Signs Indicate Global Keyboard Shortcuts Are Coming to iPad
Jason Snell, writing at Six Colors:
Then there’s the Globe key. Hold it down in any app in iPadOS 15, and you’ll see a different set of commands, all of which can be applied globally. (Get it?) These menus are full of shortcuts to switch to the home screen (Globe-H), open a Quick Note (Globe-Q), activate Control Center (Globe-C), and pretty much any other system-level area.
and
On the Mac, systemwide shortcuts and individual app shortcuts can collide and interact in strange ways. It’s kind of a mess. On the iPad, Apple seems to be saying that global shortcuts use the Globe, and apps use the other modifiers. That makes… a lot of sense.
I think Jason is onto something here. Upon learning that Globe-Q was for Quick Note rather than Quit, like on the Mac (they did duplicate Command-H as Globe-H to go Home after all), I wondered how it would play out as a new modifier. I’d be interested to know if apps are prevented from using Globe key — that’d be another sure sign.
One other thing to note is that Apple’s new Macs and standalone keyboards come with the Globe key. I’d be surprised if these global commands didn’t also come to macOS in due time.
Oh, and I’ll +1 on global Shortcuts commands and media controls for the iPad, please.