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Keanu Reeves didn't know Norman Reedus had been cast in From the World of John Wick: BallerinaThe pair are good friends due to their shared obsession with motorsportsReedus was surprised that the franchise's lead star and executive producer had no idea about his involvementNorman Reedus has revealed – amusingly – that Keanu Reeves didn't know Reedus had been cast in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina.The Walking Dead star told TechRadar of his own surprise that Reeves had no idea about Reedus' involvement in the John Wick universe's latest entry. In fact, Reedus joked it was "weird" that the man synonymous with the gun-fu franchise – Reeves plays the franchise's titular hitman, and is an executive producer on its various projects – was seemingly kept in the dark about her hiring.Keanu Reeves had no idea that his good friend and fellow motorbike enthusiast was in Ballerina (Image credit: Lionsgate)Reedus and Reeves have become close friends due to their mutual love of motorsports and, in particular, motorcycles. Indeed, Reeves is as well-known for being a motorbike obsessive – so much so he co-founded his own manufacturing company in 2011. Meanwhile, Reedus regularly stars in his own travel docu-series – Ride with Norman Reedus – on US network AMC, which began in 2016 and has run for six seasons so far.You would think, then, that Reeves would've been aware of Reedus' casting in Ballerina. Not so, the latter revealed to me when I asked if he sought advice from Reeves upon joining the Wick-Verse."I didn't speak to Keanu [beforehand], but I texted him after I got it," Reedus said. "He was like, 'Wait, you're in it?' I don't think he knew, which was weird to me because I thought he would!"When I followed up to ask if that put additional pressure on Reedus to deliver a top-tier performance, he replied: "Yeah, but only because it's a John Wick movie. You don't want to be the guy who messes up the John Wick franchise. I'm a big fan of all of those films, so you want to do as good of a job as you can."Who is Daniel, the enigmatic character played by Norman Reedus in Ballerina?We hear you loud and clear, Mister Reedus, but I imagine fans will want to know more about Daniel, i.e. the character you're playing in the fourth John Wick film (well, chronologically, anyway – for more information on the movie series' timeline, read my guide on how to watch the John Wick movies in order).So, without spoiling anything significant, what could Reedus tell me about the mystery individual he'll portray in Ballerina?"He comes from one these... he has a history with a militant faction," Reedus said as he carefully considered his response. "He's someone with some sort of familial privilege, so I imagined how he grew up, the training he had to do, and then all the bad things he's probably done in his life."But, then there's this new element that changes Daniel's perspective on who he is and what he's doing," he added, "And so, by the time you meet him in Ballerina, he's basically willing to fight everybody to protect something other than himself."You can find out what I thought of Reedus' character, as well as the movie as a whole, in my Ballerina review. Before one of 2025's new movies arrives in theaters on June 6, be sure to catch up on more of my exclusive coverage about it and the wider action thriller franchise below.You might also like'It's really misleading': Ballerina director Len Wiseman explains why the John Wick series' new movie shouldn't be called a spin-off filmFrom the World of John Wick: Ballerina was delayed a whole year for a highly unusual but 'awesome' reason, its director saysJohn Wick Chapter 5 is still in very early development, but 'there are a lot of options' on the table about what its story could be, Ian McShane teases

If you have an old iPad and you’re interested in externalizing some of the thousands of photos in your iCloud account, this guide’s for you. Instead of buying a new digital picture frame, you can turn your retired iPad into a dedicated photo display without much effort. You’ll need to change a few settings, download a photo frame app and decide how you want to prop up your new display — which can be as simple as using a stand or as complicated as getting out the drill and modding an analog frame. Here’s how (and why) to upcycle your old iPad into a digital picture frame.

Upcycled iPad versus a digital picture frame

An actual digital picture frame has a few obvious advantages: the necessary software is already there, it’s display-ready, complete with a frame and matted display, and, as a unitasker, it won’t display Gmail notifications over your photos. But the resolution for most smart frames tops out at 1,280 by 800 pixels. Even the standard iPad (9th gen) from 2021 has a resolution of 2,160 by 1,620. Plus, your old iPad is already yours. A decent digital frame will cost you around $100. And, since your iPad is certainly not a single-purpose device — it can take a FaceTime call or play an episode of Poker Face if the need arises.

Amy Skorheim for Engadget

How to turn your old iPad into a digital picture frame

I figured I’d be able to use Apple’s built-in software to do something as simple as creating a looping slideshow of images, but the experience wasn't quite what I was looking for. Playing a slideshow within the Photos app does so as a Memory, complete with music, and there’s no way to turn that music off (though you can mute it). You can loop a Memory, but you can't randomize the images and the interval between images is far too short (anything less than ten minutes feels like yet another screen blinking at you). So, to turn an iPad into a randomized, always-on and silent digital picture frame with a decent display length, you'll have better luck with a third-party app.

I tried a few and my favorite is Synched Photo Frame by Re-frame ($10, lifetime access). It doesn’t pack a ton of features — no transitions, no image effects, no time and date overlay options and it’ll only access images from your Photos app — but it does the best job of making photos look good on an iPad.

