iOS 12 brings all new gestures to the iPad. And this is just a year since we saw a big overhaul of iPad features. Basically, Apple has now brought gesture parity between the latest X-style iPhones and the iPad. Presumably, this is a preamble to the Face ID equipped, home button less, edge-to-edge iPads. Right now, we’re caught in the transitionary time. This means, new gestures to go home, use the Dock and of course, the Control Center.
If you’ve just updated to iOS 12 on your iPad and you’re not sure how to use all the new gestures, check out our iPad gesture guide to iOS 12.
How to Access Control Center on iPad in iOS 12
As you might have noticed, the iPad now has a new status bar. Instead of time in the middle, it now shows something similar to the iPhone X. On the left edge is your network, carrier or device name. On the right, you’ll find status icons for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, signal strength and battery.
Just like the iPhone X, this is where you swipe down to reveal the Control Center.
It will show up as an overlay on top of anything that you’re viewing. And you can do this any time, anywhere. Even if the status bar isn’t visible, a swipe from the top-right edge of the iPad will always bring down the Control Center.
The only caveat is that it’s only accessible in a small portion of the status bar, If you swipe down slightly on the left to the status icons, you’ll reveal the Notification Center. This becomes doubly frustrating if you’ve got two apps side by side in Split View. Swiping down left to the status icons, in such a setup, will undock the split screen app instead!
So here’s the rule of thumb for effectively accessing Control Center on iPad every single time. Where you see the battery percentage, that’s where you swipe down.
Then you can continue to use Control Center like you always do. Tap and hold on panels to expand them. Tap on interact with toggles. Go to Settings -> Customize Controls to add and remove extra controls in Control Center.
The Best New iPad Gesture
The new iPad gestures got you down? Don’t worry. This will make up for everything. The iPhone X style recent apps gesture is now available on the iPad as well. So just lightly flick up from the bottom of the screen and swipe left or right to quickly go back to the previous app. Basically, make a short, inverted “U” gesture from the bottom part of the screen.
What do you think of the new iPad gestures in iOS 12? Share with us in the comments below.
