Important: I am not affiliated with any of the manufacturers, brands, services, or websites listed on this page and this is my personal experience. If you find this helpful and want to say thanks, please buy me a coffee or take a look at my book on Amazon. It keeps this page ad-free. Thank you!
This page has the following sections, you can quickly jump to what you’re interested in:
- Using a mouse with the iPad Pro
- Logitech Pebble i345 Review with iPad Pro
- Customizing Mousebuttons on the iPad in iOS
- Customizing the Scroll Wheel on the iPad in iOS
- Quickly Turn Off Assistive Touch (Hide the Assistive Touch Icon)
Using a Mouse with the iPad Pro
It may seem counterintuitive on a touch screen tablet, but there are times when a mouse with the iPad makes sense. If you plan to use the iPad as a computer replacement, especially for spreadsheets, a mouse makes things infinitely easier. Even Apple has come to this realization adding official mouse support in iOS 13.4 and launching the Magic Keyboard for iPad with a built-in touchpad.
My personal need for a mouse was driven by video calls, where I needed a way to quickly click between people on the call without reaching across and blocking the camera. I also use my iPad for VNC connections, so a mouse makes remote computer work easier.
If you use the iPad with a keyboard, pairing with a mouse also makes a lot of sense. Personally, I’m using the Logitech Slim Folio Pro case. It’s a bit bulky but I prefer the travel on the keys, the backlight (and the cost) vs Apple’s version.
Logitech Pebble i345 Review – iPad Pro User Experience
Logitech is the first, that I have seen, to launch a mouse specifically for the iPad. It’s called the Logitech Pebble i345. I’m geeky enough to have got optimistically nostalgic for Pebble Watch.
Anyway, the iPad mouse retails for about US$30 from Amazon or your preferred retailer.
The Logitech i345 looks identical to the Logitech M340 and Logitech M355 but it’s Bluetooth only and does not come with the Logitech Nano Receiver (but it does have the storage compartment inside the battery compartment for a Nano Receiver).
Setup is easy. Turn the mouse on and it enters pairing mode, there’s a blinking blue light on the bottom so you know it’s in pairing mode. On your iPad, you go to Bluetooth settings and connect. There’s no need for additional Logitech iOS apps on your iPad or the PC experience of waiting for a driver to install.
Once the Logitech i345 is paired, the iPad shows a small “dot” which is the pointer.
Everything else works as you would expect a mouse to do. You can unlock your iPad, move icons, open apps. It’s 100x easier to copy and paste text on an iPad when you’re using a mouse. Seriously, if you use Word or Excel on an iPad, using a mouse on an iPad is life-changing.
The Logitech i345 left button is mapped as a tap and the right button is mapped as a long press/force touch. The scroll wheel scrolls in apps where you would swipe up or down (and you can customize the scroll direction in iOS settings, read on). The middle mouse button on the Logitech i345 does nothing. But that can be fixed!
Read on to learn how to customize the Logitech i345 for the iPad or any mouse with the iPad as well as how to customize the scroll wheel on the Logitech i345 with your iPad
Customizing Mouse Buttons on the iPad / in iOS
Yes, you can customize the Logitech i345 or any mouse buttons on the iPad from iOS 13.4 onwards. These specific instructions are based on iOS 13.4.1 and may change in the future.
Remapping the mouse buttons on the iPad requires a few steps, but it’s easy to do.
Assumption: This assumes the mouse is already paired. You must pair the mouse to your iPad before you customize the buttons.
- In iOS, open the Settings.
- Select General.
- Scroll down and you select Accessibility.
- Select Touch (it’s just under the Physical and Motor heading).
- Select AssistiveTouch.
- Toggle AssistiveTouch to On
Important: If you don’t turn on Assistive Touch, then the custom iPad mouse button actions will not work. I am hoping Apple change this in future iOS releases. There’s currently no workaround and if you don’t turn AssitiveTouch on then custom buttons will save but not function.
- Scroll down and select Devices (it’s under the Pointer Devices heading).
- Select the connected Mouse, in my case it says “Pebble i345”
- Tap Customize Additional Buttons
When you tap this, a dialog box will pop up that asks you to press a button on your pointer device (mouse) to choose an action.
I decided to map my middle scroll will click to the home screen, so I pressed customized the action for that button on my iPad with the Logitech i345.
- A list of actions will appear, in my case, I mapped it to “Home” so I tapped Home.
Tip: You can also map a mouse button to a Siri shortcut, which could be useful if you had a multi-button Bluetooth gaming mouse.
- You now need to click back on the top left, which is labeled with a left arrow and the name of your mouse. Again, in my case it reads “< Pebble i345” but it would say whatever is the device name of your iPad mouse.
All done! You can now test the button.
Tip: You can delete a custom iPad Mouse button by following the same steps but by clicking Edit from Step 7 above. It’s also not (currently) possible to rename the iPad Mouse Button label.
In my tests, you cannot customize the behavior of the scroll wheel or inverse the scroll behavior of a mouse with the iPad. Also, make sure you didn’t skip Step 6. If you don’t turn on AssistiveTouch then custom iPad mouse buttons will not work.
Again, all of the above has been tested and works with the Logitech i345 iPad mouse but should work for customizing the mouse buttons on any other iPad compatible mouse.
Customizing the Scroll Wheel on a Mouse on an iPad / in iOS
- In iOS, open the Settings.
- Select General.
- Tap Trackpad & Mouse.
- Turn off Natural Scrolling.
This lets you change it so if you scroll directions on the mouse. If it’s turned off, scrolling the wheel up scrolls the screen up. My personal preference is off.
Quickly Turn Off Assistive Touch
If you don’t like the Assistive Touch icon on your screen and want to disable it when you are not using your mouse, you can add a shortcut in the iOS Control Center to enable/disable Assistive Touch.
- In Settings, select Control Center (just under General)
- Tap Customize Controls.
- Tap the + to Accessibility Shortcuts to your menu.
- Then on the left-hand menu, tap Accessibility.
- Scroll down on the right-hand side and find Accessibility Shortcut (last in the list).
- Check AssistiveTouch (first item)
You’re all done! Now you can turn AssistiveTouch on and off from Control Center. Making it easier to access your custom iOS mouse buttons when you need them but also hide the Assistive Touch dot when you don’t.
Thanks for reading.
Important: I am not affiliated with any of the manufacturers, brands, services, or websites listed on this page and this is my personal experience. If you find this helpful and want to say thanks, please buy me a coffee or take a look at my book on Amazon. It keeps this page ad-free. Thank you!