Want to watch MKV videos stored in the Files app on an iPad? You can do that easily once you learn how. This makes it simple to keep locally stored MKV movies on iPad within the Files app to be able to watch directly on the device.
If you have an MKV video file in the Files app of iPad that you want to watch, you may have noticed that by default the Files app is not able to play mkv video files. But not to worry, with the help of a free app you can easily watch any MKV movie that is located in the Files app of an iPad.
Open the Files app on the iPad and navigate to the MKV movie file you want to watch
Tap on the MKV video and then tap on the Share button, it looks like a box with an arrow flying out of the top
Choose “Open in VLC” to open the MKV movie file into the VLC app*
Watch your MKV video in VLC, you can play, pause, fast forward, rewind, and perform all other expected video watching capabilities in VLC on iPad
*Sometimes you must first choose to “Copy to VLC” from the Sharing menu, then tap out of the Share sheet, wait a moment or two, and then open the Sharing screen again to choose “Open in VLC”.
Note that every time you wish to watch the MKV video in VLC you will need to manually choose to do so through the same Sharing menu within Files app.
With iPadOS 13 (and later) you can even use this same trick to watch MKV video files from the Files app that are on a local network share, so if you have an SMB file server you can access that through Files app and then load any mkv movies directly into VLC too.
If for some reason this method doesn’t work from playing the MKV video file directly from Files app on iPad or iPhone, you can also use the wi-fi upload method to VLC to watch MKV, AVI, and other videos on iPhone and iPad, which basically copies the movie file directly to the VLC app storage on the device.
Wondering how long an iCloud backup restore to an iPhone or iPad will take to complete? Restoring an iPhone or iPad from an iCloud Backup can take a while, depending on the size of the iCloud backup, and the speed of the internet connection the iOS device is connected to.
If you want to check on the progress of an active iCloud Restore, you can do so in modern versions of iOS.
How to Check Progress of iCloud Restore from Backup on iPhone or iPad
Open the “Settings” app in iOS
Tap on “Your Name” at the top of the Settings
Tap on “iCloud”
Tap on “iCloud Backup”
Locate the data remaining information on the iCloud backup restore process under the ‘Stop’ button to get a rough idea of how much longer the restore will take
The data remaining information will be shown in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB).
It’s best to let the iCloud Restore process complete, however long it may take. Failure to let the iCloud restore from backup process complete can lead to permanent data loss.
Optionally, but not recommended, you can stop an iCloud Restore from backup to an iOS device. Stopping an iCloud Restore can result in data loss and is therefore not recommended unless there is a compelling reason to do so.
While the iCloud Restore process is ongoing, you may notice notably poor battery life on the iPador iPhone as the devices “Ongoing Restore” background activity and downloading of data uses more energy than usual. Letting the iCloud Restore process complete will return the device to normal expected battery performance.
Note that much earlier versions of iOS do not support this feature.
By comparison, checking the restore progress of an iTunes backup restore is much more obvious because the iTunes window has a progress indicator showing the current progress and how long it will take to complete.
Rarely, an iPad may get stuck on an Apple logo screen when the device is booting or restarting. Getting stuck on the Apple logo usually happens during a failed software update, whether it was interrupted or incomplete, but it can sometimes happen during restores and during other operations as well.
If an iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air, or iPad mini is stuck on an Apple logo screen, you can use the tips below to troubleshoot the problem and resolve the issue.
How to Fix an iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad Mini Stuck on Apple Logo
This guide will aim to review troubleshooting solutions to resolve an iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air, or iPad mini that is stuck on a black Apple logo screen. Follow in the order presented, and be sure to use the advice specific to the iPad model, as the troubleshooting steps differ between iPad with Face ID and iPad with Home buttons.
0: Wait! Does the Apple logo screen on iPad have a progress bar?
If the Apple logo screen has a progress bar underneath the Apple logo, then that likely means the device is installing a system software update, or is being restored. In that situation, you will not want to interrupt the system software update process.
If you see the Apple logo screen on an iPad and it has a progress bar underneath the Apple logo, let it sit for a while with the device plugged into a power source.
If a software update is being applied, the iPad will complete the installation and restart itself normally when it has finished.
You may pick up an iPad and notice it’s on the Apple logo screen seemingly out of nowhere if you have automatic iOS / iPadOS software updates enabled on the iPad. Just let the update complete, do not interrupt it.
