Hebrew on the iPad, at last!

The iOS 4.2.1 update for the iPad brings a number of goodies that we have long enjoyed 0n the iPhone. 1One of which was adding “Find my iPhone” feature, previously requiring a MobileMe account, for free. Unfortunately it tells me so far that my iTunes account does not work with this feature (?). One that I had been particularly eager to use is Hebrew input! First impression: Very nice! It seems to work across all apps, but some handle it better than others and some even have key features not available in other apps.  So, a quick rundown followed by a gallery.

  • You install it by going to Settings>General>Keyboard>International Keyboards and add Hebrew. Activate it by simply tapping on the globe icon to the left of the space bar.
  • Pages – seems to work fine, but does not automatically change the alignment to right justified.
  • Evernote does! See the screenshot, but Evernote automatically right-justifies the paragraph as you change keyboards.
  • Mail and Twitter also do so AND all such apps (including Evernote) give you a nice little “change direction” popup (see screenshot of Twitter).
  • Office2 HD is, as with the app as a whole, more crude. It will accept Hebrew but with few frills including change of direction.
  • Keynote also accepts Hebrew input without any fuss. It does not, however, allow change of direction (that I could see).
  • If you use a BlueTooth keyboard the onscreen keyboard disappears to give you more room on screen. How do you switch languages? Two options:
    • Using the BT keyboard simply use cmd-spacebar
    • Press the Eject key (top right of BT keyboard) to bring up the onscreen keyboard and select it from there.

I have a lot more playing with Hebrew on the iPad before I can say it is a unmitigated success, particularly seeing how files created on the iPad transfer back to the Mac and web (Evernote seems to handle this with no issue). But so far this is a great addition for those of us who want to use the iPad for biblical and rabbinic studies.

  • 1
    One of which was adding “Find my iPhone” feature, previously requiring a MobileMe account, for free. Unfortunately it tells me so far that my iTunes account does not work with this feature (?).

Leave a Reply to Chris BradyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

6 thoughts on “Hebrew on the iPad, at last!”