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What is Center Stage?

Centre Stage toggle button on screen

by David Redmond

Center Stage is a feature for iPad that keeps you in the Center of the screen without you needing to move. Think of it as the iPad moving the camera to keep you in frame. Nothing moves physically, everything is handled in software. The iPad recognizes faces and then adjusts the camera so that they remain in the Center of the view.

What this means for someone with sight loss?

When you join a FaceTime call, stream to YouTube, or simply record a video, Center Stage means you no longer need to ask the question, am I in frame? Center Stage isn’t magic. You’ll still need to be 75 percent there, but that final 25% is often the hardest and Center Stage eliminates that final hurdle.

What devices have Center Stage?

Center stage started out as an exclusive for the pro iPads, but now it’s making its way down to even the entry level models, below is a list of the devices currently supporting Center Stage.

  1. iPad Air (5th generation)
  2. iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation
  3. iPad (ninth generation)
  4. iPad mini (6th generation)
  5. iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation)
  6. iPad 10.9-inch 10th generation

This list is correct as of November first, 2022.

Note, the new iPad 10th generation has a new landscape 12MP Ultra Wide front camera, so this means if you like to use your iPad with a folio keyboard or similar you can sit it in landscape mode when on a facetime call or attending a video conference. With the older versions of the iPad, you would have had to stand it in portrait mode for the feature to work correctly.

Conclusion

Center Stage is a really useful feature for someone with sight loss. If you’re buying a new iPad, I’d certainly consider going for a model with the feature built in. If it’s worth an upgrade from an existing iPad really depends on who you are. If you are a regular video call user and you have the budget required it’s certainly worth considering, however if you don’t use video calls much then you can probably wait it out. It’s certainly a really cool feature though and will make lives easier for people with sight loss.