Incremental upgrades, iPadOS 15 impressions
Widgets, Focus Modes, and a redesigned safari experience. How does the new iPadOS fair in day-to-day use?
On June 30th, Apple released the public Betas for their new operating system. While I didn’t download the very first public beta, I ran the public beta 2 for iPadOS for about five days now. I am running the public beta on my 12.9” 2021 iPad Pro, and so far, I am having a blast. So what can you expect when you decide to download the public beta?
iOS 15 and iPadOS aren’t enormous jumps for Apple’s operating systems. Most new features are available on all platforms, and many of the more significant changes are in the background, not really noticeable in everyday use. However, there are still some you’ll notice immediately.
Biggest visible changes
The most immediate change you will find when upgrading to the iPadOS 15 beta is the possibility to place widgets anywhere on the Home Screen and that the App Library is now also on iPad. While I am not very often using the App Library, I like that I am now able to remove Apps from the Home Screen, leaving me with a much more clean look. Furthermore, having the option to place widgets anywhere on the Home Screen is amazing. Apart from the already existing widgets, there are a few new ones in iPadOS 15 (and iOS 15), such as the “Find My” one, and they are handy.
Another change that is noticeable quickly is the redesigned Safari interface. So far, I have had its ups and downs with the new design. For sure, it looks more modern than the previous iteration of the software. However, some functions are less available. An example of this is how you reload web pages. Previously, the icon sat next to the three dots indicating further functions, whereas now it is sometimes stored away in those three dots, making it much less convenient and slower to reload a web page.
Smaller meaningful changes
While there aren’t many significant changes in iPadOS 15, there are many more minor changes. However, this does not take away from the importance and usefulness of those changes.
The first small change that immensely enhances creature comfort are three small dots. Atop almost every app, there are three dots that, when clicked on, show you the arrangement available to you. There is full screen, split-screen or slide-over view. This is especially useful for people who aren’t used to the gestures required to access split-screen and Slide Over in iPadOS 14.
In line with said eased access to multitasking is the redesigned menus to choose what two apps to display in split-screen. Furthermore, when selecting split-screen, the first app slides to the right, exposing the Home Screen and App Library, allowing easy access to any other application.
Another update that significantly increases comfort and productivity is the quick notes feature. Swiping up from the lower right corner brings up the quick notes menu, which allows you to take notes very quickly. Furthermore, it is even possible to mark passages on websites and add them to your quick note. If you then pull up the website again, the quotes you marked then are highlighted.
Another small but significant update is the introduction of focus modes. Even though focus modes are not exclusive to iPadOS 15 and they are shared across your iCloud devices, these modes are relatively useful. Especially the possibility to have different home screens for different focus modes is handy. It takes some time to set these home screens up, though, but they come in clutch once you do.
Further minor updates include a redesigned keyboard strip when having an external keyboard and some more minute updates to messages and how your focus modes are displayed for others if you chose to do so.
Hidden differences
As previously mentioned, on the surface, the changes in iPadOS 15 are more or less incremental. However, hidden in the settings or in the way the new OS works, there are significant changes. Most of these changes are not exclusive to iPadOS 15 but are connected to your iCloud account, yet they still are critical.
One of the most advertised feature is private relay. This service comes with the new iCloud + subscription, which is just a new name for the existing iCloud subscriptions. Private relay has a similar effect on privacy as a VPN. However, it does not allow you to tunnel to another location, which is a blessing and a curse. Nevertheless, it makes it able to still show relevant results, e.g., for restaurants in your area, without compromising your privacy. On the other hand, though, you cannot watch UK Netflix like a regular VPN.
A further change that is really noticeable is the on-chip processing of Siri commands. Because some commands can be processed offline and on-chip, Siri becomes way faster and hence more usable.
Another huge leap that is mainly hidden are the changes to photos. Not only is it now possible to search photos via spotlight, but text and sometimes even animals and plants can be recognized by the photo app. This means that you are able to copy and paste text from photos, directly use the camera for text in messages and even identify certain animals. While you certainly won’t use this feature all the time, it is highly convenient and surprisingly accurate when you need it.
Overall impression
After close to a week of using the iPadOS 15 beta, I can say iPadOS 15 is not a revolution. However, it includes many features that include creature comfort and further smooth the way iPadOS works. Overall, as a successor to iPadOS 14, in my opinion, it is an upgrade but keeps in line with previous principles.
This leads me to the elephant in the room. Many people had extremely high hopes for iPadOS 15 due to the new m1 iPad Pros. The hope was that the iPad would become very similar to Macs in terms of its capabilities and programs that can be run on it. However, these hopes were disappointed, and Apple did not significantly change the capabilities available to iPad users. While this is certainly irritating for people who own a new m1 iPad Pro, as it is the same chip as in the new Macs, one has to keep in mind that iPadOS 15 is designed for all iPads, including those with small storage space and significantly less powerful processors.
As always, stay safe
Raffael