If the iPad remains unresponsive and stuck on the black Apple logo screen for an extended amount of time, say after an hour or so, it may be stuck and need further troubleshooting. When the iPad is truly stuck on the Apple logo screen, use the troubleshooting tricks below to resolve the issue.
1: Force Restart the iPad
Sometimes simply forcibly restarting the iPad will resolve being stuck on an Apple logo screen. Forcibly rebooting an iPad varies on the iPad model and the iPad model year, use the instructions below depending on the specific iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini, or iPad Pro.
Force Restart iPad Pro 11″ and iPad Pro 12.9″ (2018 and newer)
You can force restart iPad Pro with Face ID (2018 and newer) including the iPad Pro 11″ and iPad Pro 12.9″ models, with the following instructions:
Press and release Volume Up, press and release Volume Down, press and hold Power button until the iPad Pro restarts
Force Restart iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini, and older iPad Pro
You can force restart an iPad with a clickable Home button, including iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini, and older iPad Pro models, with the following instructions:
Hold the HOME button and POWER button concurrently until the device screen turns off to black and back on to an Apple logo screen appears
Occasionally, force rebooting works and the iPad returns to the lock screen or home screen as usual. If not, carry on for more troubleshooting.
2: Update iPad with Recovery Mode (or Restore)
The next troubleshooting trick is to update the iPad using Recovery Mode. Using Recovery Mode requires the use of a computer (Mac or Windows PC) with a modern version of iTunes, and you will need a USB cable to connect the iPad to the computer. Much like force rebooting, entering Recovery Mode varies per iPad model.
Update iPad Pro with Face ID via Recovery Mode
If the iPad has Face ID and no Home button, you can enter Recovery Mode on iPad Pro (2018 and newer) with the following instructions:
Open iTunes on the computer (or Finder if Mac is running Catalina)
Press and hold the Power button and Volume Up button until the “Slide to Power Off” screen appears, then drag that slider to turn OFF the iPad Pro
Next, hold down the POWER button and connect the iPad Pro to a computer with a USB cable. Continue holding the POWER button until iPad is in Recovery Mode
Choose “Update” when the alert message appears on screen
Updating the iPad in Recovery Mode may take a while so be patient and let 20 minutes or so pass. If this is successful, the iPad Pro will update the system software and then reboot itself eventually back and work as normal.
If this fails, you will need to repeat the steps above, but at step 4 choose to “Restore” the iPad instead of ‘update’ (Important note: by restoring the iPad it will reset it as new and erase all data on the iPad, however if you have a backup you can restore from that backup when complete).
Update any iPad with Home button via Recovery Mode
If the iPad has a Home button, you can enter Recovery Mode on iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini, and older iPad Pro with the following instructions:
Open iTunes on the computer (or Finder if Mac is running Catalina)
Press and hold the Power button until the “Slide to Power Off” screen appears, then slide to turn OFF the iPad
Hold down the HOME button while connecting the iPad to a computer using a USB cable
Continue holding the HOME button until the iPad is in Recovery Mode and detected by the computer
Choose “Update” when the alert message appears on screen
Updating the iPad can take a while, give it at least 20 minutes to see if this works. If updating is successful, the iPad will reboot and become usable as usual.
If this fails, you will need to repeat the steps above, but at step 5 choose to “Restore” the iPad rather than update. (Important note: restoring the iPad will erase all data on the iPad and set it up as new, however if you have a backup you can restore from that backup during the setup after restore).
3: Erase & Restore iPad with DFU Mode
If the above Recovery Mode methods fail to resolve the issue, you can try to use DFU mode to restore the iPad or iPad Pro instead. DFU mode is a lower restore method that may work when Recovery Mode fails. Using DFU mode will erase the iPad completely, meaning all data on the iPad will be lost. If you have a backup of the iPad, you can restore the iPad backup to the iPad when DFU restore has finished.
Restoring iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini, older iPad Pro with DFU Mode
You can enter DFU mode on any iPad with a Home button with these instructions:
Connect iPad to a computer (Mac or PC) and launch iTunes (or Finder if Mac is running Catalina)
Hold down the POWER button and the HOME button at the same time, and continue holding both of those buttons for 10 seconds
After 10 seconds, release the POWER Button but continue to hold the HOME button for another 5 seconds
Choose to Restore the iPad with iTunes, this will erase all data on iPad and set it up as new
Connect iPad Pro to a computer and launch iTunes (or Finder if Mac is running Catalina)
Press and release Volume UP, then press and release Volume DOWN, then press and hold the POWER button for 10 seconds
While still holding the Power button, also press and hold Volume DOWN button for another 5 seconds
Release the Power button but continue to hold Volume DOWN for another 10 seconds
When you see an alert on the computer that a device has been detected in recovery mode, choose to Restore to erase the iPad and set it up as new
When the iPad Pro has successfully restored you can either set it up as new or then restore it from an available backup during the setup.
