iPadOS 16: A Detailed Review For Apple Users

iPadOS 16, the newest version of Apple’s tablet operating system, was previewed in June 2022. Updates to popular iPad apps like Notes, Mail, and Messages, a redesigned multitasking experience, support for external displays, display zoom, and more are all part of iPadOS 16.

This OS is tailored specifically for iPads that include Apple’s own silicon and includes many long-awaited improvements for Pro users. Take a look at our guide here for complete details.

When Will iPadOS 16 Be Released?

As is customary, Apple has announced that iPadOS 16 will be released in the ‘fall’ (or autumn, if you’re in the UK).

Since iPadOS 15 debuted in September 2021, most people had anticipated iPadOS 16 to debut on September 12, 2022, alongside iOS 16.

But it won’t happen this year. Apple confirmed the delay to TechCrunch in late August, saying that iPadOS 16 will ship after the release of iOS 16 in the form of iPadOS 16.1, skipping the initial iPadOS 16 upgrade altogether due to rumored problems with iPadOS 16 functioning, specifically the Stage Manager technology.

For iPad OS, this is a landmark year. Considering iPadOS is a separate platform with capabilities developed particularly for the iPad, Apple is free to release it whenever it sees fit, the company said in a reply. In the fall, a free software upgrade bringing iPadOS up to version 16.1 will be released after iOS.

Afterward, in late September, Apple revised its website to announce that iPadOS 16 would be released in October, though no specific date was given.

Officially, the release of iPadOS 16 has been put on hold, likely until the new budget iPad and updated iPad Pro models are unveiled in October, as has been speculated. And that’s the bad news. A positive development? The next major operating system update is available for testing now, so there’s no reason to hold out until then.

Read More: Apple Release iOS 16 With New Features You Will Love For Sure!

16 Amazing Features To Expect in iPadOS 16 Update

iPadOS 16 intends to further integrate macOS Ventura with the iPad by adding new continuity features, building on the success of iPadOS 15’s simplified multitasking capabilities, Universal Control, and App Library.

Stage Manager and External Display Support

The M1 iPad Air and iPad Pro are the only ones that get the major new feature in iPadOS 16. Use it in the ways described below:

• You can alter the size of your windows to make them more suitable for the task at hand;
• Focus on the app you’re using without making it full screen by using the ‘center app’.
• The windows of the apps you’re now working onp are displayed prominently in the center, while other apps are arranged on the left side in order of recent use;
• Create many, overlapping windows of varying sizes within a single view to set up your perfect workstation in any way you see fit;
• Coordinated use of multiple apps: Create custom app groups that you can quickly access by dragging and dropping windows from the sidebar or launching programs from the Dock.
• iPad owners running the M1 on iOS 16 will also benefit from enhanced support for external displays.

iPad Pro with the M1 chip supports external displays with resolutions up to 6K, allowing you to use two displays simultaneously while using iPadOS 16.

Freeform

Apple plans to provide its own collaborative canvas with iPadOS 16. In a freeform setting, you and your coworkers can use a whiteboard to draw out plans for upcoming projects, compile lists of valuable assets, or simply generate ideas.

All you have to do is click and drag to insert a picture, a video, an audio clip, a PDF, a document, or a link to a website into any area where you’ve drawn or written. It’s planned for a later update this year.

iCloud Shared Photo Library, Messages, Weather, and Mail Updates

In iPadOS 16, the Weather app finally makes its way to the tablet, bringing with it an updated module-based forecasting system that provides hourly temperature and precipitation information for the next 10 days.

Apple promotes the iCloud Shared Photo Library in the iPadOS 16 update, which allows up to five users to collaborate on a shared iCloud photo library by adding, editing, favoriting, captioning, and deleting photos.

