I bought a cheap case on Amazon. It’s the Premium Leather Flip case for iPad. It’s great for concealing my iPad but it isn’t how I intend to protect it in perpetuity.

It’s made of fairly sturdy but soft-feeling leather with a foam padding inside the front cover. It seals magnetically to the leather which surrounds the iPad. There’s a plastic cover over the iPad’s display. The bezel is covered completely in leather. I believe this covers the light sensors (certainly automatic brightness doesn’t work within the case). When folded closed, it bends the cable of any connected headphones mercilessly (the iPad doesn’t come with headphones incidentally).

When folded, either open or closed, it is about an inch thick. The plastic attracts prints and scratches. The leather feels nice though, and not hard like the Apple case is apparently. I’d like to say that my iPad is well protected inside it, and if closed, then it could be. Once, however, it has slid from the open end next to the hinge – only a couple of inches though before I tilted the other direction and it slid back in. The trouble is that one’s instinct is to hold it on the long edge and not the short. This case folds at the short edge and there is no grip or fastening to prevent the iPad’s exit when the flap is open.

I’ve decided what I want. I want a soft leather folio cover: thin and flexible and only holding the ipad across the corners so that the device is otherwise unencumbered. One of the corners, the one near the volume rocker and rotation lock and on the other edge, the sleep button will need to allow access to those controls somehow. I think the only way to do that will be to have a larger pocket in that corner with cutouts for the buttons and screen. On the back there should be a strap made of sturdy material. It should be possible to roll this and secure it and use that as a stand which works horizontally or vertically (probably the biggest ask) It should also fit through a slit on the front cover to keep it in place when closed. The leather should be a soft hide and perhaps have a chamois cloth fitted, or a pocket to keep a small one. It should open like a book cover, leaving the iPad on the right with the home button at the bottom.

How much?