An old iPad as a habitat display

1. Check the iPad first

Habitats are drawn with WebGL 2, which Safari only got iniPadOS 15. That is the whole of the requirement, and it is worth checking before you go and find the charger. On the iPad: Settings -> General -> About -> Software Version.

• 15 or higher.You are fine. That means an iPad Air 2, an iPad mini 4, a 5th-generation iPad, or any iPad Pro, so roughly anything sold from 2015 onwards.
• 12, 13 or 14.Worth a try. WebGL 2 is there but switched off:Settings -> Safari -> Advanced -> Experimental Features -> WebGL 2.0. Turn it on and carry on below. It was experimental for a reason, so treat anything odd as the iPad's fault rather than yours.
• 11 or lower.This will not work, and there is no version of it that will. Sorry, it is a genuinely old iPad. A Raspberry Pi is the better answer at that point.

2. Setting it up

1. 1. Get the QR code up.On the computer you normally use, open the habitat you want on the shelf, thenShare. There is a QR code under the link. If you have not shared this habitat before, pressCreate link first.
2. 2. Point the iPad's camera at it.Open the Camera app and aim it at the screen, with no need to take a photo. A banner drops down with the link on it; tap that and Safari opens the habitat.
3. 3. Put it on the Home Screen.In Safari, the share button (a square with an arrow out of the top) ->Add to Home Screen. Opening it from there gives the habitat the whole screen instead of half of it being address bar.
4. 4. Stop it going to sleep.Settings -> Display & Brightness -> Auto-Lock -> Never. If Never is not offered, turn Low Power Mode off. It forces the screen to lock after thirty seconds and hides the other choices.
5. 5. Keep it plugged in.A screen that never sleeps will flatten the battery in a few hours otherwise.
6. 6. Optional: lock it to the habitat.If it lives somewhere other people walk past,Settings -> Accessibility -> Guided Access, then triple-click the top or home button once the habitat is open. The iPad will not leave that page until you triple-click again and enter the passcode.

3. Once it is up there

It looks after itself. The camera drifts slowly around on its own after a few seconds of nobody touching it, which is what you want on a shelf. There is anAuto-rotate button on the page if you would rather it held still, a Reset view button for when somebody has spun it somewhere strange, and a Sound button. The habitat has quiet ambience - a bird, a gust, a few bubbles - which starts after the first tap and stays off for good once you switch it off. If nobody will touch it, the link can shed its interface instead.

New arrivals turn up on their own within a minute or so, along with anything you move about from the computer. While the iPad is asleep or the page is in the background it stops asking, and catches up the moment you wake it, so it is not quietly working all night.

4. Three honest warnings