I review iPads for a living — here's 15 iPad shortcuts I can't live without

I've been reviewing the best iPads for nearly a decade, and in that time I've learned a few things about how to use them efficiently. Even so, it took me years to realize that iPads have their own unique set of shortcuts you can use to quickly navigate the tablet and get more done with less effort.

If you connect a keyboard to your iPad you will find there are some handy keyboard shortcuts that can save you some serious time. But I also wanted to share some simple gestures that anyone can learn and use to get more out of your iPad. Spending a few minutes to master these movements will make you an iPad power user in no time. Let me show you what I mean.

7 iPad gestures I wish I'd known from the start

Access your Home screen: This is probably the simplest iPad gesture command, and you've probably done it by accident: simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen to minimize whatever you're looking at and get back to your Home screen.

Access your App Switcher: Did you know you can tap and drag to quickly see all the apps open on your iPad? Simply drag your finger from the bottom of your iPad to the center of the screen as if you were accessing the Home screen, but pause in the center, leave your finger there for a moment then remove it.

This takes some getting used to, but once you master this move and the next one you'll be able to fly between apps with ease. You can also force apps to close from the App Switcher by swiping up on the individual app.

Quickly switch between apps: To quickly switch between open apps on your iPad, you can swipe right or left along the bottom edge of the screen.

Open your Dock: Instead of closing an app to launch another one, you can access your iPad's Dock from within any app. Simply swipe your finger up from the bottom of the screen about an inch (that is, not very far), pause for a moment then lift your finger to summon the Dock.

Force restart: Sometimes when I'm reviewing an iPad it will lock up or an app will freeze in a weird way, and I have to force the iPad to restart. To do this yourself, simply hit the volume up button, then hit the volume down button, then press and hold the power button until the iPad restarts.

Slide Over an app: If you have an app open and want to open another one in a small window that hovers to the side, simply open the Dock, tap on the second app you wish to open and drag it over to either side of your iPad to open it in Slide Over mode. You can also slide left or right on the bottom of the Slide Over window to change which app is open in Slide Over mode.

Open two apps in Split View: It can be confusing, but Split View lets you view two apps side-by-side on your iPad while Slide Over has one hovering other the other in a small window. To open an app in Split View, simply tap and drag the app icon from your Dock to either side of the screen.

If that seems an awful lot like the Slide Over shortcut, it is—the key difference is how far you drag the app before letting go. Once you try it a few times you'll get the hang of it.

Once two apps are open in Split View, you can tap and drag on the divider in the middle to change how much screen real estate each takes up.

8 iPad keyboard shortcuts worth knowing

If, like me, you enjoy using your iPad with an external keyboard connected via Bluetooth, good news: there's a slew of shortcuts you can access on your keyboard to get around your tablet faster and get more done in less time.

You can also customize your iPad keyboard shortcuts by enabling Full Keyboard Access in your Settings menu.

To do so, open the Settings app on your iPad and navigate to the Accessibility sub-menu, then access the Keyboards section. Enable "Full Keyboard Access," which gives you more options to control your iPad using just the keyboard.

You can see what you can do with your iPad keyboard under the Commands section. To customize your keyboard shortcuts, simply tap one of these commands and press the key combo you'd like to use to activate it.

That's all there is to it! You've taken another big step on the path to mastering your iPad, and you're ready to be more productive with just a tablet. I personally use these keyboard shortcuts all the time when I'm writing remotely on my iPad, and they've been a game-changer for my productivity.

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