iPad tablets and iPhones have been running the same operating system, iOS. But as anyone who uses both a tablet and phone can tell you, tablet users have different needs than phone users.
Finally, Apple is introducing a new operating system designed just for your iPad. It’s called, iPadOS. The first change you’ll notice is a home screen designed to take advantage of the space available on a tablet.
Users can now choose to add a Today View that offers quick access to widgets allowing them to see the weather, calendar, news headlines, and even shortcuts to frequently used actions.
A new Split View allows you to work with multiple apps, documents, and images at the same time just as you can with Android and Windows tablets.
If you use your iPad for graphics work, there have been major improvements to the interface with the Apple Pencil (which is sold separately.)
Apple has made improvements to the File app. It supports sharing in iCloud as well as external USB and memory card drives. There are new shortcut options to make it easy to unzip files, create PDFs and more. There are also keyboard shortcuts for those who prefer to use their iPad with a keyboard attached.
When you open the Safari browser on your iPad, you’ll automatically see the desktop version of the site instead of the smaller mobile version.
If you find yourself editing a lot of documents on your iPad, you’ll find it easier to handle the task without a keyboard thanks to improved gestures for selecting, copying, pasting, and cutting. You’ll also have the option to install custom fonts.
A new floating on-screen keyboard will now make one-handed typing easier.
There’s even a new dark mode.
iPadOS will be available as a free update this fall.