At the time when the iPad is clocking a decade of existence, Apple thinks its time for it to have its own skin. At the WWDC 2019 held in San Jose, the company announced that iPad’s software will now exist inside its own vertical OS – called the iPadOS.
So, as the mobile devices get upgraded to iOS 13, tablets will have a feel of the new operating system which seemingly comes with a lot of enhancements. At least you can be sure that desktop sites are now the default in Safari. The browser will now support new features such as a download manager, 30 new keyboard shortcuts and enhancements to tab management.
Apple has redesigned the Home screen with a new layout to show more apps on each page. Today View can now be added to the Home screen, allowing quick access to widgets for at-a-glance information, including headlines, weather, calendar, events, tips and more. You’ll be able to bring widgets to the home screen in just a single swipe. You’ll also be able to fit more app icons on each screen.
Some of the visible changes in iPadOS include the ability to share folders in iCloud drive following an update to the Files app, the new column view and the possibility of getting files from USB-C flash drives. There is also the ability to bring up multiple windows of the same app, while making it easier to multi-task on the display.
App Exposé provides a quick view of just the open windows for any one app with a simple tap.
Apple has integrated the Pencil even more into the iPad experience with iPadOS. There is a redesigned tool palette gives quick access to tools, colour palettes, shapes, object eraser, a new pixel eraser for removing any part of a stroke and a ruler for drawing perfectly straight lines.
Additionally, the Apple Pencil latency has reduced from 20ms to 9ms using advanced prediction algorithms and optimisations, and the company is pushing the PencilKit developer API to third-party app developers so that they can integrate some new controls.
Additional iPadOS Features
- Dark Mode delivers a dramatic dark colour scheme that looks great across the system and is easier on the eyes in low-light environments.
- Custom Fonts can be installed for use across the system, perfect for creating beautiful documents on iPad. Fonts from boutique and major vendors such as Adobe, DynaComware, Monotype, Morisawa and Founder will be available on the App Store.
- A new floating keyboard saves space and includes support for QuickPath — making one-handed typing easy and leaving more room to display apps. Customers can pinch in to enable the floating keyboard and drag it anywhere on the screen.
- Photos curates the library to highlight the best images, automatically hiding clutter and similar photos to showcase significant events from the past day, month or year. Photo editing is more intuitive with new tools that are easier to apply, adjust and review, and almost all photo editing capabilities are available for video editing.
- Sign In with Apple is a fast, easy and private way to sign in to apps and websites using Apple ID.
- Maps features a new basemap, built from the ground up: Look Around with beautiful street-level imagery of cities using high-resolution 3D photography; Collections for a new way to share restaurants, shops or destinations; and Favourites for quick navigation to frequent locations.
- Performance improvements make the entire system more responsive with faster Face ID unlock, and a new way to package iPad apps on the App Store that reduces download sizes by up to 50 per cent, makes app updates up to 60 per cent smaller, and results in apps launching up to twice as fast.