It lets you set the viewing interval from 10 seconds to 24 hours and there’s a programmable sleep function so it doesn’t beam smiling pictures into the 3AM void of your living room. If your iPad is oriented differently than a photo, it shows two side-by-side images (i.e., two portrait images next to each other if your iPad is in landscape or two stacked horizontal pics if your tablet is vertical). A clean white border surrounds each split image; full-screen images go edge to edge. Images are cropped slightly to fit, which means they may lose a few details around the borders, but I think the effect is more attractive than blurred extended edges or black bars. The two-up solution is how our top pick for a digital photo frame, the Aura Carver, handles images with different aspect ratios — but you can’t set that device in portrait mode.

LiveFrame is another option and it’s actually cheaper at $5 for lifetime access. It has more features like transitions and image filters, but there’s no option for having two images up at the same time like in Re-Frame. Instead it can blur the edges, add bars or (hideously) stretch the image. I also experienced a number of glitches with the app and found the navigation a little tougher than it should be. I also tried Digital Photo Frame Slideshow but, at $30 annually, it’s too expensive for my taste and it doesn’t have a sleep function.

How to prepare your iPad for photo frame mode

Step one: Create an album

Most photo display apps will pull from albums you select in Photos. You probably already know how to make a new album, but there are a couple of elements to consider as you create one for a digital photo frame app on an iPad. All instructions are for iPadOS 18. If you’re working with an older version, the steps may be slightly different.

Select the Aspect Ratio Grid in the View Options menu of the Photos app so you can see which images are horizontal and which are vertical to more easily create your album. Amy Skorheim for Engadget

Open Photos and tap the side bar icon in the upper left corner.

Under Albums, tap + New Album at the bottom of that list.

Name the album something memorable, as you’ll likely have to search for it within the photo frame app. Tap Create Album, then the blue plus sign.

If you want to only (or mostly) add a specific orientation (landscape or portrait), tap the up/down arrow icon at the bottom left of the pop up menu.

Tap View Options, then Aspect Ratio Grid. This will show the shape of each image so you can more easily select only the ones with the orientation you want. You can also use the View Options menu to zoom in on the thumbnails to get a better view of each picture.

Select the images you want and tap Add in the upper right.

Step two: Adjust your iPad settings

Adjusting a couple of settings will ensure your iPad keeps playing all day, interruption-free. Simply having the digital photo frame app playing should be enough to prevent your iPad from going dark, but your iPad may auto-lock when the app’s sleep mode kicks in, requiring you to unlock it in the morning to start the app back up. You’ll also want to make sure your slideshow isn’t interrupted with notifications from other apps.

Turn off Auto-Lock: Open Settings, tap Display & Brightness, tap Auto-Lock, select Never. You may get a warning that this setting will impact battery life, but since your iPad will stay plugged in, it won’t be an issue.

Turn off all Notifications: You’ll need to turn off notifications for every app on your iPad. Go to Settings> Notifications > Notification style, toggle off Allow Notifications for every app. Note: Using the Do Not Disturb Focus will enable DND on all your connected Apple devices, unless you toggle off Share Across Devices in Settings > Focus. But turning off notifications is still the better option.

Step three: Don’t let randos get at your stuff

Since you’ll probably want to display your new picture frame somewhere that people can see, there’s a risk of someone attempting to use your iPad. To prevent this, you can use an Accessibility feature called Guided Access. Apple designed it so parents could hand an iPad to their child without also giving them access to additional apps. We’re repurposing it for photo frame security to prevent anyone from navigating to your home screen or anywhere else. People can still tap on the screen to use the photo frame app’s controls or you can disable touch altogether.

Turn on Guided Access in the Accessibility section of the Settings app to prevent other people from accessing your iPadAmy Skorheim for Engadget

Enable Guided Access: Open Settings, tap Accessibility then Guided Access. Set an unlock code, then set Display Auto-Lock to Never.

Turn on Guided Access: While the picture frame app is playing your slideshow, triple click the side button. A grey circle will appear, tap X to close it.

Enable or disable touch: If you still want to allow others to use functions within the photo frame app, toggle the Touch option on. If you want no response when the screen is touched, toggle it off. To access the Options menu, triple click the side button and enter your passcode. Tap Options in the lower left corner.

Note: Guided Access is turned on and off via the side button, so this option might not be feasible if you decide to put your iPad in a frame. One rather extreme workaround is to reset your iPad and set it up with a brand new Apple ID connected to family sharing that allows access to a shared Photos Library.

With your photo frame app open, triple click the iPad's top button to enable Guided Access.Amy Skorheim for Engadget

Put your new digital photo frame on display

This can be as simple as finding a stand you like and calling it a day. An Etsy seller called Event Frame makes custom frames for iPads. They aren’t cheap, going for around $100 each, but it’s one of the only companies I’ve found that actually offers model- and generation-specific sizing. I also considered the Snap Float Folio from Moft, as I’ve been impressed with some of the brand’s other origami-inspired accessories. If you’re crafty, you can take inspiration from this person’s Instructables and make your own frame from a physical media picture frame. Personally, I just got a right-angled USB-C cable and stuck my iPad in a collapsible stand I already had. The pictures are pretty enough.

Amy Skorheim for Engadget

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/how-to-turn-your-old-ipad-into-a-digital-picture-frame-130017314.html?src=rss