The latest beta of iPadOS has been available all summer. You may download iPadOS 15 right now to discover how much the multitasking experience has improved. You’ll also receive the home screen upgrade we’ve been asking for since last year, and the Notes app gets far more power.
The main Notes features concentrate on Quick Notes, which will enable you to take notes using the apps you use and begin writing more quickly. One of our favorite iPadOS features that helps the iPad more fully replace laptops is the App Shelf. Nevertheless, it seems like there are enough improvements (including features coming to iOS 15, which launches on September 20) to ensure that the iPad remains the greatest tablet available.
- All the new features in iOS 15 for your iPhone
- The finest Apple Pencil alternatives can help you save money.
- Additionally: How to get iPad 15
The iPad is in an intriguing situation right now. The iPad Pro 2021 is more potent than ever thanks to the M1 processor, but it also resembles Apple’s MacBook Air and MacBook Pro more. The iPad is still not nearly as competent as the Mac, though, because macOS still supports superior multitasking.
New features in iPadOS 15
Apple extended standard apps with distinctive iPad design elements including sidebars in Pictures and Apple Music, as well as new interfaces for Siri and incoming calls, among other things, with the release of iPadOS 14 in 2020.
A new search feature, system-wide handwriting recognition, and other updates introduced by iPadOS 14 were designed to improve the iPad experience when used with the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard.
Apple has improved the internal method it uses to create iPadOS upgrades over time, making it simpler for the firm to add and delete new features. As a result, the business may delete features that aren’t ready for prime time, making each annual release more stable. It’s time to become acquainted with all the new features of iPadOS 15.
Redesigned Home Screen: Widgets, App Library, Focus, and Notification Center
Apple added several new capabilities to the Home Screen in iPadOS 15. The user may now add widgets on the Home Screen anywhere they desire.
Users may finally access the App Library, which debuted with iOS 14, in the bottom right corner. The App Library is also opened by swiping to the previous page.
Focus is a different function that came with iPadOS 15. Users may choose what alerts they want to receive while working or relaxing using this feature. When a user chooses “Do Not Disturb” or “Work” on one Apple device, those choices are applied to all other Apple devices as well.
To display more pertinent alerts throughout the day, the new Notification Center makes use of machine learning and your Focus preferences. The notification icons have increased in size.
iPadOS 15 release date and beta info
After a lengthy beta period throughout the summer, iPadOS 15’s final release is scheduled for September 20. We have instructions on how to download the iPadOS 15 public beta as well as the iPadOS 15 developer beta. Check out our first-hand iPadOS 15 review to find out more about it after we evaluated the betas.
iPadOS 15 multitasking upgrades
In iPadOS 15, Apple is simplifying multitasking, beginning with new Menu buttons at the top of the screen (which are hidden under a three-dot button). With a few taps, you may activate split-view mode and view your home screen to select the desired apps. This button also displays a slide-over option.
This is a welcome advancement over the current multitasking system. People with keyboards had an additional method, utilizing Spotlight to discover other programs, but it was insufficient. Today, you rely on the apps in your Dock (which cannot accommodate all the apps on your device). Now, you may use whatever applications you choose when multitasking.
It’s as simple to replace one of the applications in your split view. You may start looking for a new app to multitask with by swiping down from the top of the app to see your home screen.
Holding down a message in Mail while in split-view provides you the opportunity to create a reply in a window that sits on top of your split-screen, which is another kind of multitasking that Apple emphasized. Then we discovered that you can reduce that reply to the Shelf, a new area that appears above the dock, where you may locate more works in progress from the program working in. At first, this didn’t seem like a particularly significant development.
When you open an app, hit the three dots to activate the multitasking view, or tap the app icon on the dock, Shelf will display you documents associated with the app(s) you’re using.
With the app-switching Work Spaces mode, you can also create new split-screen views. You may connect two apps by simply dragging one over the other.
FaceTime and iMessage are even more useful on iPadOS 15
Apple gradually added a few more capabilities to iMessage and FaceTime. Finally, iMessage and FaceTime include the features that consumers would anticipate using while in quarantine.
FaceTime group calls may now be shown in a grid on iPadOS 15 so that it is simpler to view everyone. Also, you may view content from Apple TV+, HBO Max, Disney+, and other services while in a conversation, share your screen, and listen to Apple Music songs together.
Pinned messages, a new gallery grid for multiple pictures, and several additional Emoji settings are now available in iMessage.
SharePlay and Shared with Me
Apple unveiled two new capabilities named SharePlay and Shared with me while we’re still discussing iMessage and FaceTime. Shared with me are a new area on Safari, Apple Music, Podcasts, and Apple TV+ that integrates all material shared with you by friends via iMessage. SharePlay is the ability to share your screen, listen to Apple Music tracks together in a FaceTime chat, etc.
The wonderful thing about this function is that you may take your time to enjoy a song, a TV show, or a podcast before clicking on it to respond to a message that was given to you earlier that day or in the previous few hours.
Swift Playgrounds as an app builder
For a while now, users have been requesting Xcode on the iPad. On the other side, Apple provides customers with updated Swift Playgrounds so they may create iPhone and iPad apps on their iPad and upload them immediately to the App Store.
While constructing apps, code is immediately reflected in the live preview, and users may test their apps by running them in full-screen mode. Users now have even more flexibility when creating apps for the iPad and Mac thanks to a new open project structure based on Swift packages that can be opened and changed in Xcode on the Mac and Swift Playgrounds for the iPad.
iPadOS 15’s other new features
Moreover, Apple is supporting the building of iPad and iPhone apps by introducing new keyboard shortcuts (which now have their menu) and updated Swift Playgrounds for iPad.
Of course, some of the new iOS 15 capabilities will also be available on the iPad. They will include updates to Apple Maps that make locations much more complicated, Focus statuses to change how you get alerts, photo search in Spotlight, SharePlay for watching and listening to content with your friends and family in FaceTime, and photo search in Spotlight. (Just be aware that SharePlay won’t be available when iPadOS 15 launches since Apple intends to introduce that functionality in a later version.)
Another pretty cool feature that all Macs and iPads share is called Universal Control, which enables the use of the same keyboard and mouse on both platforms. Just moving the MacBook pointer off-screen causes it to transfer to the other device as you move it there.
The iPad will also get the new Safari interface, which has a fresh appearance for favorites and tabs. If you don’t like this new feature, here’s how to stop Safari from changing colors on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS 12.
- See our list of iPad keyboard shortcuts.
- See our review of the iPad Pro (2020).