Don't Stack That AirTurn!

The other day I was accompanying violin auditions for the Philadelphia Orchestra, using my normally trusty iPad and AirTurn hands-free page turning pedals. But for some strange reason,  only the backwards pedal was working, while the forwards pedal operated only sporadically.

Despite resetting the iPad's network settings and rebooting the AirTurn, I just couldn't figure out the cause for the sudden loss of functionality. It took a bit of sleuthing,  but eventually I figured it out. 

Turns out that in between auditions, I was stacking my AirTurn on top of my iPad Air to make it easier to walk on and off of the stage. It dawned on me that the the iPad Air's magnetic border (along the left edge to attach smart covers) might be affecting the Neodymium magnets that are embedded in the AirTurn pedals. Sure enough,  when I kept AirTurn and ipad apart, everything worked like a charm. 

So the lesson here is: don't stack your AirTurn on top of your iPad or tablet if it has a magnetic edge. Keep the AirTurn itself in a separate bag, or at the very least try to keep only the backwards pedal (usually the left one) on top of the iPad's magnetic edge.