Apple iPadOS: a cheat sheet

Since the launch of the first generation iPad in 2010, Apple has dominated the tablet market. Originally launched with iPhone OS 3.2, the first-generation iPad 9.7 “was architecturally akin to a large iPhone. With successive models, Apple has differentiated the iPad from the iPhone by adding support for input methods such as Apple Pencil and different screen sizes. such as iPad Mini 7.9 “and iPad Pro 11” and 12.9 “and iPad Pro 11 “and 12.9” with M1 chip.

As the iPad line has expanded into a completely separate product category, Apple announced at its 2019 World Developer Conference (WWDC) that it has renamed iOS for iPad to iPadOS from iOS 13 for highlight and target the features that set iPad apart from other devices. . This follows Apple’s naming trend of watchOS for Apple Watch and tvOS for Apple TV.

TechRepublic’s cheat sheet for iPadOS is an overview of the software’s functionality. This article will be updated periodically as new information about iPadOS becomes available. You can also download this article: Apple iPadOS: A Cheat Sheet (Free PDF).

SEE: Apple’s September 2021 Event: What Business Professionals Need to Know (Free PDF) (TechRepublic)

What is iPadOS?

For the release of iOS 13, Apple renamed the iOS variant for iPad to iPadOS, making it a superset of the phone-oriented iOS. iPadOS includes all of the enhancements available with iOS 13, as well as new iPad-specific features and optimizations.

“It has become a really separate experience,” Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, told CNET in an exclusive interview on iPadOS. “It’s not an iPhone experience. It’s not a Mac experience. The name is recognition.”

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What are the main features of iPadOS?

iPadOS brings the iPad closer to feature parity with the entry-level MacBook, making it more possible to use as a replacement for a laptop. iPadOS includes the following features.

• Tablet-oriented home screen: The iPadOS Home screen now supports persistent widgets. The iPadOS Home screen will support Home screen widgets on iPadOS 15 and later. Users can place and organize widgets on the home screen just as they would with an app (similar to widgets on Android tablets since Android 3.0).

• Improved multitasking: Users can move between Slide Over apps by swiping down or up to see all apps in Slide Over view. Slide Over apps can be moved to full screen by dragging them up or closed by opening the app switcher and dragging the app up. Multitasking available on iPadOS 15 and later makes it easy to find and use apps on iPad. Users can use a single app in full screen mode or use multiple apps simultaneously in Split View or Slide Over mode. The new center window feature allows users to touch and hold to bring notes or messages to the center of the screen without leaving the current task. With simple menu options, users can access additional options without interrupting the task they are currently working on. At WWDC 2021, Apple also showcased the “shelf,” a tray that displays open applications that users can access at the bottom of their iPad screen.

• Desktop Safari: Safari now supports the desktop version of webpages, optimized for touchscreens, along with better support for Google Docs and the WordPress editor. Some 30 new keyboard shortcuts have been added to Safari.

• Support for external drives: USB drives and SD cards are now supported in Files, making it possible to connect directly to an iPad without the need for a third-party program or intermediate Mac for file management.

• Files app enhancements: Files adds a column view similar to Finder on macOS, as well as support for SMB shares.

• Camera support: Cameras can be connected directly to iPad, and photos can be imported for editing on iPad apps, such as Adobe Lightroom.

• Font support: Fonts can be downloaded from the App Store for use in various applications.

• New gestures for faster editing: Copy, paste, and undo can now be done using three-finger gestures, with three-finger pinch to copy, three-finger spread to paste, and three-finger swipe to undo, available for both proprietary and third-party apps.

• Apple Pencil improvements: Swiping from the corner of the screen with Apple Pencil opens the markup view, allowing users to annotate anything on the screen and export it. Latency for Apple Pencil has been reduced from 20ms to 9ms. During WWDC 2021, Apple announced new features for the Apple Pencil. Users can add notes by swiping up on the screen with the pencil, then writing a quick note. Users can also add links / urls to save a quick note for each site they visit. The quick note will automatically be available when the user returns to the same website. Quick Notes are also accessible through Notes. The Apple Pencil Quick Notes feature is available on macOS and iPadOS and is accessible on iOS.

• Sidecar: Users can extend their macOS desktop to iPad as a second display or mirror content between the two displays. When used with Apple Pencil, Sidecar can make iPad usable as a graphics tablet. Sidecar operates via a wired or wireless connection within a radius of 10 meters.

• Touchpad support: There is support for Apple’s Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, Magic Trackpad 2, as well as third-party accessories connected via Bluetooth or USB. According to contributing ZDNet writer Jason Cipriani, “mouse support is an AssistiveTouch feature and also works when a Magic Trackpad is connected to the iPad,” and provides “a circular cursor that moves on the screen, acting like a finger would when touching the screen. It’s unclear how multi-touch gestures would work with a mouse pointer. ”

• Scribble: This feature of iPadOS 14 for Apple Pencil will allow Pencil owners to handwrite in any text field and translate it automatically from handwriting to typing. At launch, it will support English and Traditional and Simplified Chinese, and will even be able to distinguish between the two when used together in the same text field.

• Translate: Apple’s Translate app is available with new features in iPadOS 15. iPad uses a new machine translation feature that detects when someone is speaking, so no buttons are needed to translate spoken words. . Users can translate text from anywhere on their iPad screen (email, Safari / web browsing, texts, etc.).

• Quick playgrounds: At WWDC 2021, Apple announced Swift Playgrounds, which allows developers to build apps directly on iPad through Swift UI. Using Swift Playgrounds, developers can immediately see their coding changes reflected in preview mode. Those new to app development are in luck: Swift Playgrounds has a guide to building your first app, and it can even be submitted directly to the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

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What devices can use iPadOS?

iPadOS is available for iPad Pro 12.9 “and 11” with M1 chip, iPad Pro 12.9 “, 11”, 10.5 “and 9.7”, iPad 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th generation, 4th and 5th generation iPad mini and 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation iPad Air. The Apple iPad Pro 2020 comes with iPadOS 13.4 preinstalled, and the 4th generation iPad Air and 8th generation iPad will ship with the iPad OS 14 preinstalled. Apple notes that iPadOS 15 is a free software update available for iPad mini 4 and later, iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, and all models of iPad Pro.

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When was iPadOS released?

Apple first announced iPadOS at WWDC 2019. The company announced iPadOS 14 at WWDC 2020; Developer beta releases were released on June 22, 2020, the day of the announcement. The public beta of iPadOS 14 was released on July 9, 2020, and the final version was on September 16, 2020. Apple released iPadOS 14.5 on April 26, 2021.

iPadOS 15 was announced at WWDC 2021 on June 7, 2021; the public beta was released on June 30, 2021; and the final version of iPadOS 15 was available for download on September 20, 2021.

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How do I get iPadOS?

The update is now available on compatible iPad models. To update, open the Settings app and go to General | Software update. For users of LTE-compatible iPads, it is recommended that you connect to Wi-Fi to avoid overages or throttling after downloading the update.

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