This is Bruce from Tennessee with a review of the Strapsicle case for the iPad mini.
As a disclaimer, I didn’t buy this case. Strapsicle offered Allison a review unit, and since Allison doesn’t have an iPad mini, and I had previously expressed interest in this case, she got them to send it to me instead. So this is my honest take, but I want to be up front that the unit is a review unit, not something I bought.
As with all things Podfeet, we start with the problem to be solved: I love my iPad mini for a lot of things, but I’ve not found a comfortable way to hold it for longer reading sessions, particularly given the bit of arthritis I have in my hands.
My bottom line up front is that I really like the Strapsicle case for the iPad mini. I’d absolutely buy one, and I’ve switched over completely to using this case. I’ll give it a few more weeks, but I expect the rest of my iPad mini cases are getting donated.
As a bit of background, Allison interviewed Lou Rice from Strapsicle about their cases at CES 2026. You can find that interview at podfeet.com. Allison and Steve also posted a testimonial about Strapsicle’s cases for the Kindle. Both of those were included in Nosillacast episode 1088. In that interview, Lou mentioned that Strapsicle was launching a case for the iPad. It wasn’t actually available then, and the Kickstarter for it went live on May 19, 2026. So, the only current path for getting one of these cases is to back the Kickstarter campaign. And, if you want more information, the Kickstarter page has a great video that walks through the case and its features.
The key feature for the Strapsicle for iPad mini case is the eponymous strap on the back of the case. It is a soft silicone, and you slip a finger, or two, or three under the strap. How many fingers you use will probably depend on the size of your hands. Mine are rather large, so I use one or two. But there are lots of options for how to use the strap. I’ve found a couple that work for me, depending on the iPad’s orientation, and what I’m using the iPad for.
As shown in the photo below on the left, the Strapsicle for iPad mini strap is quite different from the ones for Kindle that are shown in the interview photo in the CES interview post. The Kindle Strapsicle has two straps that form an “X” on the back of the Kindle and hook over the corners. The Strapsicle for iPad mini has a circle in the middle of the X, and the straps are connected to the hard case, but don’t all the way out to the corners. A Kindle is only used in one orientation and it doesn’t have a camera in one corner. An iPad can be used in multiple orientations, and covering the camera would be a problem. The Strapsicle case takes that into account with this design. My experience so far is that it is quite comfortable for me to hold my iPad mini for long periods of time using the strap, including walking around while holding it. And it feels quite secure holding it, in a way that none of my other cases have.
The strap on my case is a nice blue, which I think matches the Bondi Blue option on the Strapsicle for Kindle Paperwhite. Those Kindle straps have 16 color options. I don’t know the plans for color options on the Strapsicle for iPad mini, but the options on the Kindle are encouraging.
The Strapsicle case also includes a hard shell, which holds the strap and provides some fall protection, a folding front cover, and a loop for an Apple Pencil.
I have the Apple Pencil Pro, and the loop holds it perfectly against the iPad mini’s charging strip, so the pencil rides along charged, ready, and not wandering off. For me, just relying on magnets in the iPad has not been enough — the pencil has a way of getting separated from the iPad and then being hard to find. The Strapsicle loop fixes that, and it is one of my favorite parts of the case. The loop is both secure enough that the pencil doesn’t just fall out, but loose enough so that removing the pencil to use it is easy. The loop should still work fine for Apple Pencils that don’t charge magnetically – you will just have to manage charging as you do now.
As shown in the above photo, the folding cover has scoring for the triangle fold, like the Apple folding cover. That works well for a low-angle stand, particularly in landscape orientation. As I’ll describe in a bit, the cover also detaches easily, which lets that triangle fold work for a low-angle stand in portrait orientation.
The diagonal scoring means that the cover can be folded into a different geometry, which works for high-angle viewing, in both landscape and portrait orientation. This makes the Strapsicle case great for watching videos and using the iPad mini with an external keyboard.
I mentioned that the cover detaches, which expands the ways the case can be used. On the folding cover, there are three small mushroom-shaped posts, which mate into three matching keyhole slots on the back case, as shown in the two following photos.
You push the heads of the posts into the keyhole openings, slide the cover a few millimeters towards the top, and the posts lock into the slots. To detach, you reverse the motions. The whole thing takes a couple of seconds in either direction.
With the cover off, the strap on the back is easy to use. With the cover on, you can still use the straps and you can fold the cover back behind the iPad and grip the iPad by holding that folded triangle, like you can with the Apple cover. And I do this with the Strapsicle case for short-term use. I’ve also experimented with holding the iPad upside down, so that I can get my left hand into the strap with the cover folded back, and that also works for me. But if I am going to use the iPad for more than a few minutes, I pop the cover off entirely and just use the case with the strap. I can then quickly pop the cover back on to put the iPad into my knapsack and keep the screen protected.
It turned out that I got the case two days before I left for a conference, and I’d already decided that I wanted to try just carrying around my iPad mini and leave my laptop in the hotel’s in-room safe. The Strapsicle case made that a very successful experiment. It worked well for me to carry a lightweight sling bag with the iPad mini and a water bottle. I used the iPad mini and Apple Pencil for taking notes in the Goodnotes app, browsing the web to look up words I didn’t understand during the talks, and using the conference app to track my schedule. Taking notes worked well whether I was sitting during a presentation or standing as I was talking to poster session presenters. And it was great for reading in my hotel room at the end of the day when I wanted to relax.
So, in summary, I’m really happy with the Strapsicle case for iPad mini. It feels solid, and I’m very optimistic that this will be a durable solution for me. I haven’t found anything yet that I’d improve for this, and it’s made the iPad mini an even more valuable device for me.
You can find the Strapsicle for iPad mini at www.kickstarter.com/…. Assuming the project gets funded, you’ll get it for your $49 pledge, which is 30% off the future price. You can see all of the Strapsicle straps, cases, and other products at www.strapsicle.com/…. As of late May 2026, when this was written, the Kickstarter had reached its funding goal.
I hope you found this interesting. Peace, and may you find beauty in the world around you.