How to Use the iPad mini Buttons

The Apple iPad mini is pretty intuitive — but to save yourself some time, take a look at these iPad mini buttons that you'll use most often:

• The On/Off, Sleep/Wake button: You use this button to put your iPad mini’s screen to sleep or wake it up. It’s located on the top of your iPad mini.

• Home button: You can press the Home button at any time to display the Home screen on your iPad mini.

• Application icons: Each icon shown on the iPad mini touchscreen launches an application. Twenty apps are included with your iPad mini, and you can add more (many are free) by downloading them from the App Store.

• Volume Up/Down control: The lower part of the button decreases the volume; the upper part increases it.

• Mute switch: When the switch is set to Silent mode — the down position, with an orange dot visible on the switch — your iPad mini doesn't make any sound when you receive new mail or an alert pops up on the screen.

  The Mute switch doesn't silence what you think of as "expected" sounds, which are sounds you expect to hear in a particular app. For example, it doesn't mute the iTunes or Videos apps, nor will it silence games and other apps that emit noises. About the only thing the Mute switch mutes are "unexpected" sounds, such as those associated with notifications from apps, such as Mail or Messaging, or the iPad operating system (iOS).

  If the switch doesn't mute your notification sounds when engaged (that is, you can see the little orange dot on the switch), look for a little No Rotation icon to the left of the Battery icon near the top of your screen.

  If the No Rotation icon appears when you flick the Mute switch, you have selected the Lock Rotation option in the Settings app's General pane.

  Note that the current version of iOS (6.0) treats it as a Mute switch by default, but you can change it to a Rotation Lock in the Settings app's General pane.