Apple has three primary goals in mind for Messages:

• Users have 15 minutes to make up to five changes to a message before it becomes final; receivers can view a history of changes made to the message.
• You can retract a message up to two minutes after you send it by clicking ‘Undo Send’.
• If you don’t have time to respond right now, but you want to make sure you get back to the sender, mark the message as unread.

Finally, Apple Mail is becoming more sophisticated by enhancing search results, alerting you if a recipient or attachment is missing, and allowing you to plan a message or retract an already sent email.

Read More: How To Edit A Sent iMessage In iOS 16?

Desktop Class App, Files App, Reference Mode

More sophisticated system elements and interactions, such as a uniform undo and redo experience across the system, a revised find-and-replace experience, customizable toolbars, and more are made possible by desktop-class apps in areas such as Calendar, Contacts, Photos, and Mail on the iPad.

As a result, in iPadOS 16, the Files app has been vastly enhanced with new features, such as a unified open/save panel, sortable columns, the ability to modify file extensions, and the ability to see the folder size.

iPads powered by the M1 chip have access to a slew of ‘pro’ capabilities in iPadOS 16, which are not available on other iPads. The iPad’s Reference Mode ensures it meets the precise needs of color workflows, Display Zoom maximizes the amount of usable screen real estate, and virtual memory swap increases the amount of RAM available to apps.

Focus Mode, FaceTime, Safari

Expanded Focus Mode features in iPadOS 16 include suggested Home Screen pages, Focus filters for use in Apple apps like Calendar, Mail, Messages, and Safari that allow you to draw boundaries for each Focus you enable, and Focus schedules that turn on Focus Mode automatically at a set time or location, or while using a specific app.

Apple is updating the FaceTime software with a new feature called ‘handoff’, which will allow users to easily transfer calls from the iPad to the iPhone or Mac, or vice versa. In addition, your video chats now have an automatic transcription function called Live Captions. When the Freeform app debuts later this year, FaceTime will be an integral part of it.

For instance, with iPadOS 16, new features have been added to Safari such as shared tab groups and web push alerts.

Read on to find out more about the features shared between this software version and iOS 16.

Family Sharing

With iPadOS 16, Family Sharing is getting several upgrades, one of which is simplified child account administration. In order to make the most of Family Sharing, a Family Checklist will be made available with helpful hints and advice, such as how to adjust privacy and safety settings for children as they get older. A new iPhone or iPad may be quickly set up for your child with all the necessary parental controls already in place using the Quick Start option.

Metal 3 and Other Gaming Enhancements

iPads now have access to Metal 3 APIs for the first time, thanks to iPadOS 16. With Metal 3, iPads could have hardware-accelerated 3D graphics, and Apple is considering them as gaming computers. The new Apple API also permits downloading of larger asset packs in the background without interrupting gameplay.

When you sign up for a Game Center account, you’ll have access to features like buddy suggestions, game tracking, and leaderboard access. iOS games have always been limited to mobile devices. But Apple is making an effort to attract more gamers to the iPad. It intends for such to be the result of these actions.

Improved Multitasking For M1 iPads

Apple hasn’t done a good job in publicizing the multitasking capabilities of iPadOS, despite the fact that the iPad is capable of split-screen and floating window support. With the release of iPadOS 15, Apple began working to address this problem by creating a new icon within the iPad app browser that activates the split-screen mode, but the company isn’t finished yet.

The new ‘Stage Manager’ view was announced at WWDC and will be available for Macs and iPads later this year.

Opening a single program in full screen while hiding the rest is reminiscent of Microsoft’s Windows software. They oddly reside on the side of your screen, adding to the Dock’s presence down the bottom.

The multitasking feature allows you to organize up to four windows into overlapping windows of various sizes, allowing you to focus on the most important tasks at hand while having your other software ready and waiting in the background.

How To Get The iPadOS 16 Beta?

Beta versions of iPadOS 16 are also currently accessible, just like iOS 16.

Earlier in June, on the day it was announced at WWDC 2022, the software was made available to developers. However, there is an official public beta that anyone can try out for free without having to pay to be an Apple Developer, so there is still hope.

