The iPad finally works with a mouse through a hidden iPadOS feature

Apple’s treating it as an accessibility option

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The absolute biggest change to theiPadthatAppleintroduced via its newiPadOSreceived zero mention on stage at theWWDC 2019keynote: mouse support. Eagle-eyed software developer Steve Troughton-Smith discovered the new feature buried deep within the first iPadOS beta release.

Hello mouse support on iOS 13! It’s an AssistiveTouch feature, and works with USB mice. @viticci nailed this pic.twitter.com/nj6xGAKSg0June 3, 2019

If you’re into the iPadOS beta, then you’ll have to dig through several settings toggles to connect your mouse either wired (with a USB-A to USB-C adapter) or wirelessly (via Bluetooth). Our friends atTom’s Guidedid just that to see how it works.

First, you have to open the iPadOS ‘Settings’ app and then head to ‘Accessibility’. As you can already see, Apple doesn’t intend for this to be used widely, but for people who need physical assistance using its products.

Then, you head into ‘Touch’, followed by ‘AssistiveTouch’, which is Apple’s feature set for folks that require additional help using its product interfaces. Finally, you tap ‘Pointing Devices’ and select your connection method of choice.

According to Tom’s Guide, a thick, circular mouse cursor instantly appears “as if a phantom digit was hovering.” In photos, it looks exactly like other, touch-based accessibility iOS features readily available today.

So, you’re saying there’s a chance?

What’s important to drive home is just how deeply Apple has buried this support for mouse input for iPadOS, one of the most requested iPad features ever since Apple started positioning its tablet as a laptop killer. This is not something Apple is promoting – actually, almost the opposite is true.

Apple is hiding the feature outright. Why? Could Apple be testing wider mouse support through the guise of accessibility positioning? Is this what Apple considers the extent of mouse support on its new iPadoperating system?

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These questions are impossible to answer right now, but what we do know is that using a mouse on an iPad is finally possible. And, frankly, the iPad just got onehelluvalot closer tothrowing your laptop into question.

Joe Osborne is the Senior Technology Editor at Insider Inc. His role is to leads the technology coverage team for the Business Insider Shopping team, facilitating expert reviews, comprehensive buying guides, snap deals news and more. Previously, Joe was TechRadar’s US computing editor, leading reviews of everything from gaming PCs to internal components and accessories. In his spare time, Joe is a renowned Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master – and arguably the nicest man in tech.

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