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With the launch of iOS 13, Apple decided to split iOS 13 for the iPad into its own dedicated operating system called iPadOS. Going forward, iPadOS will be the version of iOS that runs on Apple's iPad devices.

iPadOS includes all of the features of iOS 13, plus some additional tweaks and changes made specifically for a device with a larger display. In our latest video, we went hands-on with iPadOS to check out the new features.


As mentioned above, iPadOS includes almost all of the iOS 13 features, such as Dark Mode, Find My, new app updates, Sign In with Apple, and more.

There are also iPad-specific features, though, such as a new Home screen that features smaller app icons so you can fit more apps on each page. The new Home screen also lets you move the Today view widgets from the left side of the screen onto the Home screen itself so you can see at-a-glance info like weather, upcoming events, news headlines, and more, whenever your iPad is in landscape mode.

Multitasking features specific to the iPad have also been overhauled. Split View now supports multiple windows from the same app, so you can do things like view two Safari pages side by side, and in Slide Over, you can now have multiple Slide Over windows open, flipping between them as needed for quicker swapping between apps.

You can keep all the apps you need to access occasionally stored in Slide Over, dragging upwards on the display to see everything that's open. App Exposé, a new feature available when you press on an app's icon, is designed to show you all of the windows from a particular app.

Apple improved Apple Pencil latency, dropping it from 20ms to 9ms, and Markup is more deeply integrated everywhere in iPadOS. You can tap on the corner of the display with an Apple Pencil to open up Markup, which can be used for webpages, documents, screenshots, emails, and more. A redesigned tool palette offers up quick access to tools and color palettes, and there's a new ruler and a new pixel eraser.

Like iOS 13, iPadOS brings support for external drives to the Files app, along with new folder sharing capabilities. A Column View lets you see previews of your files, and Quick Actions support allows you to do things like mark up and rotate images and create PDFs right from the Files app.

Safari has a new download manager and will always load the desktop version of a site, and there are new gestures that while also available on iPhone, work well on the iPad's larger display. Scrolling through long documents and webpages is faster through a new gesture that lets you grab the scroll bar and drag it, and selecting text can now be done by dragging a finger over it.

Selecting a word can be done with a double tap, selecting a sentence can be done with a triple tap, and a quadruple tap selects a paragraph at once. Double tapping selects elements like phone numbers and email addresses, and you can now pick up the cursor and move it wherever you want. There are new pinch-based gestures for copy and paste, and a new three finger swipe for undoing and redoing.

Both iPadOS and iOS 13 introduce a new swipe-based keyboard called the QuickPath keyboard, but in iPadOS, you can grab the keyboard and move it wherever you want on the display for a floating keyboard that offers one-handed typing access.

Used with macOS Catalina, the iPad can become a second display for your Mac thanks to the new Sidecar functionality, and the iPad now supports both mice and Xbox/PS4 game controllers.

For more detail on iPadOS, make sure to check out our iPadOS roundup.

Article Link: Hands-On With Apple's New iPadOS Software
 

Jim

macrumors member
Aug 3, 2000
60
135
Chicago, IL
How long before you begin to see separate prices for iPad and iPhone apps again? First they encourage the merger of the two and when revenue probably fell based on that, the iPadOS is born. The over/under is one year for the appearance of ... the iPadOS app store.
 

Yr Blues

macrumors 68030
Jan 14, 2008
2,687
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How long before you begin to see separate prices for iPad and iPhone apps again? First they encourage the merger of the two and when revenue probably fell based on that, the iPadOS is born. The over/under is one year for the appearance of ... the iPadOS app store.

I like what I'm seeing. Eventually it will be a real MacBook alternative for those who want a different workflow.
 

CarpalMac

macrumors 68000
Nov 19, 2012
1,617
3,984
UK
I don't know how much it differs from i(Phone)OS but surely this is heading down a path that leads to more fragmentation? Something they have been noticeably quieter about in recent times.
 

drumcat

macrumors 65816
Feb 28, 2008
1,132
2,806
Otautahi, Aotearoa
That mouse support needs to be there without the assistive knobby thing. Huge win for everyone, but like the video, this needs to be a normal option with a button on the pull-up (or in from the upper right corner now) and just a simple mouse button. Indicate mouse option is on in the right tray, and doneso.
 

