All iPads iPad mouse experience janky

[culo77]

Is it me or am I missing some settings somewhere? Using a mouse with the iPad is a bit subpar. I am unable to find a way that I can smooth out the scrolling with the scroll wheel. It’s choppy and jumps randomly. Some apps refuse to recognize right click, yes I am talk about you Google Sheets.

I have tried 3 different mice and connections. A Bluetooth Logitech mouse, a different Logitech wireless mouse connected through a dongle, and a random wired mouse. All the same Janky

Please don’t tell me I need to cough up 100 duckets for the “magic” mouse. That ain’t gonna fly.

 

[Slartibart]

which version of iPadOS? (Which iPad model? Which mouse models?) What are the settings for a »pointing device« on the iPad?

 

[Ludatyk]

I have tried 3 different mice and connections. A Bluetooth Logitech mouse, a different Logitech wireless mouse connected through a dongle, and a random wired mouse. All the same Janky

Please don’t tell me I need to cough up 100 duckets for the “magic” mouse. That ain’t gonna fly.

Well, yeah... I hate to mention it. Having a Magic Mouse or Trackpad provides a better experience (imo)... I have a MX Master 3 and the scrolling doesn't seem as smooth compared to Apple mouses.

And I had Magic Mouse 2 Space Black years ago I spent less than $80 (I had sold off)... then after a year with that, I went with the Magic Trackpad 2 Space Black (I still have). I spent less than $80 on that as well, both were open box at Best Buy.

 

[rui no onna]

Well, yeah... I hate to mention it. Having a Magic Mouse or Trackpad provides a better experience (imo)... I have a MX Master 3 and the scrolling doesn't seem as smooth compared to Apple mouses.

And I had Magic Mouse 2 Space Black years ago I spent less than $80 (I had sold off)... then after a year with that, I went with the Magic Trackpad 2 Space Black (I still have). I spent less than $80 on that as well, both were open box at Best Buy.

I've never used the Magic Mouse but I agree, using the Magic Trackpad scrolls way smoother and provides a better experience versus a non-Apple mouse.

 

[bondr006]

I've never used the Magic Mouse but I agree, using the Magic Trackpad scrolls way smoother and provides a better experience versus a non-Apple mouse.

I use the Magic Trackpad on my iPad Pro desktop setup, and it is perfectly smooth. Just feels natural to use a touch device to control a touch device, and you get all the gestures. I tried an MX Anywhere 2S which is a really nice mouse and it doesn't have the smoothness or natural feel that the trackpad does, but works perfectly fine on my Mac Mini.

 

[culo77]

which version of iPadOS? (Which iPad model? Which mouse models?) What are the settings for a »pointing device« on the iPad?

On iPadOS 16, iPad mini 6, the mouse was a Logitech mx, a wired dell, and a random Logitech

 

[culo77]

Thanks y’all, seems like the if I want the best experience I need a the apple trackpad or mouse.

Luckily I don’t use my iPad that much with a mouse so at the moment it’s just a minor annoyance. If I ever sell or donate my MacBook Air and go full iPad I will pay the apple tax.

Any settings you guys changed to get the mouse to where you like it?

 

[Ludatyk]

Thanks y’all, seems like the if I want the best experience I need a the apple trackpad or mouse.

Luckily I don’t use my iPad that much with a mouse so at the moment it’s just a minor annoyance. If I ever sell or donate my MacBook Air and go full iPad I will pay the apple tax.

Any settings you guys changed to get the mouse to where you like it?

Umm.. I personally believe the trackpad is the best experience for iPadOS, primarily because of the gestures.

And I don’t drastically change anything in settings, it’s really not as feature rich as macOS. But here is how mine is set up.

 

[culo77]

I've never used the Magic Mouse but I agree, using the Magic Trackpad scrolls way smoother and provides a better experience versus a non-Apple mouse.

I can see where the trackpad would perfectly mimic the touch experience. Not an ideal thing to lug if being mobile though.

I use the Magic Trackpad on my iPad Pro desktop setup, and it is perfectly smooth. Just feels natural to use a touch device to control a touch device. I tried an MX Anywhere 2S which is a really nice mouse and it doesn't have the smoothness or natural feel that the trackpad does, but works perfectly fine on my Mac Mini.

Thank is a sweet set up! Off topic, how do you have the speakers connected I am finding out the annoyance of sound when external screen connected. I just use the AirPods when connected to not get frustrated.

Umm.. I personally believe the trackpad is the best experience for iPadOS, primarily because of the gestures.

And I don’t drastically change anything in settings, it’s really not as feature rich as macOS. But here is how mine is set up.

Thank you. Looks like my mouse settings are similar, except the scrolling I like the mouse wheel not natural.

