The rise of the iPad, iPadOS 16
Is it the chosen one?
I’ve been an avid iPad user for about 2.5 years now, and iPadOS 16 marks the third iteration of the tablet’s operating system that I am heavily interested in. I adore the iPad and love working with it. In fact, almost all of my medium texts are written on the iPad, and also it is a key piece in my study setup. However, for as long as the iPad has been a pivotal part of my setup, iPadOS has been the limiting factor for Apple’s tablets. Last year’s iPadOS 15 had high hopes attached to it, as it was supposed to be the perfect addition to the then recently released M1 iPad Pros. However, while it brought some great additions, iPadOS 15 was not the leap many users hoped for. Even though it introduced some excellent features, it did not unleash the iPad and allow the new M1 devices to harness all their power.
So, with the announcement of the 4th iteration of iPadOS as a separate operating system to iOS, Apple seemed to indicate moving towards a future where the iPad is not hampered by its software. Moreover, when Apple presented new features such as stage manager and the possibility to do more than just mirror the iPad’s content to external displays, I was hopeful that this OS would be the one that propels the iPad into the promised land.
But what exactly do I mean by “unleashing “the iPad or letting it harness all its power? Well, I am currently using a 2021, 12.9 “M1 iPad Pro with 512 GB of storage and, therefore, 8GB of RAM. This device is immensely powerful on paper, and you can still buy an M1 MacBook Air with the exact same specs and have a very capable machine on your hands. Combined with MacOS, this specification can run Final Cut Pro X and all the other apps of Apple’s pro suite in a highly slim device without active cooling. However, combine these specs with iPadOS 15, and none of Apple’s pro apps are available, and you have to rely on watered-down versions of Adobe Photoshop, etc. So what I have been hoping that iPadOS 15 and now iPadOS 16 will do, is allow me to use the power that’s inside the device I have.
Once the public beta for iPadOS 16 became available, I immediately installed it on my iPad, eager to test the new features, especially stage manager. I wanted to find out whether the iPadOS 16 allowed my iPad Pro to become a genuine laptop replacement, not only in terms of performance but also in terms of multitasking. Even though the WWDC presentation had already shattered my hope for the pro apps, I was thrilled to try out the new multitasking feature. Yet, after about five days of using it, I once again find myself disappointed. In my experience, stage manager is an evolution of the already existing multitasking on the iPad using the app switcher with the additional benefit of window resizing. Even though window resizing sounds very promising, it is unlike the one you’re accustomed to from computer operating systems.
The windows have fixed sizes, and you can only switch between these. Furthermore, there is no option to pin a window to the top or to have it swap with you over different applications. I specifically encountered that problem on a zoom call, where first of all, I missed the feature to have zoom stay on top of the other windows at all times because using another app led to zoom dropping to the background, leaving me unable to see what was going on in the call. Furthermore, while switching from docs to spreadsheets, it was annoying to see zoom be moved to the strip where the other recent apps are, only to rearrange the screen new with it back on.
Yet, despite my initial dissatisfaction with the feature, I wholeheartedly believe that stage manager is an important step in the right direction for iPadOS. Even though it is pretty cumbersome to use sometimes, I also found it quite useful for some other aspects. For example, writing with the browser open in the background allows for quick research if you need it and the strip to the side provides for quicker swapping of recently used apps.
Furthermore, iPadOS 16 as a whole gives the iPad new capabilities that make it a more capable stand-alone device. Also, device-related features like the reference mode on the 12.9 “iPad Pro provide new workflows that take advantage of some of the unique capabilities of iPads. While I was not satisfied with stage manager, most of the other recent changes in iPadOS 16 optimize the user experience on Apple’s tablets and are minor steps in the right direction. However, the improvements are so subtle that I hardly noticed them in day-to-day use.
After using the iPadOS 16 beta for close to a week, I’m once again left wanting more. Unfortunately, it seems like this every year, an improvement that gives me hope that it can’t be long before the iPad becomes a proper stand-alone device, only to inch a bit closer to that reality the following year. IPadOS 16 introduces brings (cumbersome) window resizing to the iPad and allows to take advantage of external displays, but remains limitingly close to previous iterations of the OS. The update is a welcomed update for iPad users, but it still leaves them longing for more.
As always, stay safe
Raffael
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