Fortunately getting stuck on a black Apple logo screen is a pretty rare occurrence for iPad, and while the same thing can happen on an iPhone it’s also not particularly common to run into with that device either. Usually the troubleshooting steps outlined above will resolve the issue. Let us know in the comments below what worked to resolve your problem.
Tried all of the above and still stuck on an Apple logo screen? Something else may be going on, so the next best option is to contact official Apple Support or an Apple Authorized Repair Center for further assistance in repairing the iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini, or iPad Pro.
Sometimes an iPad must be placed into Recovery Mode before it can be restored or updated successfully with a computer. For example, if an iPad gets stuck on a black screen with an Apple logo for a very long time, Recovery Mode can usually remedy that. Typically Recovery Mode is used for a troubleshooting endeavor, but it can also be used for downgrading from iOS beta / iPadOS beta versions as well.
The instructions here will show how to enter Recovery Mode on iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini, and the earlier iPad Pro models with a Home button. Basically if the iPad has a Home button, the instructions detailed here will work to put the iPad into Recovery Mode. However, any newer model iPad Pro without any front buttons and with Face ID instead must use these instructions to enter Recovery Mode instead on iPad Pro 2018 and newer devices.
How to Enter Recovery Mode on iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini, early iPad Pro
To enter Recovery Mode on iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini, and earlier iPad Pro with Home button (2017 and earlier models, this will not work on the modern iPad Pro 2018 and later models), you will need a computer (Mac or Windows PC) with iTunes and a USB cable to connect the device to the Mac or PC with.
First turn the iPad off, do this by pressing and holding the Power button until the Power Off slider appears on the screen and then sliding on that to power it off
Launch iTunes on the computer *
Hold down the Home button while connecting the iPad to the computer with a USB cable
Continue holding the Home button until iTunes (or Mac Finder) shows a message stating that an iPad in Recovery Mode has been detected
After the iPad, iPad mini, or iPad Air has been detected by iTunes (or Finder), it can be restored with iTunes, or updated as usual. If you’re on a beta iOS version, you can also downgrade to the last stable build while in Recovery Mode.
* Use iTunes for MacOS Mojave 10.14 and earlier, and all Windows PC computers will use iTunes too. If the Mac is on MacOS Catalina 10.15 or later, then use the Mac Finder instead of iTunes.
Exiting Recovery Mode on iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini
If you want to exit out of Recovery Mode without performing any action in iTunes, you can do so with a simple force restart of the iPad.
Hold down the POWER button and the HOME button concurrently until the Apple logo appears on the screen, signifying it has been force restarted
After you reboot the device to exit recovery mode, it will boot as normal. Or if it was experiencing difficulty, like getting stuck on the Apple logo screen, it will probably just boot directly back into that if you didn’t actually run through recovery to restore the iPad.
Almost all serious issues with an iPad can be resolved through Recovery Mode, but rarely in some very stubborn cases you may need to put the iPad into DFU mode instead and restore from there. That’s quite rare however, and is really only applicable for when Recovery Mode is not working successfully for a restore or device update.
All iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch models can be placed into Recovery Mode, though the instructions for doing so differs per device.
iCloud backup restores can be stopped at any time on newer iOS devices. This means that if you have chosen to restore an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from an iCloud backup, either when setting up a device with a prior iOS backup, or to restore a problematic device as a troubleshooting method, you can stop the iCloud Restore process at anytime. This article will explain how to stop an iCloud backup restore to an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Stopping an iCloud Restore is generally not recommended and should not be taken lightly, as it may result in data loss.
Rarely, an iCloud Restore can get stuck, or the process take so long that it’s impractical to complete, thus it may need to be stopped as a troubleshooting method.
If you stop an iCloud Restore from iOS backup, any data that has not been restored will not be restored to the device in the future, nor will that missing data be backed up in the future, and therefore the unrestored data may become lost permanently if the restore is not allowed to complete.
Additionally, stopping an iCloud Restore to an iOS device offers no information as to what information was or was not restored to the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. In other words, you’ll have no idea what data was restored versus what data was not, so you could theoretically be missing photos, videos, notes, contacts, apps, app data, files, documents, or other important information by stopping the iCloud Restore.
