Cook from it without the screen going dark
Stand the tablet up on the counter, follow a recipe from the first step to the last, and never once wipe a floury hand on the glass to bring the picture back.
You are halfway through the pastry, both hands covered, and the screen goes black. Everybody blames the tablet. It is doing exactly what it was told.
A tablet leaves the store set to darken the screen after a minute or two of nobody touching it, to save the battery. In a chair that is sensible. On a counter, with your hands in a bowl, it is maddening — and it is one row in Settings.
Key points
- Stop the screen going dark while your hands are busy
- Set it to stay lit only while it is plugged in, so nothing is wasted afterwards
- Turn the brightness up for a kitchen, which is a far brighter room than a living room
- Use a cook mode, a spoken "next", and a timer loud enough to hear from elsewhere
What to remember
- It is called Auto-Lock on an iPad and Screen Timeout on most Android tablets. Both live under Display.
- Never is the right setting while you are cooking and the wrong one afterwards. Stay On While Charging gives you both.
- Nearly every recipe app has a cook mode, sometimes called Step by Step. It is worth hunting for once.
Try this
Before you next cook, open Settings, then Display, and set the auto-lock to Never. Stand the tablet at the back of the counter, away from the stove and the faucet, and cook one thing from it.
Practice: Cook from it without the screen going dark. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.