IPadOS update
IPad sure means business now
ON TOP OF the new features coming in iOS 16, iPadOS 16 will introduce powerful new productivity and collaboration features.
Stage Manager, available on iPad models with an M1 chip, offers an entirely new multitasking experience that automatically organizes apps and windows. For the first time on iPad, you can resize windows and create overlapping windows of different sizes in a single view, drag and drop windows from the side, or open apps from the Dock to create groups of apps on view at the same time. You can also group windows together when working on specific tasks or projects that require different apps. Your current app (or set of apps) takes center stage, with other open apps and windows to the left, and you just tap one to switch between them.
Stage Manager also unlocks full external display support with resolutions of up to 6K, so you can arrange the ideal workspace, and work with up to four apps on iPad and four apps on the external display.
New features in Messages make it easy to collaborate and manage shared content across Files, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, Notes, Reminders, and Safari, as well as third–party apps. When users send an invitation to collaborate via Messages, everyone on the thread is automatically added to the document, spreadsheet, or project. When someone makes a change to a shared file, everyone can see updates right at the top of the Messages thread. And when working on a collaborative project, you can jump into the associated Messages conversation or just tap to start a FaceTime call with your collaborators.
A new collaboration app aptly named Freeform, coming later this year, provides a completely flexible canvas — that’s expandable in every direction, with no fixed page size — for users to sketch, jot, and brainstorm on together in real time.
New features for creative pros include Reference Mode, enabling the 12.9–inch iPad Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display to be used for color– critical tasks. Virtual Memory Swap uses the iPad’s storage to expand the available memory for all apps, up to 16GB. On M1–powered models, Display Zoom allows users to increase the pixel density of the display so they can view more in their apps, which is especially useful when using Split View.
The Weather app comes to iPad, taking full advantage of the display with beautiful animations and map views. The Notes app gains the ability to add screenshots in Quick Notes, straighten handwriting, and use powerful Smart Folders and filtering capabilities.
“Desktop–class” apps enable new capabilities and features on iPad, including a consistent undo and redo experience across the system, a redesigned find–and– replace, customizable toolbars, the ability to change file extensions and view folder size in Files, and more.
APPLE’S MOBILE DEVICES and computers continue to converge, with the new features in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 also coming to macOS Ventura in the Fall.
These include the new Smart Tools in Mail, Shared Tab Groups and passkeys in Safari, the collaboration features in Messages, and even Stage Manager, which works in concert with other macOS windowing tools, including Mission Control and Spaces. New for macOS, the Weather and Clock apps, with all the features users know and love from iPhone, have been optimized for Mac.
A new function called Continuity Camera makes it easy to use your iPhone as the webcam for a Mac. The Mac can automatically recognize and use the camera on iPhone when it is nearby — without the need to wake or select it — and iPhone can even connect to your
Mac wirelessly for greater flexibility. Continuity Camera delivers innovative features to all Mac computers including Center Stage, Portrait mode, and the new Studio Light — an effect that beautifully illuminates a user’s face while dimming the background. Plus, Continuity Camera can also tap into the Ultra Wide camera on iPhone to enable Desk View, which simultaneously shows the user’s face and an overhead view of their desk — great for creating DIY videos, showing sketches over FaceTime, and much more.
Handoff comes to FaceTime, allowing you to start a FaceTime call on one Apple device and seamlessly transfer it to another nearby. You can start a call on your Mac, for example, and shift to iPhone or iPad to continue on the go.
Spotlight includes an updated design for easier navigation, new features that provide a more consistent experience across Apple devices, and Quick Look for quickly previewing files. You can now find images in your photo library, across the system, and on the web. You can even search for your photos by location, people, scenes, or objects, and Live Text lets you search by text inside images.
New accessibility tools include Live Captions for all audio content, Type to Speak on calls, and more.
System Preferences is renamed System Settings and redesigned to be more iPhone–like and easier to navigate. Security on macOS is strengthened with new tools including Rapid Security Response, which works in between normal updates to keep security up to date without a reboot.