iPad shutdown app

September 18, 2012 6:10 AM

I watch movies when I go to bed at night. When I wake up in the morning my iPad is exhausted. I would like to have a reminder happen (that if I don't respond to) shuts down my iPad and preserves its battery. Is there a commercial or free app that does this or can I create one easily in this suggestion?
posted by unliteral to Computers & Internet (14 answers total)

Best answer: I'm almost certain that there isn't an app that can do this in iOS because of Apple's guidelines. It won't allow an iOS app to shut down the system.
posted by inturnaround at 6:14 AM on September 18, 2012

Best answer: Short answer is no. iOS apps are strictly limited in how they can affect the iPad itself - and part of that is "Not allowed to decide when other apps are closed" and "not allowed to put the iPad to sleep," which are what you're trying to do (close the movie app and/or go directly to sleep mode.)
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:16 AM on September 18, 2012

Best answer: Perhaps you could just leave your iPad plugged in with an extra long cable?
posted by blue_beetle at 6:19 AM on September 18, 2012 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: I'm almost certain that there isn't an app that can do this in iOS because of Apple's guidelines. It won't allow an iOS app to shut down the system.
Short answer is no. iOS apps are strictly limited in how they can affect the iPad itself - and part of that is "Not allowed to decide when other apps are closed" and "not allowed to put the iPad to sleep,"
Bummer. Why did Apple do this? I can do this on my iMac.
posted by unliteral at 6:40 AM on September 18, 2012

Response by poster: Perhaps you could just leave your iPad plugged in with an extra long cable?
The source does not need this. Your suggestion is helpful. Inconvenient, but helpful. Thank you.
posted by unliteral at 6:54 AM on September 18, 2012

Interfering unpredictably with your app is one thing some virii (viruses) do. That's probably why Apple rejects it.

The tradeoff is that the iPad, even though it's not behaving like you want it to, always behaves exactly the same way, meaning you can adapt. (This is one reason some folks don't like the tight control Apple exerts in IOS.) OSX is a different story.
posted by FauxScot at 6:58 AM on September 18, 2012

Do you have a smart cover? In the same situation, my iPad would be turned off because I would close it before falling asleep. If you are literally falling asleep watching the movies, I suppose that won't work.

The source does not need this.

I don't know what that means.

As always, you can get cables considerably cheaper at Monoprice.
posted by grouse at 6:59 AM on September 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Does it not go to sleep on its own after you fall asleep? Do you have it set to never Auto-Lock? If you set it for 15 minutes, it will sleep if there is no input after 15 minutes. You will get a warning of sorts, as the screen will dim a few seconds before it sleeps, and you can just tap the screen then to reset the timer.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:59 AM on September 18, 2012

I'm confused by this question. The iPad won't sleep while the movie is playing, but assuming you haven't messed with the default auto-lock settings, it will go to sleep automatically within a couple of minutes after the movie finishes playing. A sleeping iPad is functionally equivalent to a powered-off iPad, especially for as short a period as overnight. The battery should not drain more than a few percent overnight when it's not being actively used. If the problem is that the screen is staying on all night and draining the battery, then you need to adjust the auto-lock settings. If the problem is that by the time you finish your movie the iPad is down to 5% or less, and it still drains the rest of the way overnight even while asleep, then the solution is to keep a charger near the bed, or charge it up before you watch the movie so there's still something left in the tank overnight.
posted by Nothlit at 7:05 AM on September 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I think what the OP means is not so much that the screen doesn't turn off, but more that the movie doesn't stop playing, and continues until they wake up and turn it off. As far as I know, the smart cover turns the screen off, but doesn't stop the app. I've had music play all night because it just went on and on through my library. This may require some fiddling with your video player - can playlists be set?

Sorry OP, no answers to be found. ): but for posterity, you can set a sleep timer with Apple's own Podcasts app, for 5/10/15/30/45 minutes, or 'after current episode ends'.
posted by undue influence at 7:08 AM on September 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

My solution for this is to use a dock. Once whatever I was watching ends my iPad goes to sleep, and I wake up with it fully charged.
posted by Nimmie Amee at 8:27 AM on September 18, 2012

"The source does not need this." - What does this mean?
posted by valeries at 12:09 PM on September 18, 2012 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: I've had music play all night because it just went on and on through my library. This may require some fiddling with your video player
Aha! GoodPlayer default setting is Playback Auto Repeat.
posted by unliteral at 5:11 PM on September 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh yay! Glad it was a fixable thing. Enjoy your movies!
posted by undue influence at 10:55 PM on September 18, 2012