 

[bondr006]

Thank is a sweet set up! Off topic, how do you have the speakers connected I am finding out the annoyance of sound when external screen connected. I just use the AirPods when connected to not get frustrated.

Thanks! Yeah, with Stage Manager, the sound defaults to the external monitor whether it has speakers or not. Very annoying, and I hope Apple sees fit to give us some audio controls soon. One would think that the sound would just default to the iPad speakers, but no. For now, I can use my sound system four ways. I can use the audio out jack on my external monitor. I can use the audio out jack on my USB hub I have the iPad connected to. I can use the Bluetooth on my audio system. And I can use my Airpods Pro.

 

[Bogstandard]

My magic mouse experience with an iPP 12.9 gen 2 was pretty dire...basically useless.
My magic mouse experience with an iPP 12.9 gen 3 has been excellent.
I reckon you need the face id models for a satisfactory magic mouse experience.

 

[VaruLV]

Scrolling with anything but Magic mouse or trackpad will suck and to lesser or bigger extent will be as crappy as yours.
I bought two different bluetooth mices, first was HP, scrolling sucked, so I used Google and found out that I have the wrong mouse and went through list of ones that are supposedly smooth and near perfect.
Well, that turned out to be total bollocks, since my second one, Logi Pebble, is as bad at scrolling as HP and there are plenty of posts online about people having the same issues with iPads and non-Apple devices.

 

[rui no onna]

I can see where the trackpad would perfectly mimic the touch experience. Not an ideal thing to lug if being mobile though.

Depends on how mobile you need to be.

I lug around a bulky trackball (Logitech M575) along with a 16" laptop when I need to work while traveling. By comparison, an iPad + flat trackpad is a lot easier to stow away.

Now for leisure, I carry just the iPad in its folio case. No keyboard or mouse/trackpad. I'm fine with using just the touchscreen.

 

[Slartibart]

I just connected a Logitech Pebble M350 and while there is no nice “momentum”, scrolling works perfectly fine. Not as smooth as with momentum but linear - no stutter.
I additionally tested a MS Arc mouse and it works as expected. It supports momentum using touch to scroll on it and if you swipe up fast on its touch area it scrolls nicely. Only at the end, the last steps it stops not as smooth as Apple’s devices. Additionally touch feels compared to Apple’s mouse slightly more - for having no better word at the moment - “viscous”.
But both mice work without stutter on iPadOS 16.3, iPP 11” 2020, 12.9” M1. I use them with the minaimal scrolling speed.

nota bene: and when you “overscroll” e.g. this page here after flicking up on the Arc Mouse it comes of course back after reaching the top, but does not set at the top but somewhat lower. So “momentum” works, but somewhat different to Apple’s devices.

 

[culo77]

Depends on how mobile you need to be.

I lug around a bulky trackball (Logitech M575) along with a 16" laptop when I need to work while traveling. By comparison, an iPad + flat trackpad is a lot easier to stow away.

Now for leisure, I carry just the iPad in its folio case. No keyboard or mouse/trackpad. I'm fine with using just the touchscreen.

Yeah it’s perspective, I used to hate lugging a 15 inch laptop brick for work travel. Yet others would heave around a 17 inch Lenovo tank around every day and not even bat an eye.

 

[culo77]

Slartibart, tell me more about the Microsoft arc mouse, this may be a future purchase for me.

Thanks! Yeah, with Stage Manager, the sound defaults to the external monitor whether it has speakers or not. Very annoying, and I hope Apple sees fit to give us some audio controls soon. One would think that the sound would just default to the iPad speakers, but no. For now, I can use my sound system four ways. I can use the audio jack on my external monitor. I can use the audio jack on my USB hub I have the iPad connected to. I can use the Bluetooth on my audio system. And I can use my Airpods Pro.

I tried my hubs headphone jack and got nothing. I have done what you have and connected speakers to the monitor but the issue I have is the only way to change volume is in the monitor menu settings. Annoying so I just use my AirPods.

I bought two different bluetooth mices, first was HP, scrolling sucked, so I used Google and found out that I have the wrong mouse and went through list of ones that are supposedly smooth and near perfect.
Well, that turned out to be total bollocks, since my second one, Logi Pebble, is as bad at scrolling as HP and there are plenty of posts online about people having the same issues with iPads and non-Apple devices.

Thank you for this, I now feel like it’s not me or something I was missing.

My magic mouse experience with an iPP 12.9 gen 2 was pretty dire...basically useless.
My magic mouse experience with an iPP 12.9 gen 3 has been excellent.
I reckon you need the face id models for a satisfactory magic mouse experience.

Thank you, now I know if I decide to use a monitor setup more often I will need the Magic Mouse or trackpad.

