The iPad evolves…
Get ready for big changes!
The iPa d changes the most with iOS 11, gaining major usability enhancements that might even convince you to buy one instead of a MacBook the next time you need a new computer.
The Dock evolves from a simple place to keep up to a mere six of your most-used apps visible on all pages of the Home screen. You’re able to access iOS 11’s Dock at a moment’s notice even while you’re using an app, by swiping up from the bottom edge of the screen.
The iPad’s new Dock works a lot like the one in macOS in more ways than this. As on the Mac, there’s a dividing line towards its right end. You choose which apps are persistently shown to the left of that line simply by dragging and dropping them from the Home screen as normal.
The items to the right of the line are picked for you by iOS itself. The operating system automatically fills this area with a few apps it thinks you might want to use next – another example of the machine learning Apple is keenly promoting as part of this iteration of iOS. That’s also where to look when you want to transfer an in-progress task from another of your nearby devices to your iPad, using the Handoff feature.
The new Dock is about more than providing a new way to quickly switch between apps. When you reveal the Dock while using an app, you can drag the icon of another app from the Dock to the side of the screen to open it in the temporary Slide Over view. If you decide to keep that app open, you can pin it open in Split View to refer to as you work in the original app.
control center
In the past, swiping upwards from the bottom edge of the screen was used to reveal Control Center. It still is, but you either need to swipe up again from the already revealed Dock, or you can jump straight to Control Center by swiping
The Dock evolves from a simple place to keep up to a mere six of your apps
further up the screen in the first place. Control Center is shown down the right-hand side of the new-look app switcher, which makes better use of the iPad’s abundant screen space. Rather than recent apps being presented like a stack of cards, their thumbnails are laid out in a grid that provides a clearer view and direct access to more apps at once. Similar to Mission Control on the Mac, this switcher gives a clear reminder of which apps are paired in Split View, with a pair of app icons and names above the relevant thumbnails. The Dock and the redesigned app switcher aren’t just designed to help you switch between apps more quickly. They also enable another new feature on the iPad: drag and drop. Photos, web addresses, selected text, and much more can be picked up and dragged over an icon on the Dock, then dropped into that app. You can even use one hand to begin this process, then tap additional items using your other hand to add them to what you’re holding in the first one.
quickly type special characters
iOS 11 provides a new on-screen keyboard on the iPad, on which many keys are adorned with a second character in gray. Rather than having to switch to a different set of keys or hold ß to type these, you place a finger on a key, slide it down a short way, then let go – and that’s it!