iPad for studying: set it up right from day one

By the tiswa editorial team, from the official sources listed at the end of this guide. How we write our guides

An iPad for studying replaces the notebook, the printed handouts and the textbook with one device, but only if it is set up properly. The defaults are not enough: you want handwriting turned on, a known home for quick notes, and a way to keep a PDF and your notes side by side. This guide walks through each step with the menu names exactly as they appear on iPad.

What works in Arabic with Apple Pencil?

Per Apple feature availability page, these Apple Pencil features support Arabic on iPadOS:

Step 1: Scribble with Apple Pencil

Scribble lets you write with the pencil in any text field: the Safari search bar, a message, a file name. The iPad turns it into text.

1. Check it is on

   Go to Settings > Apple Pencil and make sure Scribble is on.

2. Write in any field

   Touch a text field with the pencil and write.

3. Scratch to delete

   Scratch out a word to delete it.

4. Insert text

   Touch and hold between words to open a space and write.

5. Join or separate

   Draw a vertical line between characters to join or separate them.

6. Select

   Circle words or underline them to select them.

Step 2: Quick Notes

A Quick Note opens from any screen without leaving the app you are in. Perfect when you are reading a PDF and want to jot a question for your instructor.

1. Open with the pencil

   Swipe up with Apple Pencil from the bottom-right corner of the screen.

2. Or the keyboard

   With an external keyboard, press Globe-Q.

3. Change the corner

   In Settings > Apps > Notes > Corner Gestures you can choose the corner and the action.

4. Find them later

   All Quick Notes are saved in the Quick Notes folder in Notes and show up on iPhone and Mac.

Step 3: Two apps side by side

The most useful iPad habit for a student: the book or slides on one side, notes on the other. In Settings > Multitasking & Gestures, choose how you work:

• Windowed Apps: each app sits in a window you resize from the corner handle and place next to another.
• Stage Manager: windows sit in the middle with recent apps on the side, switched with a tap.

Pick Windowed Apps for two fixed sides, and Stage Manager if you jump between several courses. Either way, you can drag an image or text from one window to another.

Step 4: Organize files and focus

• Make a folder per course in Files inside iCloud Drive, so the files match on iPhone and Mac.
• Scan printed handouts as PDFs straight into the course folder. The method is in scan documents to PDF on iPhone, and the steps are the same on iPad.
• Turn on your Study Focus on iPhone with Share Across Devices and it turns on for the iPad too. Details in iPhone focus mode for studying.
• Search your handwriting: type a word in Notes search and it finds words you wrote with the pencil too.

A simple weekly iPad routine

Setup alone is not enough; what matters is how you use it each week. A routine that fits most majors:

• Before the lecture: save the slides as a PDF in the course folder and open them in Notes or your app of choice to write on directly.
• During the lecture: write on the slides with the pencil, and use a Quick Note for any question or assignment the instructor mentions.
• The day after: open the Quick Notes folder, move each note to its course, and turn key points into text with the Handwriting tool.
• End of the week: search your handwriting for key terms and build a short summary for revision.

Before exams, this routine leaves you with summaries ready instead of starting from scratch. The full plan is in final exams revision.

iPad by major

For apps beyond Notes to take notes in, see note-taking apps for iPad.

Which iPad for studying, and what is the student price?

Every current iPad supports Apple Pencil, but which pencil depends on the model, so check compatibility before you buy. The full model comparison and student prices are in iPad and laptop student prices. Current education savings from Apple:

Prices and deals in this article come straight from the tiswa catalogue, so they stay current.

Example: a naming system that finds files in seconds

Two months into term, your iPad has dozens of files called "File 3" and "Image". From week one, commit to a fixed system:

1. A folder per term

   Such as "Term 1 1448".

2. A folder per course inside it

   Named with the course and code, such as "Statistics 101".

3. File names start with the week number

   Such as "W03 Normal distribution lecture", so files sort themselves.

4. An exams folder

   Past exams and review questions for each course.

With this you can find any lecture by search or browsing, and see straight away what is missing before an exam.

Preparing for exams on iPad

• Write a one-page summary of each chapter by hand, because handwriting helps memory more than copying text.
• Duplicate a lecture file, erase the answers or definitions, then test yourself on it with the pencil.
• Do past papers on real paper at least once, because the real exam is usually on paper.

Mistakes that make the iPad a distraction instead of a tool

• Social media notifications on your study device. Turn them off or use a Focus.
• Spending ages decorating notes with colours and stickers instead of understanding the content.
• No backup of your notes. Make sure they save to your cloud account.
• Forgetting to charge the pencil and iPad before lecture days. Make charging part of your evening routine.

For a quick way to turn printed sheets into files on your device, see scanning documents with iPhone.