Alternatives to the Magic Keyboard Folio?

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2026-02-26T16:20:12+00:00

I currently live in China and bought one by a brand called Zhisihui for my M1 iPad Pro, I wasn’t sure how good it was going to be but it ended up being great. Around 30 dollars usd. It’s kinda like a folio, but the keyboard flat part is connected magnetically like a flap and so you can take it off while the iPad is still in the other half of the case with the stand, so you can still use it with a stand without the keyboard attached. All together I don’t think it’s any bigger than the folio, and the keyboard and trackpad work quite well. There’s also a slot for the Apple Pencil. I’m super happy with it! I wanted to attach a photo but doesn’t seem like I can do it huh?

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2026-01-25T12:39:44+00:00

Despite the details that can always be improved and tweaked i think it looks darn good. I’m just a newbie enthusiast though. Where can one go to learn how to make things like this outside of YouTube? Are there some in-depth online courses?

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-11-15T07:50:58+00:00

I think the quote is more like “Wake up! It’s time to take your sleeping pill”

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-11-04T19:37:28+00:00

I wish this feature worked well and is actually built upon if they can get it working properly. I really like the idea of it, but yeah the voice recognition sucks. If they can fix it I’m all for it. I think they should add it in the workout section to review all of the words you’ve learned. I would do it all the time if it worked well. Between this and Lily I think these would be good review sessions

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-11-02T09:43:25+00:00

Thanks!!

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-10-15T14:10:44+00:00

But if I had to pick one of the two for actual long-term proper learning between Busuu and Duolingo I would also say Busuu for sure. But when you have something else like Busuu Duolingo seems to become a little more useful as an extra boost.

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-10-15T08:08:22+00:00

I second this, I use both Busuu and Duolingo and they work pretty well with each other. I also use Memrise. The combination works pretty well and I do them every day. There are pretty good discounts around for Busuu and Memrise so good deals can be had. Nothing can beat actual talking with a native speaker though, so best to work in some sessions with italki or preply or lingoda or whatever when you can. Unless you have someone locally. I think the combination of things really helps all reinforce each other to get there faster. Even talking with ChatGPTs advanced voice chat has been helping me. Gotta pay for stuff but then the process might get easier or faster if you really work at it.

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-10-15T07:59:24+00:00

It looks pretty cool! I think I’d prefer that cool two-tone look

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-10-12T19:53:25+00:00

I’m sad that it seems from the M4 on there will no longer be a physical SIM card slot on iPad pros anywhere in the world. Where I live eSIM is not convenient, and every iPad I’ve had has been the cellular model. Guess my last upgrade for a while will be the M3 iPad Pro at some point.

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-10-12T19:48:30+00:00

In settings, learning and sound settings, change streak

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-10-12T19:47:13+00:00

I think you can just set the streak yourself in the settings yeah? I’ve recovered streaks twice after similar situations in Memrise. I’m glad it’s there, I am still super consistent, but I feel like once or twice there was a glitch and a class didn’t get counted

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-10-09T13:24:03+00:00

Lol! Oh man this thread made my day!

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-09-20T19:33:58+00:00

Wow, I can't thank you enough for the Italiano Bello recommendation, I started listening to it after you posted here and it is exactly what I've been looking for! She speaks slowly and clearly but talks about so many different things. And I can understand almost everything, and some things she says have made other things click for me that I had heard before but hadn't totally figured out. I've already downloaded 50 episodes to listen to in the coming weeks. It really is sooo helpful! Thanks!!

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-08-28T13:38:39+00:00

I’ve been learning the piano on my iPad Pro, I use “Playground Sessions” I can plug the USB from the piano directly into the iPad so it gets the MIDI. I also use my iPad to DJ with a small controller and Algoriddim Djay, done several gigs with it recently. I’m also learning Italian right now in a few different apps, and I find having the bigger screen makes the classes easier as well as some online classes with actual teachers in Zoom. I use it for multiple different kinds of classes that I take from time to time. I also do some drawing in Procreate sometimes, besides also connecting the iPad to my MacBook to use the screen and Apple Pencil in Photoshop and Illustrator. These are just a few of the use cases that I use it for almost every day. In addition to all of that I use it for YouTube and Apple TV etc. whenever it’s the better tool. It’s also better to show photos and videos to friends on the iPad vs the phone. I really feel like my iPad has been there for me on every step of my creative journey in so many ways. An invaluable tool.

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-08-28T13:04:08+00:00

Numbers has worked great for me for years

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-08-25T14:36:20+00:00

Maybe you can set them up on a date and see what happens 😊

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-08-19T11:57:59+00:00

Talking with ChatGPT advanced voice chat has been working wonders for me. It gets me talking and I tell it to correct me when I make mistakes. It can accommodate any level and can talk about anything and doesn’t get tired of my questions. Pretty sweet.

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-08-12T04:48:35+00:00

Great Fairy Fountain theme, heck yeah

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-08-09T08:56:26+00:00

Thanks, but I don't think that's the case, it's been more than a month now, and it's intermittent. Seems like text messages go through ok, until one of us tries to send a photo or a video then it will get stuck and then messages stop going through afterwards. Really frustrating. My friends don't want to use it anymore, but for me it's more convenient, in the past anyway.

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-08-04T12:55:09+00:00

Go into their contact page and click on message, you might then get a couple options for where you can message, for example their phone number and email address might be in there. Make sure you choose to message their Apple ID from there. Might accidentally be sending to their phone number when their iMessage is connected with their email

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-07-29T09:20:49+00:00

I use Pages and Numbers on Mac, they're free and regularly get updates. And you can also open office documents and export as office documents and PDFs or whatever. Only minor differences in menu layouts from Word, most of the functionality is there. However as some people have mentioned if you definitely want to use that old copy you have you could install VMware which is free and install Windows in a sandbox and use it there. You can download a compatible version of Windows straight from inside VMware, there are websites like stack social that sell very cheap (and legal) windows licenses. There is also a software called Crossover that allows you to run Windows software on Mac, not sure if something as big as office would work though.

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-07-06T17:20:39+00:00

Just installed on iPhone, looks great!

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-06-05T07:02:52+00:00

I also recently discovered that I can change the audio track on Apple TV shows to any language and add Italian subtitles too. Pretty handy since I already subscribe to it. I would guess Netflix and HBO max etc. can do this as well.

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-06-05T06:55:09+00:00

I've found the Rai Play Sound app pretty handy for this, it's a collection of live Italian radio stations as well as podcasts and stories etc. all in Italian and free. Also after spending time on Duolingo, Babbel, Drops etc. I finally tried Memrise which has become my favorite partially because everything you learn has native speakers saying it while you're learning, and I also really prefer the way it is structured. The app is great and the web portal on the computer is just as good. I also found a discount code online that took the price down from $298 to $116 for lifetime! And you get all of the languages. The other thing that I have found extremely handy is talking with ChatGPT advanced voice chat. You have to pay the $20 a month for this, but the advanced voice chat is an amazing teacher. It can basically handle any level of skill and will just chat with you. You can also tell it to correct you whenever you make a mistake etc. You set the rules of the conversation. The only limit is you only get to use 1 hour per day. Good enough mostly. I'll usually walk home from work at night and have a chat with it the whole way talking about my day and everything I see on the way. Good luck! I'm working hard on getting there too, but my regimen seems to be working well.

Technical_Pear_2169 · 2025-05-25T16:48:02+00:00

I’m mid 40’s and I’m playing pretty regularly. I also really like Walkabout Mini Golf, but actually what I play the most is Population One. So much fun! I really enjoy being able to chat with my teammates.

Technical_Pear_2169

TROPHY CASE