Apple revealed the iPadOS 18 at the WWDC 2024 event, This is a major update that enhances the iPad experience with a mix of new and improved features.
The update also introduces Apple Intelligence, a personal intelligence system for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that uses generative models and personal context to simplify tasks and accelerate daily tasks.
iPadOS 18 Details
Calculator on iPad Delivers a New Way to Solve with Math Notes
The new Math Notes calculator allows users to type or write mathematical expressions, assign values to variables, and create graphs. It is accessible in the Notes app’s new Math Notes folder. The calculators on the iPad feature complete expression viewing, history tracking, and unit conversions for quick calculations.
More Flexible Handwritten Notes with Smart Script
Apple Pencil’s Smart Script enhances handwritten notes by making them fluid, flexible, and easier to read. It allows users to write quickly without sacrificing legibility and edits handwritten text as easily as typed text. The Notes app also offers enhanced organization, collapsing sections, and five new text highlight colors for standout information.
More Ways to Customize iPad
iPadOS 18 offers users more customization options for the Home Screen, app icons, and Control Center. Users can place app icons and widgets in any open position, customize their appearance, and make them larger. The Control Center has been redesigned for easier access to daily tasks, including media playback, Home controls, and connectivity. Users can now add controls from third-party apps and use the Controls API for more tasks.
A New Tab Bar Brings Easier Navigation
iPad users can now customize their in-app experiences with a redesigned floating tab bar that complements the sidebar, allowing users to easily reorder or add tabs from the sidebar.
A Redesigned Photos App to Relive Special Moments
The Photos app has undergone a major redesign, utilizing the iPad’s larger display to streamline library organization. The simplified view features a grid, new collections, and a carousel view with daily highlights. The app is customizable, allowing users to organize, pin, and highlight their most important photos, enhancing the browsing experience.
New Ways to Stay Connected in Messages
iPadOS 18 introduces significant improvements to iMessage, including new text formatting, animated effects, and redesigned Tapbacks. Users can now react to messages with emojis or stickers, ensuring better control over their connections.
Safari Enables Distraction-Free Browsing
Safari, the fastest browser, now features Highlights and a redesigned Reader experience. It uses machine learning to highlight key webpage information, allowing users to quickly review articles, locate landmarks, and listen to artist tracks. The Reader’s view simplifies the article presentation.
New Privacy Controls
iPadOS 18 enhances user control over app access, contact sharing, and iPad accessory pairing. Users can lock or hide apps for privacy, ensuring private information like notifications and content isn’t visible. Apps can now access specific contacts, not the entire list, and developers can pair Bluetooth accessories seamlessly, ensuring network privacy.
Apple Intelligence Makes iPad Even More Useful and Delightful
Apple Intelligence is a new feature that enhances writing and communication on iPadOS 18. It allows users to rewrite, proofread, and summarize text across various apps, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps. Image Playground allows users to create playful images in seconds, with three styles: Animation, Illustration, or Sketch. The feature is also available in
Notes through the new Image Wand in the Apple Pencil tool palette. Memories in Photos allows users to create stories by typing a description, with Apple Intelligence selecting the best photos and videos based on the description.
The Clean Up tool can identify and remove distracting objects in the background without accidentally altering the subject. Siri is now more natural, contextually relevant, and personal, allowing users to type into Siri and switch between text and voice. Private Cloud Compute sets a new standard for privacy in AI, allowing for flexing and scaling computational capacity between on-device processing and server-based models.
Additional iPadOS 18 updates include:
- Built on the foundation of Keychain, Password is a new app that makes it easy to access credentials and have them securely stored in one place, including passwords, verification codes, and security alerts.
- SharePlay gets even better this year with powerful updates to screen sharing. Users can tap and draw on their screen to point out what should be done. For more direct assistance, users can ask for permission to remotely control a device.
- With Freeform, bringing ideas to life becomes even easier. Users can create scenes to organize sections of a board by topic, or easily present content by moving around quickly.
- Gaming becomes even more immersive with features like Game Mode and Personalized Spatial Audio, which put players in the middle of the action in upcoming titles like Assassin’s Creed Shadows and RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard. And with Game Porting Toolkit 2, developers have new tools that make it easier to bring even more advanced games to iPad, iPhone, and Mac.
- Calendar becomes more helpful by showing both events and tasks from Reminders. Users can create, edit, and complete reminders right from Calendar.
- Reminders get new tools, including the ability to view, create, and edit directly from the Calendar app; access a recently deleted list; and find subtasks in Smart Lists for quick reference.
- In Apple Maps, users can browse thousands of hikes across national parks in the United States and easily create their custom walking routes, which they can access offline. Maps users can also save their favorite national park hikes, custom walking routes, and locations to an all-new Places Library and add personal notes about each spot.
- Accessibility features include Eye Tracking, a built-in option for navigating the iPad with just eyes, and Vocal Shortcuts that enable users to perform tasks by making a custom sound.
Availability
The developer beta of iPadOS 18 is available through the Apple Developer Program starting today, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month.
New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPad Pro (M4), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later), iPad Air (M2), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad (7th generation and later), and iPad mini (5th generation and later).
Apple Intelligence will be available in beta on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac with M1 and later, with Siri and device language set to U.S. English, as part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia this fall.
For more information, visit the Sequoia preview page here and the Apple Intelligence page here.
Features are subject to change. Some features are not available in all regions, all languages, or on all devices.
For more information about availability, visit Apple’s website.
Started his freelancing adventure in 2018 and began doing freelance Audio Engineering work and then started freelance writing a few years later.
Currently he writes for Gadget Pilipinas and Grit.PH.
He is also a musician, foody, gamer, and PC enthusiast.
