iPad Pro What CAN you do with an external display and iPad?

[Superman730]

I recently got an iPP 11 and a guy from work said that he takes his iPad on travel and uses an adapter and that's how he watches movies in hotels. I always knew that the iPad itself just displayed in a different resolution on the screen but he made it seem like you could be watching something and still using your iPad for other tasks. I just tried this with my monitor at home and Netflix and while it displayed just fine on the external display, anything I tried to do with the iPad knocked the video off and it went back to the regular iPad home screen. Am I doing something wrong or did I misinterpret what was iPadOS was capable of? Should I have tried a video player besides Netflix?

 

[secretk]

Is it possible by an adapter he means Chromecast or something of the like? I do not own Chromecast and I do not know how it works but I would imagine that with it whatever the content it will fill in the TV instead of just showing it with huge black bezels (how it works when using HDMI adapter).

You don't do anything wrong. This is how iPadOS behaves. There is no native support for extending displays. In most cases the display is mirrored and does not stretch to fill in the external display fully. Some apps do support additional features when the iPad is hooked to external display but this is up to the specific app development. For example in Keynote you can see the presentation mode on the external display and the PPT with the notes on the iPad. With MindNode you can enter full screen mode for the mindmap. Not sure how Netflix behaves as I had not tried it.

 

[AutomaticApple]

I do not own Chromecast and I do not know how it works

What Is Chromecast?

Chromecast is a tiny TV dongle that promises to bring you streaming media controlled via your mobile device. Can it compete with the rest of the streaming media market?

electronics.howstuffworks.com

 

[sparksd]

I recently got an iPP 11 and a guy from work said that he takes his iPad on travel and uses an adapter and that's how he watches movies in hotels. I always knew that the iPad itself just displayed in a different resolution on the screen but he made it seem like you could be watching something and still using your iPad for other tasks. I just tried this with my monitor at home and Netflix and while it displayed just fine on the external display, anything I tried to do with the iPad knocked the video off and it went back to the regular iPad home screen. Am I doing something wrong or did I misinterpret what was iPadOS was capable of? Should I have tried a video player besides Netflix?

Are you trying to use PiP? That does work with Netflix - you swipe up from the very bottom of the Netflix screen.

 

[mk313]

I haven’t used mine like that in a while but it did work for me. I can put a movie on show it in the external monitor and then use the regular display to do email or whatever.

I’m not sure what apps I used it that way for though. It might have been Netflix, Hulu, prime, vudu or apples movie app. I always did it using an hdmi cable and the lightning to hdmi connector.

 

[cdcastillo]

I haven’t used mine like that in a while but it did work for me. I can put a movie on show it in the external monitor and then use the regular display to do email or whatever.

I’m not sure what apps I used it that way for though. It might have been Netflix, Hulu, prime, vudu or apples movie app. I always did it using an hdmi cable and the lightning to hdmi connector.

I haven't been able to do this. Not once.

 

[Superman730]

Is it possible by an adapter he means Chromecast or something of the like? I do not own Chromecast and I do not know how it works but I would imagine that with it whatever the content it will fill in the TV instead of just showing it with huge black bezels (how it works when using HDMI adapter).

You don't do anything wrong. This is how iPadOS behaves. There is no native support for extending displays. In most cases the display is mirrored and does not stretch to fill in the external display fully. Some apps do support additional features when the iPad is hooked to external display but this is up to the specific app development. For example in Keynote you can see the presentation mode on the external display and the PPT with the notes on the iPad. With MindNode you can enter full screen mode for the mindmap. Not sure how Netflix behaves as I had not tried it.

No, he specifically said it was a lightning to HDMI (I realize with the Pro I'm using USB-C, but still). Maybe he doesn't do actual work while he's watching stuff and was just trying to sound more productive than he is (lol, likely).

I've never tried getting a Chromecast to work in a hotel environment but I can only assume it is a huge chore to get working!

 

[Superman730]

Are you trying to use PiP? That does work with Netflix - you swipe up from the very bottom of the Netflix screen.

Yea, I use the PiP feature all the time, I love it. I'm so excited that it's coming to the phone in iOS14. I'm a little more used to getting it activated when I was using my iPad Mini and it was a button push, however I get it working 95% of the time with the proper swipe up in the Pro nowadays 😆

 

[Superman730]

I haven’t used mine like that in a while but it did work for me. I can put a movie on show it in the external monitor and then use the regular display to do email or whatever.

I’m not sure what apps I used it that way for though. It might have been Netflix, Hulu, prime, vudu or apples movie app. I always did it using an hdmi cable and the lightning to hdmi connector.

I'll have to try with a different app and with the native AppleTV app to see if the behavior is any different.

