Apple’s iPadOS 14 update includes many of the same features found in iOS 14 (minus some of the home screen changes), but there are quite a few notable features for iPad only as well.
In our most recent video, we highlighted some of the best new features in iPadOS 14, some of which are also available on iPhone and some are exclusive to the larger tablet form factor.
- Sidebars and application toolbars – iPadOS didn’t get the same design revision as iOS, but there are a few tweaks worth noting. Applications like Music, Photos, Calendar, Notes, Files, and more have been redesigned with sidebars that offer a more consistent and streamlined browsing experience, providing direct access to more information and tools. Apple has also introduced new toolbars that consolidate buttons into a single bar at the top of the app.
- Updated pull-down menus – Along with redesigned toolbars and toolbars, drop-down menus in built-in apps have been simplified, providing one-button access to app tools.
- Search for – The search interface is more compact and takes up less space on the iPad, plus there have been a few enhancements that allow users to view instant search tips, launch apps and websites, start app searches, and more. It is similar to search in iOS 13, but more powerful and better organized.
- Typing – Perhaps the best new feature in iPadOS, Scribble allows Apple Pencil users to write by hand in any text field, with the handwritten text converted to typed text. There are all kinds of useful tools included, like scratch to delete and circle a word to select it.
- Notes – Scribble brings new features to the Notes app. You can use Smart Selection to select and copy handwritten notes, and you can also copy handwritten notes and paste them as standard typed text. Shape recognition lets you draw an imperfect shape and make it perfect, and data detectors, such as those that make an address playable, work with handwritten text.
- FaceTime / Phone compact user interface – Just like on iPhone, incoming FaceTime and phone calls (from iPhone) on iPad are displayed in a small banner that is easily dismissed so that receiving a FaceTime call no longer interrupts what you are doing on your Tablet.
- Compact siri – Like FaceTime calls, the Siri interface is also smaller. Siri doesn’t take over the entire iPad screen when you use it, and instead appears as a small animated icon at the bottom of the screen with the results provided in a banner style. Siri can swipe, but when the Siri interface is active, you can’t use the screen behind it.
- Safari – There are significant improvements in Safari on iOS and iPadOS 14. Privacy tracking lets you know which websites have crawlers throughout the site, there is a built-in translator so you don’t need to use an extension, you can see tab previews, and the Favicons are shown in tabs by default so you can see what it is at a glance.
- Apple Music Lyrics – When you listen to Apple Music with iPadOS 14 and activate the function that allows you to follow along with the lyrics, the lyrics are now displayed in full screen.
- Emoji Popover Menu – With the new emoji popover option on iPadOS 14, you can quickly enter an emoji by using a hardware keyboard with your iPad. The nifty iOS 14 feature that lets you search for an emoji is unfortunately not available on the iPad.
Be sure to check out our video above to see all of these features in action, and for more information on what’s new in iPadOS 14, check out our summaries of iPadOS 14 and iOS 14, along with our Guides and How Tos.
Like iOS 14, iPadOS 14 is available to developers and public beta testers right now, so anyone can download and try it out. The update will see an official public release this fall.
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