How to Stop an iCloud Restore on iPhone or iPad
Warning: stopping an iCloud Restore may result in data loss.
Open the “Settings” app in iOS
Tap on “Your Name” at the top of the Settings list to access iCloud settings
Next tap on “iCloud”
Now tap on and choose “iCloud Backup”
Tap on “Stop Restoring iPad” (or “Stop Restoring iPhone”)
Confirm that you want to stop restoring from iCloud by tapping on “Stop”
As the final confirmation dialog message suggests, stopping an iCloud Restore to an iPhone or iPad will stop any data that has not yet been downloaded from being downloaded, and that missing data will not be restored or backed up again in the future.
Currently, iOS does not provide a list of data that has been restored, or has not yet been restored, and so if you stop the restore process from iCloud you will not have any idea as to what was restored or what wasn’t. This is one of many reasons why it is not recommended to stop an iCloud Restore, as you may permanently lose data or other important stuff.
Broadly speaking, it is recommended to let the entire iCloud Restore process complete, regardless of the scenario, or whether setting up a new iOS device from a previously made backup to iCloud, or restoring a device for troubleshooting, or whatever other purpose. iCloud Restore can take a long time depending on the size of the backup being restored, and the speed of the internet connection that the iPhone or iPad is connected to. You may notice that the “Ongoing Restore” process is causing battery drain of a newly setup iOS device, but that will stop when the backup has completed.
If you are going to stop an iCloud Restore because it’s stuck or for some other reason and thus want to start the entire iCloud Restore from a backup process over again, you may want to reset the iPhone to factory default settings or reset the iPad to factory settings, and then during the fresh device setup, choose to restore the appropriate iOS backup again, either from iCloud or from iTunes. If you’re using iCloud Restore, be sure to have a fast and reliable high speed internet connection.
If you have an iPhone or iPad with Face ID you may want to toggle the devices Attention Aware Features setting to be enabled or disabled. The Attention Aware Features uses the iPhone or iPad camera to check if you are looking at the device before dimming the display, or lowering the volume of alerts on the device.
For example, if you have Attention Aware Features enabled, then you may notice that the iPhone XS, XR, X ringer volume is low when you pick up the phone or look at it, and that happens automatically. If you don’t want that to happen, you can disable the feature. And likewise, if you had previously turned this off, you can re-enable Attention Aware Features of Face ID to turn those features back on again.
How to Turn Attention Aware Features OFF or ON on iPhone & iPad
Open the Settings app in iOS
GO to “General” and then go to “Accessibility”
Tap on “Face ID and Attention”
Toggle the setting for “Attention Aware Features” to the ON position to enable this feature, or the OFF position to disable it
The description under this particular Face ID attention setting is as follows:
“IPhone / iPad will check for attention before dimming the display and lowering the volume of alerts”
As mentioned before, one of the more common examples of users noticing this feature is if they have an iPhone with Face ID and they notice the ringer volume is lowering itself seemingly out of nowhere. Likewise, many iPad users may notice the feature if they discover their screen is not dimming or turning off automatically as expected, because they are looking at the device.
You can choose whichever setting you want for this feature, so if you like it, leave it enabled, and if you don’t, turn it off. It’s easy to change again at anytime.
The default setting on Face ID equipped iPhone and iPad models is to have Attention Aware Features enabled, and the features work even if you are not using Face ID on the device for unlocking and authentication of the iPhone or iPad.
If you use Spotify for streaming music, over time you may discover the Spotify app increases local cache storage, which can sometimes grow quite large. These audio cache files can make the Spotify app appear to take up a lot of storage space on an iPhone or iPad. But fortunately Spotify offers a simple functionality hidden within the app that allows you to easily delete all local cache from Spotify, which is a very helpful tool to free up some storage space.
You can also use this trick to simply see how much storage space the Spotify cache is taking up.
How to Delete Cache from Spotify on iPhone or iPad
Open the Spotify app then go to Spotify Settings by tapping the gear
Choose “Storage”
Select the “Delete Cache” button *
Confirm that you want to delete and clear all cache from Spotify
* Note that you can also see the total cache storage of Spotify at this Storage screen where you initiate the cache removal.
How much cache storage is taken up by Spotify depends on a variety of factors, including how often you use Spotify to stream music and audio, what audio quality settings for Spotify are in use by the app, and other factors.
