Careers Business Ownership iPad Hacks and Hidden Features You Must Try Print Business Ownership Becoming an Owner Entrepreneurship Small Business Online Business Home Business Operations & Success Industries By Amanda McCormick Amanda McCormick Amanda McCormick is an entrepreneur, marketing consultant, and content strategist who has worked with arts and government organizations, including the New York City Ballet. She is the co-founder of a small marketing agency focused on arts and media companies. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on 11/20/19 Are you making the most of your iPad? With these tips, you will save time, save batteries and most of all, save your sanity! From getting Siri to really listen to syncing your podcast across devices, these are our favorite under-appreciated iPad and iPhone tricks. 01 of 11 Get Siri to Really Listen Bernhard Lang / Stone / Getty Images iOS 8 has provided the iPad with a number of great enhancements, including the ability to summon personal assistant Siri with just the voice command: "Hey Siri." The only snag is that you need to have your iPad connected to a power source when you use this feature. Luckily, there is a workaround: just make sure the Siri interface is visible (and the autolock is off) and you should be able to ask Siri questions while driving a car or baking bread. 02 of 11 Axe Battery Killers iOS 8 comes with a new feature that allows you to view the battery usage of each app on your iPad. To access it, go to Settings > General > Usage > Battery Usage. You should quickly be able to tell what's worth it -- and what's a battery hog. 03 of 11 Add Favorite Sites as Links on Home If there are sites that you visit over and over again, simply hit the "share" button (square with an upward arrow) to reveal the option to add the page to your home screen. Your favorite website will then appear as an icon on home. 04 of 11 Sync Your Podcasts Across Devices Maybe you have favorite podcasts that you like to listen to, but you can't always remember where you left off. You can sync your podcast subscriptions, stations, and playback position between your iOS devices, computers with iTunes, and Apple TV. 05 of 11 Eliminate Distractions Typing apps like the Hanxwriter, a typewriter app developed by Tom Hanks, present a writing interface free of distractions. Try it and boost your productivity. 06 of 11 Get Free Ebooks You can read anything on your iPad that's in the ePub format, and on Project Gutenberg offers 46,000 free ebooks, including many of the great classics. 07 of 11 Hold Down the . Key Hold down the period key on your iPad to reveal .com, .us, .org, and .edu. 08 of 11 Take Customer Service on the Go Ready to offer your customers better service options via technology? While you should already be using social media to proactively address your customers' needs, there are also several customer service platforms that allow you to quickly and easily provide customer service via the web. 09 of 11 Get More Productive Are you still writing your "to-do" list on the back of a coffee-stained envelope? In this age of technology, there's no need to! TeuxDeux and Remember the Milk are two apps that make slaying your to-do list a breeze, and both were designed especially for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs! 10 of 11 Know What Song is Playing Siri is now equipped with Shazam, so if you hear a song you like at a restaurant or bar, just ask her what's playing and she should be able to tell you! 11 of 11 Never Lose Your iPad The "find my phone" feature is a godsend to many iPad users. But did you know that you can set your iPad to send its last location to Apple in the case of battery failure? Great news for when your iPad gets lost behind the couch! Just open "Settings," access iCloud/Find my iPad and enable "send the last location."