Don’t wait to do these 5 things with a brand new iPad

• Decide what to use the iPad for
• Set up Battery Health for success
• Minimize the keyboard
• Customize the display
• Customize the control center

I recently came into possession of a gadget I haven’t had since 2010: an A16 iPad. Mind you, a bright pink iPad that could’ve easily passed for a tablet you’d find in Barbie’s Dreamhouse. My giggles and squeals aside, I broke the 2025 tablet out of the box and raced to power it on.

To my delight, I was prompted to set up the iPad quickly with my iPhone, which I initially thought was convenient. However, as soon as the process was complete, I was disheartened by what my new tablet looked like. It was filled with every app I’ve ever downloaded to my phone, and resembled a perfect carbon copy of my iPhone 16 Pro — but on an 11-inch screen. I give my kudos to Apple for an easy setup, but I wish I had started from scratch instead.

Even if I had, there were still many changes to be made. Here are the five things I did the moment I broke my new iPad out of its box.

Decide what to use the iPad for

And remove the useless apps (for now)

Before I got my iPad, I had a rather expensive desktop of gadgetry: a MacBook Pro, iPhone 16 Pro, Motorola Razr, one Kindle Paperwhite, and two Kindle Scribes. My very first thought was: what will I do with another tablet?

All of my devices sit on the blurry line between personal and professional usage — even my Kindle Paperwhite, which I notoriously write about. I needed this iPad to serve a specific purpose or else risk neglect, so I chose to make it a productivity powerhouse. Deciding the tablet would supercharge not only my full-time job but also my freelance and creative projects, I needed to hone this device into a work-ready weapon. This included culling some truly unnecessary apps.

When you set up your iPad using another device (like an iPhone), it will load all the apps that are also on your phone, which will likely include apps incompatible with iPadOS. Since they were unusable, they were the first apps to go.

The very first thing I did was remove — not delete — every single app from the home screen that I didn’t think I could use for work-related tasks. This included apps I downloaded myself (like games, ride-share apps, and even random shopping ones) as well as ones preloaded by Apple (like Stocks, Numbers, and the Magnifier app). I even removed all my streaming apps from the home screen. If I want to redownload them for travel, it’s easy.

If I didn’t need it for work or even personal, I didn’t want an app cluttering up my screen and adding to distractions. Apps I did keep included communication platforms like Slack and Gmail, document editors like Google Sheets and Pages, and daily quality-of-life improvers like Weather and Calculator. I’d rather have to download new apps when I know I’ll need them than sift through dozens I know I don’t need.

Admittedly, I did keep just one horoscope app — you never know when you’ll need the motivational quotes that your Aries Rising will throw at you.

Set up Battery Health for success

Longevity begins at the start

Battery health is always one of the first settings I run to when I get a new device, and my new iPad is no exception. It’s never too early to start protecting your battery, and this one setting can make a difference years down the road.

If you leave your device plugged in longer than the battery needs it, it isn’t good for the device. Also, every time you deplete your battery entirely and charge it to 100%, that puts a considerable strain on the battery health over time. Luckily, there’s a setting on iPhones and iPads that limits your charge to 80%, even when they’re still plugged in, to prevent incremental battery strain — and it’s one of the first things I always turn on when I get a new device:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Battery on the left-hand side.
3. Scroll down until you see Battery Health. It should say ‘Normal,’ but click it anyway.
4. Toggle on 80% Limit.

You can disable this when you know you’ll be far from a charging source for a long time and might need that extra 20% of juice. But I try to always leave it on to preserve my battery’s lifespan and generally make my iPad last as long as I can.

Minimize the keyboard

Especially if you don’t have a Magic Keyboard

This one is a personal preference because I have small hands. When my Magic Keyboard isn’t attached to the iPad, the keyboard is way too large to comfortably type on. Plus, it takes up almost half the screen, and it’s often much easier to jot something down quickly when you type with one hand. So, I make the keyboard tiny and drag it anywhere I want (and out of the way).

You can do this with one simple gesture: take two fingers and quickly pinch them towards each other (like you’re zooming out) over the keyboard. It will minimize the keyboard and allow you to place it anywhere on the screen when you tap and drag the three dots at the bottom. If you want to go back to full size, pinch two fingers away from each other (like you’re zooming in) over the keyboard.

Customize the display

Aesthetics are everything

I’m a firm believer that a pretty space is a productive one. Even if your goal isn’t productivity, it’s worth taking a few minutes during setup to play with settings, colors, and layouts to match your style. There are a few key display settings I did immediately after opening my iPad:

• Changed to larger app icons (Settings > Home Screen & App Library > toggle on Use Large App Icons)
• Opted to remove the app library from the dock (Settings > Home Screen & App Library > Under Dock, toggle off Show App Library in Dock)

However, arguably the most noticeable difference you can make to your home screen is jumping out of settings entirely. Go to any home screen on your iPad and tap and hold any blank space on the screen. The apps will begin to jiggle, and you’ll see an Edit button appear in the upper-right — tap it, and choose Customize from the drop-down.

Here, I chose to tint my apps a teal hue and make them fully opaque. In the upper-right corner of this customization box, you’ll also notice two squares beside each other — one small, and one large. Tapping this will add or remove the app names from below their icons. I prefer my screen less cluttered, so I chose to remove them.

Customize the control center

The Control Center is one of my favorite Apple features across all my devices. However, what I use my iPad for is very different from my MacBook Pro, so I needed to customize it. There are dozens of options to add to or remove from your Control Center, and here’s what I did immediately after customizing the display:

• Added Background Sounds (plays built-in ambiance and white noise)
• Added Low Power Mode (when I want to preserve battery during a long session)
• Added Open ChatGPT (for quick searches and organization)
• Added Screen Recording (for tutorials and troubleshooting)
• Removed Camera (because I likely won’t use it on my iPad — I have better cameras)
• Removed Notes (I don’t use the shortcut enough — the app is already on my main dock)

Each one pertains to a particular work aspect, and I don’t want to search for a quick action when the Control Center is meant to streamline that process. Here’s how to edit it.

Open Control Center by swiping down from the upper-right hand corner. Then, tap and hold any open space within Control Center — the Controls will begin to pulse, and a minus sign and kidney bean shape will appear on each. Tap, drag, and drop Controls to move them around, click their minus sign will remove them, or drag the kidney bean shapes to make them bigger or smaller.

To add a new one, tap ‘Add a Control‘ at the bottom of the Control Center. Then, you can browse or search for new Controls that may be useful to you.