices.
- Select the mouse you want to use from the list (if it does not appear you will have to put it in pairing mode) and confirm the mouse link.
With these steps, the mouse would already be linked to the iPad. When you move it you can see how the cursor appears and the main mouse button serves to click as you would with your finger on the screen of the iPad. In addition, in most mice, you can also use the wheel to scroll normally.
How to configure mouse settings on iPad
With the previous step, you will have the mouse fully functional on the iPad, but if you want you can tune the settings a little more and make it work exactly as you want.
In the following lines, I explain how to change some of the most important mouse settings.
1.- Change the speed of displacement
If you consider that the pointer moves too slow or fast when moving the mouse, you can change the speed in the following way:
- Access Settings – Accessibility – Touch – AssistiveTouch.
- Scroll to the Scroll speed section.
- Raise or lower the speed bar to adjust it to your liking.
When moving the bar the setting will be saved automatically and you just have to move the mouse to see if the new speed is better suited to your tastes or if you need to change the setting again.
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This option is not available with all the mice, but if yours has programmable buttons you can configure different actions for each button.
To do this you must do the following:
- Access Settings – Accessibility – Touch – AssistiveTouch.
- Access the section Pointing devices – Bluetooth devices.
- Tap on the name of the mouse in the section of connected devices.
- Access each of the buttons to configure the option you want to perform when you press it.
In addition, in some cases, you will also see a section called Customize additional buttons. From it you can configure additional buttons in case your mouse has more than iPadOS detects by default.
3.- Change the size and colour of the cursor
As I said, the iPad cursor is big compared to any computer, but it can also be configured to be even larger and choose between several colours to make it more visible on the screen. To modify these settings you must do the following:
- Access Settings – Accessibility – Touch – Cursor.
- Choose the colour you want for the cursor.
- If you want the cursor to be even larger than the one by default, activate the Large Cursor option.
Now you can use your mouse with the iPad!
As you can see, the configuration options are quite extensive. In addition, setting up a wireless mouse for use with the Apple tablet is tremendously easy and will not take more than a couple of minutes the first time you use it.
Are you one of those who missed this feature or do you think it was not necessary? Undoubtedly the iPad is increasingly positioned as a perfect alternative to a computer and the arrival of iPadOS will gradually make all the limitations that were until now completely disappear.
