Clever Mounting Solutions for iPads

When an iPad functions as a home control device, getting it into a handy location is critical. If you have to toss cushions off the couch or look under beds for it, you’re missing the main benefit offered by a home control system: convenience. If you can’t quickly touch a button to prepare the lights, music, and thermostats for an impromptu gathering of friends, your home control dreams can turn into a real nightmare.
Here are a few mounting devices that’ll help you keep your iPad right where you need it when you need it:

Surface Mount from iPort. This mounting solution puts your iPad up tight against the wall, adding only a few millimeters of depth to the tablet itself. A module sits behind it in a standard wallbox so that the iPad stays powered. The iPad’s lightning connector plugs into a USB port on the module. The Surface Mount ($399 and available in black, silver, and white) is the newest in iPad mounting solution in iPort’s lineup, which also includes a LaunchPort BaseStation which was used in our “Home of the Week.” This mount keeps an iPad fully charged and positioned on top of a table.

Basalte Eve for iPad Pro. Basalte has made on-wall iPad mounts under the Eve brand for years. It now has a product that accommodates the big iPad Pro. Like the iPort solution, Eve sits tight against the wall, adding barely any depth to the tablet itself. A small USB charging puck with a 24V DC connector fits in the smallest of black boxes.

Viveroo Loop. Viveroo falls on the cool side of iPad mounts. The LoopDock is a round mount that holds an iPad, allowing the tablet to spin 360 degrees. The Loop box sits flush in a wall, or couch, or tabletop, or wherever you might want to pivot an iPad.

iRoom iTop. Like iPort, iRoom also has IP-addressable hard buttons on its latest iPad mount, the iTop. The company claims it’s the first iPad Pro-compatible docking solution in the home technology industry. It’s also the first tabletop docking station for the company, which for years has offered on-wall solutions, including motorized models that allow users to easily remote the tablet from its secured mount. The new iTop is similar to iRoom’s on-wall iBezel, featuring six backlit customizable “quick-access” buttons that can integrate with AMX, Control4, Crestron, RTI, and Savant home automation systems.