If you’re interested in getting it, you may do so by following our instructions for setting up the iOS 16 beta on an iPhone, as the process is very similar for an iPad. But note the warnings: beta software may not function properly, and it’s a major risk to run it on an iPad you rely on every day. In the end, there must have been a good reason for Apple to postpone the release.

Read More: iOS 16 Battery Drain Is Affecting iPhone Users; Here’s How?

Steps To Get The iPadOS 16 Beta

If you want or need to revert to iOS 15, a recent backup of your iPad is crucial (Apple recommends doing a Mac or PC backup). 

• Step 1: Check out Apple’s Developer Center on your iPad.
• Step 2: Select ‘Account’ from the menu that appears when you tap the two lines in the upper left.
• Step 3: Select ‘Downloads’ by tapping the two-bar icon in the upper left.
• Step 4: To download the iPadOS 16 betas, swipe down and select ‘Install Profile’.
• Step 5: Allow the profile to be downloaded by tapping ‘Allow’, then selecting ‘Close’.
• Step 6: The profile you downloaded may be found in the settings menu, up near the top.
• Step 7: Select ‘Install’ from the menu at the upper right; a password may be required.
• Step 8: Please read the agreement, and then tap ‘Install’ twice more.
• Step 9: A restart of your iPhone or iPad is required for the adjustments to take effect.
• Step 10: Once it has finished rebooting, navigate back to Settings > General > Software update.
• Step 11: If you see iOS 16 for iPad, select it and then select ‘Download and Install’.
• Step 12: In order to use the new ‘Developer Mode’ in iPads with the installation of iPadOS 16, Apple recommends that app developers navigate to Settings > Privacy & Security.

What Are The New Features in iPadOS 16 That You Can Get?

The latest iPads, powered by Apple’s M1 processor, benefit from several software enhancements, the most notable of which are alterations to multitasking.

Many of the changes made in iOS 16 are carried over to iPadOS 16. (the iPhone version of the operating system – the two are still closely related). Here is a handful of them;

• Home, the smart home control app, has been redesigned.
• Dictation enhancements include streamlined transitions to the keyboard and Apple Pencil.
• Apple News now has a dedicated sports section called ‘My Sports’ where you can view your team’s schedule, see your scores, and be given article recommendations
• You may easily switch between your iOS device, Mac, and PC by using the ‘handoff’ feature in FaceTime.
• Up to six users can access the same iCloud photo library at once.
• You can edit and undo messages sent through iMessages.
• Mail lets you send at a later time or cancel it entirely.
• With ‘Live Text’, you can extract dialogue directly from videos.

Other Features and Improvements

• The new Podcasts iPad app includes a fully editable navigation bar on the side. It is now easier to search for a specific podcast or to browse the available options.
• Accessibility users on the iPad can now take advantage of ‘Hover Information’ to view form fields, menu items, button labels, and other text without having to tap or swipe the screen.
• DriverKit gives programmers a safe and up-to-date means of supporting iPad-connected audio, USB, and PCI hardware.

iPadOS 16 Supported Devices

• iPad Pro (5th generation)
• iPad Pro (3rd generation)
• iPad Pro (2nd generation)
• iPad Pro (4th generation)
• iPad Pro (1st generation)
• iPad Air (4th generation)
• iPad Air (3rd generation)

• iPad (9th generation)
• iPad (8th generation)
• iPad (7th generation)
• iPad (6th generation)
• iPad (5th generation)
• iPad mini (5th generation)

Frequently Asked Questions

Bottom Line 

So, this is all you need to know about iPadOS 16. From LiveText to sports news, and from multitasking to meta 3 and other game enhancements there is so much we are going to get in this iPadOS 16 update. 

You can try out the beta version to experience the usage and decide whether you would like to go for this update or not, but make sure, you first do a backup.