While iOS does not have an empty cache functionality for either the iOS System, nor most apps (though you can clear cache in Safari for iOS), nor the “Other” storage stuff in iOS, thankfully some third party apps do have manual cache removal capabilities. Third party apps with cache clearance capabilities include the aforementioned Spotify, Google Maps, Twitter, and many more, though many others do not have that capability. You can, however, delete Documents & Data from iOS apps which can offer some relief from a storage burden if you’re running particularly tight, though that’s not an ideal mechanism.
For apps that do not have individual cache removal functionality (and most do not) you can use a silly workaround to dump cache from Instagram and other notorious storage munchers by what is effectively deleting the app and then reinstalling it again. Admittedly that is less than ideal, but until either the app developers offer built-in cache removal functionality, or until Apple adds a cache removal functionality into the System Settings of iOS, sometimes these quirky workarounds will be required.
Most users won’t really ever run into a situation where clearing cache is necessary from their devices, but if you discover storage capacity on iPhone or iPad is running tight or is full, then sometimes clearing out app caches can return a significant amount of free storage to the device, so it can be a worthwhile trick to know.
We’re obviosuly focusing on Spotify for iOS here, but it’s probably the same on Android too, though Android itself usually offers a separate built-in system cache removal functionality, something that iOS would benefit from as well.
If you’re an iPad owner who uses Google Chrome web browser with an external keyboard connected to the iPad, you might appreciate learning a variety of handy keyboard shortcuts to help using Chrome and navigating within the app for iPad.
This collection of keyboard shortcuts for Chrome on iPad works with basically any iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air, or iPad Mini, and with basically any keyboard connected to the iPad, whether it’s an Apple Smart Keyboard, Bluetooth keyboard, or a keyboard case.
22 iPad Keyboard Shortcuts for Chrome
New Tab – Command + T
New Incognito Tab – Command + Shift + N
Close Tab – Command + W
Reopen Closed Tab – Command + Shift + T
Bookmark This Page – Command + D
Find In Page – Command + F
Open URL / Location / Website – Command + L
Go to Location / Search Bar to Google Search – Command + L, search terms, then hit Return key
Reload Current Page – Command + R
Open History – Command + Y
Voice Search – Shift + Command + .
Navigate Down – Down Arrow
Navigate Up – Up Arrow
Full Page Down – Control + Down Arrow
Full Page Up – Control + Up Arrow
Scroll to Bottom of Page – Command + Down Arrow
Scroll to Top of Page – Command + Up Arrow
Go Back a Tab – Command + Option + Back Arrow
Go Forward a Tab – Command + Option + Forward Arrow
Go Back to Previous Page – Control + [
Go Forward a Page – Control + ]
Leave Chrome – ESC (if your keyboard has an Escape key) or Command + H
You can also use the traditional copy, cut, and paste keyboard shortcuts for iPad(Command + C, Command + X, Command + V) within Chrome on iPad, whether that’s while using the URL / Location / Search bar, or a form on a web page, or anywhere else you can select or enter text in the browser.
Notably missing from the keystroke actions in Chrome for iPad is going back a page or forward a page by using the back and forward arrow keys, which instead either requires using the same keystroke for back as you use to type the Escape key on many iPad apps, or requires tapping the screen Back and Forward buttons to perform that action. That may be an oversight or perhaps something that depends on the version of Chrome for iPad, or perhaps even the keyboard in use with the iPad, iPad Air, iPad Mini, or iPad Pro. If you have any additional insight into that behavior, share it below in the comments.
Google Chrome is a very popular web browser for many computing users on virtually every platform. Other than being a great general web browser, one of the main perks is that it easily syncs across platforms, meaning if you use Google Chrome on iPad, you can easily sync all of your browsing tabs and windows to just about anything else, including a Windows PC, Android, Mac, Chromebook, iPhone, or even a Linux machine. That contrasts to Safari, which is a fantastic web browser with iCloud tab syncing functionality too, but is only available for Apple platforms including iOS and MacOS (well, technically there is a version of Safari for Windows but it is quite outdated and doesn’t support the cloud syncing features so it wouldn’t apply in that regard anyway).
Want to know what the air quality index is at a particular destination? The Apple Maps app on iPhone and iPad can give you this information.
Those who are concerned about air quality will find it useful to know that the Maps app on iPhone and iPad has an optional feature that allows you to see the Air Quality Index (AQI) and accompanying color code directly in the Maps app, but first you must enable the feature, and have a compatible version of iOS system software on the device. This is obviously helpful for planning trips and maps routes for groups who impacted by air quality, and offers another way to see air quality information on an iOS device.