 

[muzzy996]

I tend to get pissed off at myself if I can’t have/do something because I took a minimalist approach to being prepared, so when I travel I do so with a Ravpower Filehub (a generation prior to the RP-WD009) and a streaming stick of choice (a roku in the past but moving forward I’ll use my Nvidia shield).

Its bulk for sure, but I don’t travel for 1 or 2 night stays, I go for longer trips of a week or more. Stepping into a hotel room and establishing the wifi connection from the filehub to the hotel’s wifi (or wired if they have it) is all I need to do and the rest of my travel network falls in line. My mobile devices and streaming stick are setup to find the filehub’s wifi network and I’m able to stream to the stick or use the apps on the stick to stream direct from services. No need for hard wiring my iPad to a TV, and no need to setup various mobile devices on hotel wifi, plus the added benefit of a router in between my devices and the hotel’s network.

I have vague recollections of having issues pushing certain content through the HDMI connection from my iPad due to DRM restrictions which is why I went the way described above. Everyone’s different - this certainly seems to add some complexity to things but really it’s not that bad IMO.

 

[russell_314]

It might be an issue specific to Netflix as some sort of DRM.

 

[Superman730]

I tend to get pissed off at myself if I can’t have/do something because I took a minimalist approach to being prepared, so when I travel I do so with a Ravpower Filehub (a generation prior to the RP-WD009) and a streaming stick of choice (a roku in the past but moving forward I’ll use my Nvidia shield).

Its bulk for sure, but I don’t travel for 1 or 2 night stays, I go for longer trips of a week or more. Stepping into a hotel room and establishing the wifi connection from the filehub to the hotel’s wifi (or wired if they have it) is all I need to do and the rest of my travel network falls in line. My mobile devices and streaming stick are setup to find the filehub’s wifi network and I’m able to stream to the stick or use the apps on the stick to stream direct from services. No need for hard wiring my iPad to a TV, and no need to setup various mobile devices on hotel wifi, plus the added benefit of a router in between my devices and the hotel’s network.

I have vague recollections of having issues pushing certain content through the HDMI connection from my iPad due to DRM restrictions which is why I went the way described above. Everyone’s different - this certainly seems to add some complexity to things but really it’s not that bad IMO.

How do you connect to the hotel WiFi with the travel router? I've had such issues in the past with connections being steady that I get wary that a router could maintain the certificates or whatever the hotel is using to manage users. Especially since all the hotel chains do it differently.

I used to go to Yuma, AZ and go to an independently operated hotel and each room had it's own cable modem. It was awesome. I bought an Airport Express and would use it whenever I went. Those were the days. They have switched over to whole hotel WiFi at this point now that the technology is better and I also don't travel to AZ anymore. But that's the only time I've ever really successfully used a portable router since WiFi became so prevalent over Ethernet in hotels.

 

[sparksd]

How do you connect to the hotel WiFi with the travel router? I've had such issues in the past with connections being steady that I get wary that a router could maintain the certificates or whatever the hotel is using to manage users. Especially since all the hotel chains do it differently.

I used to go to Yuma, AZ and go to an independently operated hotel and each room had it's own cable modem. It was awesome. I bought an Airport Express and would use it whenever I went. Those were the days. They have switched over to whole hotel WiFi at this point now that the technology is better and I also don't travel to AZ anymore. But that's the only time I've ever really successfully used a portable router since WiFi became so prevalent over Ethernet in hotels.

I do the same as muzzy996 with the FileHub. It connects to the hotel WiFi and bridges it on its own network. Works connected wirelessly to the hotel or via Ethernet cable - you configure it with their app on your device (I've used both iOS & Android with it). You can connect up to 5 devices to the hub's network - no more multiple payouts for multiple devices on the hotel's line. It has worked great for me.

 

[muzzy996]

Yup so the beauty of using a wireless bridge like that is one can setup a streaming stick to connect to their bridge along with their mobile devices. Once one is in a hotel room (or anywhere with wifi) they can connect the bridge to the wifi network and the bridge’s internal wifi will then give internet access to all devices that are configured to access the bridge. Saves you from having to set up wifi connections on multiple devices when traveling. My wife and son never have to worry, since its the first thing I unpack and setup whenever we arrive somewhere. Almost like taking your home wifi network with you.

 

[mk313]

I'll have to try with a different app and with the native AppleTV app to see if the behavior is any different.

I tired it again today and couldn’t get it to work. Last time I did it was on an earlier iOS when we still had itunes. I think maybe Apple got rid if the feature at some point in the last couple of years. The only thing I could do was bring up mail in that floating mode but that’s not super useful. I wonder if the op’s friend has an older version of iOS running on their iPad.