During the 2019 World Wide Developers Conference, Apple announced an all new Operating System for the iPad platform. This meant we would now have macOS, iOS, watchOS, tvOS and finally the newly announced iPadOS.
iPadOS is built with iOS 13 as the foundation, so a lot of iOS 13 features are built-in. But with a twist! It packs additional features designed exclusively for the iPad, making it a whole new powerhouse, but with a significant learning curve. Fret not, with true dedication to learn and the passion to figure out how it fits into your workflow, you too can take advantage of this impressive platform.
Currently iPadOS can be installed on the following devices:
- iPad Pro (Series 1, 2 and 3)
- iPad (5th, 6th and 7th Generation)
- iPad mini (4th and 5th Generation)
- iPad Air (3rd Generation)
- iPad Air 2
Better Multitasking. Now with improved Slide Over you can have multiple 'iPhone sized' apps always running, ready to be accessed with one swipe. Now, you can also have the same app running in multiple windows. You can also have the same app in multiple work spaces! Want to see how many instances you have running of a particular app? You can now with the App Expose feature.
Floating Keyboard and Swiping. You know how the keyboard would take 1/3rd of the available screen real estate of your iPad? Not anymore! You can shrink the keyboard to an iPhone sized keyboard, and now even swipe for easy one handed use.
Better File Management. Apple has finally overhauled the way you access and store your files. With the added feature of connecting external drives (better have your dongle handy) and syncing your cloud drives (Google Drive, OneDrive etc).
New Home Screen with Widgets on the ready. Having widgets always on the home screen improves upon your overall experience.
Apple Pencil latency upgrade. It's as smooth as writing on paper, but on glass instead. With just a software update they've managed to improve the latency to a low 9 milliseconds.
Text Editing with ease. You now have gestures for multi-select, cut, copy, paste, undo and redo.
Desktop Grade Safari. One of my biggest issues was getting served mobile websites on my big iPad screen. Well not anymore!
Sidecar. If you have a MacBook and an iPad, then this one is for you. Extend your MacBook work space to your iPad with pencil support. MacOS on your iPad? Sounds like a great work system!
Side Note: I've tried to use this in three different instances and failed. Unfortunately, Sidecar is limited to Macbooks with the butterfly keyboard, Mac Mini 2018, iMac late 2015 and later, iMac Pro 2017 and later, Mac Pro 2019.
Better Screenshots. You can now use your Apple Pencil to take a screenshot, with the added ability of taking full page screenshots.
Mouse Support. Don't get too excited about this one yet! Mouse support is available only as an accessibility feature. So, the experience is very limited.
Font Management. You can now have custom fonts installed and use them in all your apps. Simple as that.
Although, this isn't a 1:1 laptop replacement, it definitely is a great laptop alternative for. The iPad is a behemoth of a platform, that will allow you to perform 90% of your desired tasks (albeit the special software that you'd currently need a computer for.) Now. all you have left to do is figure out how you're going to revamp your work flow to accommodate for the touch screen!
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| New Home Screen + Widgets | Better Screenshots with Markup | QuickType Floating Keyboard |
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| Multiple instances of the same app & Desktop Grade Safari | Full page Screenshots with Markup | Multiple Apps in Slide Over |
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Saandhyarag Sasidhar
Student Operations Manager
Web and Digital Strategies
