iPadOS is official: New Multitasking Gestures, Homescreen & Multiwindow
Apple has officially revealed that iPad is getting its own OS which is simply called iPadOS. In practice iPadOS is a different version of iOS13 tailored to the big iPad screens.
iPadOS brings a new redesigned home screen with a dedicated Widget Area placed on the main home screen.
Slide Over and Split View are here to enhance the multitasking abilities of iPads. As Apple mentions “iPad users can now work with multiple files and documents from the same app simultaneously with updates to Split View, or can quickly view and switch between multiple apps in Slide Over. For example, customers can compose an email while viewing another email side by side or access multiple apps like Messages or Calendar with just a swipe. App Exposé provides a quick view of just the open windows for any one app with a simple tap”.
Safari is also revamped to look like the macOS version of Safari including a new Download Manager, a feature that is anticipated from most iPad Pro users. Safari on iPadOS will support custom Fonts and the new Keyboard Shortcuts.
Custom Fonts are also coming to third party applications via a relevant API provided by Apple.
Typing experience is also enhanced; scrolling and moving the cursor across text is now working like the 3D Touch enables iPhones. New Keyboard gestures are also added. Swiping to the left with three fingers will allow you to undo without having to shake your device. Copy and Paste are also getting their own Keyboard gestures.
QuickPath typing of iOS 13 is also arriving on iPadOS which simply allows you to write text by swiping through the letters.
Apple Pencil is more integrated with iPadOS which now allows you to capture a screenshot of an entire page, email, etc. and mark it up with your Apple Pencil. Its latency will also be reduced from 20ms to 9ms in iPadOS. A PencilKit developer API is also introduced and shared with third party developers to create their own Pencil custom ToolKits.
A New Files application with more view options and iCloud folder sharing has been announced. USB, SD card drives and ThumbDrives are supported on the new iPadOS. Dark Mode is also present in iPads along with the new Maps, Reminders, Photos and Notes app. Performance improvements will also make your current iPad feel faster with iOS13 and your FaceID sensors work 30% faster than before.
Mouse Support is coming to iPadOS as an accessibility feature as already predicted.
Supported Devices (Source: Apple.com)
The developer preview of iPadOS is available to Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com starting today, and a public beta program will be available to iPadOS users later this month at beta.apple.com. iPadOS will be available this fall as a free software update for iPad Air 2 and later, all iPad Pro models, iPad 5th generation and later and iPad mini 4 and later. For more information, visit apple.com/ipados/ipados-preview. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages
