New Features in iPadOS 16 did not bring the customizable lock screen innovation to tablets in iOS 16. However, some things were long overdue. For example, the branded Weather app has been waiting since the very first iPad. Some features repeat those of iOS 16.
So iCloud Shared Library, Apple Passkey, and Advanced Dictation will appear on both operating systems this year. Apple, as usual, tries, thanks to innovations, to obtain perfect synchronization between its devices.
Stage Manager lets you organize your workspace on small screens.
let’s look at everything features for tablets that brings iPadOS 16, and separately at exclusive innovations for iPad Pro on M1 processor. After all, Apple has prepared some really cool things for them.
Which devices support iPadOS 16?
The iPad Pro 2021 supports all new features in iPadOS 16.
Apple differs from other manufacturers in that it provides its gadgets with support for new versions of the operating system for as long as possible. In a separate article, we talked about which devices will get the update to iPadOS 16. Let’s discover their list:
- iPad Air 3.
- iPad Air 4.
- iPad Air 5.
- iPad 5.
- iPad 6.
- iPad 7.
- iPad 8.
- iPad 9.
- iPad mini 5.
- iPad mini 6.
- iPad Pro 10.5 (2015).
- iPad Pro 12.9 (2017).
- iPad Pro 11 (2018).
- iPad Pro 12.9 (2018).
- iPad Pro 11 (2020).
- iPad Pro 12.9 (2020).
- iPad Pro 11 (2021).
- iPad Pro 12.9 (2021).
As is usually the case with Apple, not all devices will receive all declared features. Thus, on tablets with an M1 processor, there will be more desktop chips.
New Features in iPadOS 16
“Weather” has finally appeared on the iPad, for the appearance of the “Calculator” we are waiting for iPadOS 17.
Time
It’s been waiting for over 10 years, and now it’s happened. Apple has released its proprietary weather app for tablets. And he did this not only by stretching the smartphone interface but by creating it from scratch.
The new program displays temperature and air quality, precipitation map, hourly and daily weather forecast, wind speed and direction, and UV index. All this data is placed on a single screen and does not require any additional action to be displayed.
The most interesting thing is that most of these modules can be expanded and you can see more detailed information about the indicator of interest.
Remarks
iPadOS 16 will help correct even the doctor’s handwriting.
The Notes app attempts to improve handwritten notes by making handwriting more precise. You can now insert shapes into the drawing area like with apple pencil as well as with the fingers. Free rotation of added images is also supported. Like iOS 16, Notes lets you use your iCloud account password to lock them.
Files and Contacts
“Files” and “Contacts” were given the status of desktop-level applications. Thanks to the new status, they were finalized on the basis of programs for computers. The navigation buttons in “Files” have been replaced with more convenient buttons for finding individual folders and files quickly and easily.
Controls such as duplicating, renaming, and the ability to change file extensions, and file properties are now more accessible. External drives and cloud storage are displayed separately in the sidebar. You can now sort contacts by lists for faster searching. Now you can send an email to the entire contact group at once.
Among the minor but important innovations, the following should be noted:
- You can now edit a message in iMessage or cancel it. How to do this, we told in a separate article.
- In the Mail application, you can schedule or cancel the sending of an incorrect message.
- Live Text now also recognizes text in videos.
- The subject of the photo can be separated from the background and sent via iMessage.
- Now you can share photos with your loved ones through iCloud Shared Library. Photos with specific people or taken after a certain date will be automatically uploaded there. Everyone who has access to the shared media library will be able to edit them, save them to their device, add new ones or delete unnecessary photos.
- The Freeform app creates a collaborative space where multiple users can take notes or take notes online at the same time.
- Advanced dictation lets you make corrections to text using your keyboard or Apple Pencil without turning it off. In English, automatic punctuation with emoji input is also available.
- Apple Passkey lets you sign in to websites and apps using Touch ID or Face ID without entering a password.
iPad on M1 – New Features
For the first time on the iPad, active apps will run in separate, smaller windows, just like on a Mac.
Tablets on the M1 processor have come close enough to laptops in terms of capabilities that Apple has endowed them with exclusive features that will be useful in professional work.
Reference Mode
Available on iPad Pro 12.9 M1 with Liquid Retina XDR display Reference mode. This mode allows you to accurately correct the colors of the image on a screen calibrated to common color standards. Reference mode is also available on Sidecar as an optional reference screen for Macs.
This feature allows photography and imaging professionals to work with color as finely as possible and more accurately meet client requirements.
Enlarge Display
With Display Zoom, M1 tablet users can view more information on the screen. This feature will be relevant when using the mode with multiple active windows. It is in this situation that displaying more data on the screen can be very useful.
Some tasks, including display zoom, require more random access memory. The new version of the operating system will allow the iPad in case of lack of RAM to use part of the internal disk as RAM. We have discussed this function in detail in a separate article.
Thanks to virtualization, the amount of RAM in some tablets can reach 16 GB, which will be sufficient for most operations. However, with this feature, Apple has already landed in a small scandal.
It will not be available on iPad Air with an M1 chip and 64 GB of internal memory. Users who have purchased such a complete set of tablets are extremely outraged by this approach from Cupertino.
The main innovation for tablets was the Stage Manager. It allows you to easily group several different applications into separate windows without opening them full screen. In the macOS Ventura review, we explained in detail how the Stage Manager works. Remember what happens when you switch to this mode:
- The active application moves to the center of the screen.
- Background programs are grouped in a column to the left of the active program.
- Desktop apps are hidden, leaving only blurry wallpapers so they don’t get in the way when you switch between windows.
The new feature requires very large resources to operate. Therefore, after testing on tablets with A-series processors, Stage Manager has been disabled for all devices except those running on M1. However, the main quirk is that, according to Apple, Stage Manager cannot work without additional RAM virtualization.
Stage Manager mode will not be available on all iPads
But on an iPad Air with an M1 chip and 64 GB of memory, it works, and virtualization is not supported. After that, a mode was found in iPadOS 16 that lets you enable Stage Manager for all devices.
We talked about it in a separate article. We hope that Apple will come to its senses and offer access to this feature to more users. It’s Stage Manager that brings tablets as close to desktops as possible.
iPadOS 16 brings a truly new experience to M1-only tablets. For everyone else, the changes are more scalable. Calling the “Weather” app some kind of breakthrough doesn’t turn the tongue. Plus, as one acquaintance of mine said, “There’s nothing to argue with them without a calculator.”
From this update, we can conclude that Apple is making tablets with A-series processors go down in history without giving them more or less serious functions.
I hope I am wrong in my conclusions, but, unfortunately, everything talks about it. But there are a large number of users who use their devices to consume content. Let’s believe that Cupertino will not forget us.
