iPadOS 18 is available today, bringing more ways to customize the Home Screen and Control Center of Apple’s tablet, along with new Smart Script handwriting tools in Notes.
With iPadOS 18, Calculator comes to iPad with Math Notes, along with new Smart Script handwriting tools in Notes — all designed for the Apple Pencil. Additionally, iPad users now have more ways to customize the Home Screen and Control Center, and users receive the biggest redesign of the Photos app ever, new ways to express themselves in Messages, and so much more.
Starting next month, iPadOS 18 running on iPad with M1 and later will mark the introduction of Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system. Here are the new features of iPadOS 18, as announced by Apple:
Calculator on iPad Delivers a New Way to Solve with Math Notes
With Math Notes, users are now able to type mathematical expressions or write them out to see them instantly solved in handwriting like their own.
Designed for the unique capabilities of iPad, Calculator delivers an entirely new way to use Apple Pencil to solve expressions, as well as basic and scientific calculators with a new history function and unit conversions. With Math Notes, users are now able to type mathematical expressions or write them out to see them instantly solved in handwriting like their own. They can also create and use variables, and add an equation to insert a graph. Users can access their Math Notes in the Notes app, and use all of the math functionality in any of their other notes.
More Flexible Handwritten Notes with Smart Script
Handwritten notes become more fluid, flexible, and easy to read with Smart Script and the power of Apple Pencil. Smart Script unleashes powerful new capabilities for users editing handwritten text, allowing them to easily add space, or even paste typed text in their own handwriting — making editing handwritten text just as simple and flexible as editing typed text. Users can even scratch out handwritten text to delete it. Smart Script also maintains the look and feel of a user’s personal handwriting, automatically refining it in real time to be smoother, straighter, and more legible.
More Ways to Customize iPad
In iPadOS 18, users can customize their Home Screen in exciting new ways by placing app icons and widgets in any open position to frame the wallpaper or create the ideal layout on each page. App icons can be customized to appear light, dark, with a tint, and larger for a new streamlined look that removes the name underneath.
And Control Center has been redesigned to provide easier access to many of the things users do every day, with new levels of customization, delivering quick access to new groups of a user’s most-utilized controls. Additionally, users can now add controls from supported third-party apps into Control Center, and developers can take advantage of the new Controls API to let their users accomplish even more tasks, like quickly starting a virtual meeting or kicking off a livestream for their followers.
A Redesigned Photos App to Relive Special Moments
The Photos app receives its biggest update ever, bringing users powerful new tools that make it easier to find what they are looking for. A simplified and customizable app layout takes advantage of the larger display on iPad and helps users browse by themes without having to organize content into albums.
In the redesigned Photos app, a simplified and customizable app layout takes advantage of the larger display on iPad, and helps users browse by themes without having to organize content into albums.
Photos uses on-device machine learning to automatically organize a library by helpful topics, like people and pets, recent days, trips, and even documents and receipts.
New Ways to Stay Connected in Messages
iPadOS 18 brings users new ways to stay connected and expressive in Messages, with all-new animated text effects, redesigned Tapbacks that expand to include any emoji or sticker, and new text formatting options, including bold, underline, and italics. Messages also introduces the ability to schedule messages to send at a later time, helping users stay fully in control of when and how they are communicating with their contacts.
New Privacy Controls
With new privacy controls, iPadOS 18 gives users even more ways to control who can see their apps, how they share their contacts, and how their iPad connects to accessories. Users can now lock an app; and for additional privacy, they can hide an app, moving it to a locked, hidden apps folder. When an app is locked or hidden, content like messages or emails inside the app are hidden from search, notifications, and other places across the system.
A New Tab Bar Brings Easier Navigation
A redesigned tab bar floats above app content, making it easier to navigate and keeping content edge to edge. The tab bar elegantly morphs into the sidebar when users want to dive deeper into an app’s full functionality, seen with apps including Apple TV, News, Books, and Fitness. Users will also enjoy refined animations that make apps feel even more fluid and responsive, as well as an updated document browser that gives apps a distinct look and feel when accessing documents in apps like Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and Swift Playgrounds.
New Hearing Health Features Come to iPadOS 18 and iOS 18
Later this fall, AirPods Pro 2 add a clinical-grade, over-the-counter Hearing Aid capability for users with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. Based on results from an intuitive, clinically validated Hearing Test that users can take from the comfort of their own home using AirPods Pro 2 and a compatible iPhone or iPad, this new feature seamlessly transforms AirPods Pro into a personalized Hearing Aid set to meet the specific needs of the user, making access to hearing assistance easier than ever as a free software update.2
Availability
iPadOS 18 is available for iPad Pro (M4), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later), iPad Air (M2), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad (7th generation and later), and iPad mini (5th generation and later). For more information, visit apple.com/ipados/ipados-18-preview and apple.com/apple-intelligence. Features are subject to change.
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