My infrequent desktop use doesn’t warrant the expense at this time. If and when I need to pass down my m1 MacBook Air to the family I will go full iPad use, until then the occasional annoyance of basic mouse use is mostly tolerable.

 

[sparksd]

Slartibart, tell me more about the Microsoft arc mouse, this may be a future purchase for me.



I tried my hubs headphone jack and got nothing. I have done what you have and connected speakers to the monitor but the issue I have is the only way to change volume is in the monitor menu settings. Annoying so I just use my AirPods.


Thank you for this, I now feel like it’s not me or something I was missing.


Thank you, now I know if I decide to use a monitor setup more often I will need the Magic Mouse or trackpad.

My infrequent desktop use doesn’t warrant the expense at this time. If and when I need to pass down my m1 MacBook Air to the family I will go full iPad use, until then the occasional annoyance of basic mouse use is mostly tolerable.

I have an Arc Mouse and use it as my portable mobile mouse - it flattens out to a slim form factor. The touch-sensitive surface takes some getting used to but it works well. It's powered by 2 AAA batteries, which I actually like as they last forever and I don't have to worry about charging.

 

[rui no onna]

Yeah it’s perspective, I used to hate lugging a 15 inch laptop brick for work travel. Yet others would heave around a 17 inch Lenovo tank around every day and not even bat an eye.

In fairness, modern 15-16” thin-n-light laptops weigh less than my old 13” ultraportable laptop from ~10 years ago. Bonus, I can use the same USB-C GaN charger I use for the iPad so no heavy brick to lug around anymore.

Something like the LG gram 17” is even lighter than iPad Pro 12.9” + Magic Keyboard. Alas, I’m not a fan of the keyboard+trackpad layout on the LG.

My brother has a 15” Legion with 200W brick. Now that sucker’s heavy.

 

[sparksd]

In fairness, modern 15-16” thin-n-light laptops weigh less than my old 13” ultraportable laptop from ~10 years ago. Bonus, I can use the same USB-C GaN charger I use for the iPad so no heavy brick to lug around anymore.

Something like the LG gram 17” is even lighter than iPad Pro 12.9” + Magic Keyboard. Alas, I’m not a fan of the keyboard+trackpad layout on the LG.

My brother has a 15” Legion with 200W brick. Now that sucker’s heavy.

Years ago, I had a 17" Dell laptop that probably should have had wheels on it for lugging around. My 13" Surface Pro 7 feels lighter than my M1 12.9 with MKB attached.

 

[culo77]

I have an Arc Mouse and use it as my portable mobile mouse - it flattens out to a slim form factor. The touch-sensitive surface takes some getting used to but it works well. It's powered by 2 AAA batteries, which I actually like as they last forever and I don't have to worry about charging.

That is what I like, things that are used infrequently to have AA or AAA batteries. The everyday things I am okay to plug in to top off.

 

[Mike Proctor]

You might try going to Settings-Accessibility-Pointer Control and setting the scrolling speed all the way up. I think that smoothed mine out a little bit.

 

[JuicyGoomba]

Unfortunately everything you've described sounds like Apple's classic gatekeeping of accessories. There's a reason we have to buy a separate app to enable natural scrolling animations on the likes of the MX Master mice, and it's most definitely not the fault of Logitech.

Many people seem fine with just stumping up the extortionate asking price for Apple's "magic" accessories. In reality the only thing "magical" is Apple's ability to make so many people buy their flawed accessories. The magic trackpad is amazing, don't get me wrong, however the bluetooth latency is very noticeable compared to something like the built in trackpad on a MacBook.

Sadly on iPadOS you have no way of installing a third party app to provide 3rd party mice the ability to use correct scrolling and cursor animations.

Honestly at this point I wouldn't be surprised if there's code in iOS/iPadOS that gimps 3rd party bluetooth mice to a lower polling rate than Apple's own.

 

[culo77]

You might try going to Settings-Accessibility-Pointer Control and setting the scrolling speed all the way up. I think that smoothed mine out a little bit.

Thank you for this, I tried it does help a bit but too fast for my casual use. I would set it this way if I was mousing fail with the iPad .

Unfortunately everything you've described sounds like Apple's classic gatekeeping of accessories.

Sadly on iPadOS you have no way of installing a third party app to provide 3rd party mice the ability to use correct scrolling and cursor animations.

This helps a lot. I truly felt I was doing something wrong, thats why I went to the macrumors population for help. Knowing this confirms that I do not need to continue futzing around or buy a new solution. It is the way it is and BS that it is this way.

For my casual mouse use, I will just deal with it.

 

[hovscorpion12]

I can’t tell you how long I’ve been searching for an answer to this. Finally. Going to Accessability and changing the sped helped significantly!