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Using the iPad in Rehearsal? Kill Pop-ups and Notifications with Guided Access

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Browsing the forums in ChoralNet, many of our members are sharing their thoughts and questions about using the iPad in rehearsal. Many of these uses are personal– organization, notes, scores/sheet music or other individual uses. There are many cases, though, where the iPad might be used for the whole group, whether through a projector or sound system. Sharing or making recordings (audio or video), playing accompaniment or pitch examples, projecting score markings or other notes, or displaying the rehearsal order for the day are all examples where the contents of the iPad are made public. What happens when a message comes in, though, or a calendar event pops up? If you’ve ever had a notification or pop-up appear in the middle of a public presentation, you know how distracting (and maybe even embarrassing) it can be. Even if you’re not projecting, an iPad hooked up to a sound system will amplify all of the dings, dongs and beeps that come with your notifications to the whole rehearsal. Thankfully, there is a way to suppress all notifications when you’re using the iPad in a rehearsal setting using a setting called Guided Access.

 
Guided Access allows users to lock into one particular app to help minimize distractions while working. It’s a great tool for parents who want to keep the little ones in the finger painting app without being able to access the “all staff” e-mail. Once the feature is activated, you can’t leave whichever app you’re in until you deactivate it (which can be configured with a passcode for more security). It also has a feature where you can specify parts of the screen that won’t receive any pop-ups. If you have a free app that pop-ups up with advertisements from time to time, for example, this could help eliminate those distractions. The real key of Guided Access for our purposes, though, is the fact that while it’s turned on, no aural nor visual notifications will occur from any other app. This includes:

  • Calendar

  • iMessage

  • Mail

  • Addictive Games of your Choice

  • Anything else which pushes Notifications

 
You can, of course, disable many notifications permanently in the Settings app. Guided Access gives you the opportunity to temporarily disable them while you are sharing the iPad in the rehearsal setting and then have it go back to normal mode once you’re done.
 
To activate Guided Access, first turn it on in the Settings app under General->Accessibility->Guided Access. Here, you’ll specify if you want to use a passcode in order to turn it off once it’s activated. While this helps prevent accidental toddler-mail, it can slow you down unnecessarily if you only use it for “presentation mode” as we’re discussing here. Once Guided Access has been activated, go to the app you plan on projecting or playing and triple-click the Home button. You’ll be notified that you’re in Guided Access mode (and, as a bonus for those of you projecting, you can lock the rotation here so that you don’t accidentally rotate your image while sharing). When it’s time to leave the app, triple-click the Home button again to disable Guided Access and return to normal use.
 
Herein lies the limitation for some uses: Since Guided Access locks you into a particular app in order to prevent the notifications, if you actively flip between multiple apps in the course of the rehearsal, you’ll have to turn Guided Access on and off each time you do so. While not a long process, it does add an extra step each time you want to switch between apps. Because of this, it works best for scenarios where you’ll be in one app for a long period of time– playing recordings, projecting sight-reading examples or presenting information, for example.
 
Using Guided Access can help you leave your iPad connected to a sound system or projector without having to fear a pop-up or audio notification causing a distraction or sharing your next doctor’s appointment with your ensemble. While it’s not a perfect tool for “app smashers” who are flipping between multiple apps in quick succession, it works very well for in-rehearsal use of individual apps.

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