Finding the optional Air Quality Index information in the Maps app of iOS requires iOS 12.2 or later to be installed on the iPhone or iPad, as earlier versions do not support AQI index (though they do support weather). iPhone users with earlier iOS versions can get air quality information in the Weather app on iPhone, and both iPhone and iPad users can find AQI index info from Siri, whereas iPad users with earlier iOS versions will want to use either a website or dedicated weather app for this same information. Assuming you’re on iOS 12.2or later though, here’s how you can enable and see AQI details in Apple Maps.
How to View Air Quality Index in Maps on iPhone or iPad
Open the “Settings” app on the iPhone or iPad
Go to “Maps”
Find the setting for ‘Air Quality Index’ and toggle that switch to the ON position
Exit Settings
Launch the Maps application in iOS
Search for a location or destination in Maps as usual
Note the ‘AQI’ score in the corner of Maps app as you search and use the Maps app on iPhone or iPad
You’ll also notice the weather is shown in Maps directly above the AQI index, offering further information about the destinations and locations you’re viewing in the Maps app of iOS. If you don’t see the weather in Apple Maps, then you may have it turned off in the Maps Settings, directly above the Air Quality Index information.
Any Air Quality Index rating between 0-50 is considered to be ‘Good’, while anything over 50 is of declining quality, over 100 to be considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, with increasing severity of air quality health concerns from numbers beyond that. You can refer to the below chart from AirNow.gov for reference of air quality index, color codes, and the health concerns associated with them:
While AQI information may be irrelevant to some iPhone and iPad users, others will find it to be a very helpful feature, especially if you or someone else has trouble with particulate matter, air pollutants, or even allergies, asthma, COPD, or the myriad other conditions where the quality of air matters tremendously.
Do you like using Safari Reader View on the iPhone or iPad when reading a particular webpages articles or stories? Reader View in Safari can make webpages easier to read in some situations, and if you use the feature for some websites, or all of the web, you might appreciate enabling Automatic Reader View in Safari for iOS.
With this Automatic Reader View enabled in Safari for iOS, Safari will automatically enter into Reader Mode, either for specific website URLs as chosen, or for all web sites.
How to Enable Automatic Reader View in Safari for iPhone or iPad
Want to enable Reader View automatically, either on a particular website or for all websites? Here’s how to do that in iOS:
Open Safari in iOS, then visit the website URL you want to use Automatic Reader View for
Tap and hold on the Reader button in the URL bar at the top of the Safari screen
When the ‘Automatic Reader View’ option shows up, choose one of the following: “Use on (current domain)” or “Use on All Websites”
Browse the web as usual with the settings in place
If you choose “Use on (current domain)” then anytime you load that particular website in Safari for iOS, Reader View in Safari will enable itself automatically, but only for that website domain.
If you choose “Use on All Websites” then every web site will load into Reader View automatically in Safari for iOS.
Most users will probably want to limit this feature to specific websites and domains that are either not optimized for their device or screen, or otherwise difficult to read for some other reason. That way every time such a website is visited, the Reader mode feature will trigger and legibility and readability should improve (remember you can customize the appearance of Safari Reader).
Automatic Reader View will use the last settings that were defined for the appearance of Safari Reader Mode, so if you want to change the text size, color theme, font face, or other aspects of the Safari Reader experience you can do so as described here and have those customizations carry over to the Automatic Reader mode too.
This is a particularly helpful feature for viewing webpages on the iPhone that are not mobile optimized or that don’t have a mobile website, since Safari Reader View tends to improve legibility in those situations by boosting font size and focusing on the webpages content.
How to Disable Automatic Reader View in Safari for iOS
If you had previously turned on Automatic Reader View and would now like to change that setting in iOS, here’s how to do so:
Open Safari in iOS, then visit the specific website URL that you want to disable Automatic Reader View for
Tap and hold the Reader button at the top of the Safari screen
When the ‘Automatic Reader View’ options appear, choose one of the following: “Stop Using on (current domain)” or “All Websites”
Use Safari with the previously set Reader settings disabled
These settings obviously pertain to iOS Safari for the iPhone and iPad, but the feature exists on the Mac version of Safari as well, where it can also be set to activate on individual websites or all websites, and the Reader appearance customized as needed on the Mac too.
Safari Reader Mode has been around for a while and is really quite useful, even if you don’t use it for reading certain webpages it can be useful for other purposes like printing out webpage articles without ads and other extraneous page content.
