So, you’ve heard about iOS 13, now it’s time for one of the best updates Apple have provided for us yet on the iPad.
It’s iPadOS!
If you’ve used or owned an iPad previously, be it one of the older generations, you’ll know the general look of the iPad.
Since Apple have released the iPad back in April 2010 they were made to be used as a ‘bigger’ mobile. Playing games and using some apps had never felt better on a bigger screen. Now the time has come where Apple have finally put more ideas and thought into it’s iPads!
What is iPadOS?
iPadOS was officially announced at the WWDC 2019, like tvOS, iPadOS is still based on iOS and it’s features, however, Apple has created it’s own name for the operating system due to it having some iOS-features that aren’t available on iPhones.
Mouse Support
Apple didn’t announce this on stage, but it looks as though the iPad (and possibly iPhone) are getting mouse support! Connect a USB, or Bluetooth to your iPad, and you get a ‘sort of’ mouse cursor you can use to navigate the interface.
Although the iPad already supports external keyboard shortcuts, using the mouse also will make the iPad interface incredibly PC-like. It’s unclear as to whether the new mouse support will offer right-click support for opening a context menu.
Multitasking
iPad multitasking is now getting better. Apple had announced multiple apps in Slide Over. When an app is floating at the side of your iPad’s display, you can quickly swipe along the bottom to switch between them and then swipe up to see all of the open Slide Over apps. Drag a Slide Over app to the top of your screen to make it full screen.
When working with multiple apps on screen in Split View mode, you now have more powerful multitasking options. You can have multiple copies of the same app open side-by-side which is perfect for composing an email while looking at an email in Mail or looking at two notes at once.
Home Screen + Widgets
The home screen for the iPad has finally been redesigned, and for the better.
The new efficient layout can also include widgets that you may want to see. Like on an iPhone when you swipe left on the screen you have the ‘Today View’ you can now get this on your iPad home screen!
Apple has also tweaked the layout of the home screen. More app icons will appear on the home screen at once and appear just a tiny bit smaller in size which is noticeable. Even if you don’t want the widgets on your home screen, you can get what you need with less swiping around.
USB Storage and Network File Sharing
A change in iOS 13 means that you can now plug external drives – USB thumb drives, disk drives, and even SD cards with an adapter – directly into your iPad. These files will appear on the drive will appear in your Files app.
This is a great deal for photographers as it means that you can quickly import photos from a digital camera into apps like Adobe Lightroom. However, this isn’t only for photographers as anyone can take advantage of this – if someone gives you files on a USB stick, you don’t have a ‘real PC’ to view them. The latest iPad Pros use USB-C ports, so they will be natively compatible with new USB-C thumb drives and other adapters.
Apple had also announced support for SMB file shares -that’s the protocol Windows uses for local network file sharing. You can access network file shares right in your iPads Files app. Beyond this, you can use ‘a host of new keyboard shortcuts’ to navigate the Files app with an external keyboard.
Safari Is Finally A Real Desktop Browser
Safari for iPad has always been a close cousin of Safari for iPhone. Many websites serve bad ‘mobile’ pages to Safari on iPad, giving the iPad the same minimal sites shown on iPhone and stretching them to fit the screen.
You can get around this. Safari has a ‘Request Desktop Site’ action, but you have to select this manually. In iPadOS, you won’t have to worry about this. Safari will finally act as a desktop browser and show you the full site you’d see on macOS.
This makes the iPad incredibly powerful.
Not only that, the Safari is also getting it’s own download manager. You’ll find a Downloads button on Safari’s toolbar. Files that you download will show in your Files app. As it stands for desktop navigation, Apple has boasted that the new Safari also supports over 30 new keyboard shortcuts when using an external keyboard.
Support for Console Controllers
If you haven’t heard, Apple has upgraded it’s AppStore following the iOS 13 update. They’ve created their own Apple Arcade which features an incredible amount of games for just £4.99 a month, but get the first month free!
Following this, Apple is adding support for the PlayStation 4’s Dualshock 4 controller and the Xbox One S Controller, both of which can be connected via Bluetooth. Not only are iPads getting support for this, but iPhone’s will be as well.
If you’re using your iPad to play games, perhaps some of the upcoming Apple originals that are getting released – this will offer a more PC-like experience for you.
Turn Your iPad Into An External Display
iPadOS has one more feature that’ll help when it’s time to get to work. If you have a Mac, you can now use your iPad as an external display, thanks to the new Sidecar feature.
Just plug it in, and you can use your iPad as a second display or mirrored display. However, as long as the iPad is 10-metres away from your Mac, you don’t even need to plug it in, you can do it wireless.
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