VictorTango777

macrumors 6502a
Oct 28, 2017
890
1,626
Ever since the Reminders application was available in iOS, it seems like Apple engineers never bothered to test the application with more than 1 item in a list. Does Reminders finally allow items to be sorted by name, priority, or due date?
 
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coachgq

macrumors 6502a
Jun 16, 2009
889
1,740
Why does every review I’ve seen say that mouse usage isn’t a standard feature? It let’s really takes 3 swipes to get to the button to turn on.
 
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markosb

macrumors 6502
Mar 19, 2010
384
55
Remote play works with the PS4 controller now. You can’t use it with games like Detoit which needs the gyro part in parts of the game. I played Spider-Man the other day for about an hour and it was great. I was able to use my MFi controller precious to upgrading to iOS 13 but it wasn’t like using the PS4 controller.

With DS4 and Xbox controller support, I wonder if that means remote play will be fully supported on iPad now? Right now I can remote into my PS4, but I’m relegated to using the screen as a controller, which is near friggin impossible.
 
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44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
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Apple software engineers have been diligently hard at work, and it’s clear now with multitasking that’s been revamped, split view is much more user-friendly and finally I can see to Safari pages together side-by-side, especially for comparisons for reading in between websites.
 
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Darth Tulhu

macrumors 68020
Apr 10, 2019
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I find the Sidecar feature interesting.

It seems like yet another very clever way of marketing having a MacBook AND an iPad.

But in this case, it's more than just marketing and actually useful for those that already have both.
 

Williesleg

Cancelled
Oct 28, 2014
479
785
I'm amazed how Apple is dividing us into the rich who will be content creators with $15k machines, and the rest of the poor people who can pretend to create, but will only be consumers with $1k iPads and iPhones.
Thanks Tim Apple!
 
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Clocknova

macrumors member
Feb 1, 2007
41
30
I like what I'm seeing. Eventually it will be a real MacBook alternative for those who want a different workflow.

Except that it still won't allow you to run whatever software you want, from whatever source you want, like a real computer.
[doublepost=1560381396][/doublepost]
This transition of the iPad from being a consumption device to a content creation device is taking FOREVER. All the iPad needs now is multi-user sign on. I know why they don't want to add it but it's inevitable at this point.

Well, multi-user sign-in and the ability to run whatever software you want from sources other than the app store. Then it will be a real computer.
 

Brandhouse

macrumors 6502a
Aug 6, 2014
550
882
I haven't seen anywhere what iPad versions will be supported by iPasOS, can anyone point me to any information please? In our household we've got multiple iPads of different versions.
 

Zdigital2015

macrumors 601
Jul 14, 2015
4,003
5,313
East Coast, United States
I’m definitely looking forward to the new features in iPadOS, but wonder how well it’s going to run on a mini 4. I guess it’ll be adequate or Apple would have raised the cutoff.
I will probably use my mini 4 as a public beta mule when it comes out next month. Hoping for good things, I don’t want to buy a 5 until Black Friday sales.
 
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QCassidy352

macrumors G5
Mar 20, 2003
12,028
6,036
Bay Area
I'm amazed how Apple is dividing us into the rich who will be content creators with $15k machines, and the rest of the poor people who can pretend to create, but will only be consumers with $1k iPads and iPhones.
Thanks Tim Apple!
I’m not sure if this is a joke... if not, I’ll just point out that most content creation can be done on any Mac, including those available for $1k+.
 

Kirkster

Contributor
Jan 19, 2004
126
321
I'm amazed how Apple is dividing us into the rich who will be content creators with $15k machines, and the rest of the poor people who can pretend to create, but will only be consumers with $1k iPads and iPhones.
Thanks Tim Apple!

Have been using my iPad almost exclusively to edit my videos... Looking forward to when Abelton puts out an iPad friendly version, though I may be waiting for a while on that...
 
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