iPad Air (1st Gen) Picture Frame

iPad Air Photo Frame Stand

This print turns the 1st generation iPad Air into an attractive and useful digital photo frame. The four pieces slide onto the iPad and fit together neatly in the style of a mitered picture frame. Small magnets help keep the pieces in place, though, they are not strictly necessary.

PRINTING

Each STL maintains its orientation in real space, so you'll have to rotate the top and side parts once you get them in your slicer. I printed each part with the back, flat surface on the bed.

The pieces pictured were printed with a .4mm nozzle at .2mm layer height in Overture Matte Black PLA. No supports were required anywhere. The holes came out great and a bit tight is actually good.

The top and bottom pieces of this print are 278mm long on the long axis. I printed them at a rotation of 45 degrees on my CR-10S, though they would have fit across. I made sure to also rotate the internal and external infill pattern so that it remained perpendicular to this axis.

I experimented with printing the bottom and sides as one solid piece, but I did not like the aesthetic of the ridges when the print direction was perpendicular to the ridges. Long, straight runs parallel to the ridges looked better to me, hence the four-part approach.

ASSEMBLY

The magnets aren't strictly necessary for this to work. The pieces grab the iPad and stay in place pretty well on their own, at least on my iPad. I added them for extra hold and protection against bumps from elbows, etc.

The magnets that I used were leftover from my BRIO-LEGO-compatible train cars and are sold as 10x3mm magnets on Amazon, but don't see quite that tall. The holes in the print are slightly undersized by design. I pressed the magnets in and they are held in place by friction. Magnets on Amazon.

I'm using a 90-degree lighting cable from Anker to provide power. This approach avoids placing strain on a straight cable and gets the wire oriented down and back, like a commercial product.

USE AND DISPLAY

I'm displaying photos using the slideshow functionality of the Photos app in iOS. The Magazine layout adds the white mat and prevents vertical pictures from just being lost in a sea of mat by displaying them alongside others. There are other slideshow options, though.

In order to remotely manage the photos on the iPad, I created a new iCloud account for the iPad and invited that account to a "Picture Frame" shared photo album. When I add pictures to the album, I simply restart the slideshow on the iPad and they get added into the show.

In Display & Brightness, I set the iPad to never lock the screen automatically. Brightness is in the lower half of the range (final setting TBD as we experiment).

There is no easy access to the home button or the top button of the iPad with this print. I didn't like the idea of notching the frame anywhere for those. However, swiping up from the bottom of the screen (equivalent to pressing the home button) works fine. I plan to leave this running all the time, but if I do want to shut off the display, I could just disassemble the left side of the frame and press the top button.

I have locked the iPad down with restrictions in iOS to reduce the chances of tampering by children or guests. If I was going to display this in a less secure place, like a shared office, I would consider enabling Guided Access.

If you give this a try, I would love to see your make!