Introduction: Hacking an Incase Magazine IPad2 Case Into a Smart Cover With Magnets

There are several iPad2 cases out there that are nicer, or at least more protective, than the Apple Smart Cover. However the Apple Smart Cover has one cool feature -- the "closing" edge of the cover has a magnet that will trigger a sensor built into the iPad2 to put it to sleep. This instructable shows you how to cleanly add that feature to a non smart cover.

The challenges are:

* Find a small magnet
* Find a clean way to attach the magnet to the cover.

Step 1: Supplies

I am using one of those magnetic business card as the magnet, and good old electrical tape to attach the magnet to the cover.

What you'll need:

* a magnetic business card -- I get so many of these from sales people
* black electrical tape
* scissors
* post it note (to help measure)
* and your non smart iPad2 cover

Step 2: Measure and Position


The tricky part is to find the correct location of the sensor. I did it by experimenting, moving the magnet piece up and down to see if it triggers the sleep function. The correct position seems to be around the second row of app icons, when the display is in portrait mode.

Post it notes are my favorite tool to make measurement since it is sticky. I Place a post it note sticky side up next to the magnet position, close the lid and wrap it around. Now I have the correct position marked on the inside. Then I open the cover and ready to attach the magnet piece.

Step 3: Attaching the Magnet


I simply trim a small piece of black electric tape and taped it down.

Step 4: Testing

Watch the video to see how closing the cover now stops the podcast from playing, and hear the click sound the iPad makes when it goes to sleep. However, moving the cover around seems to trigger the iPad to go on and off. So this is not yet a perfect solution. I just ordered some thin Neo dymium magnets. Those should work better.

Stay Tune!

Hacking a iPad2 to make a Smart Cover from PK Shiu on Vimeo.