Apple has officially debuted iPadOS 18 as part of its main keynote for the week-long WWDC 2024. The next major software release for the iPad brings numerous enhancements to user navigation, new built-in apps including the long-awaited Calculator, Apple Intelligence support, and more.
Math Notes is a new feature for solving mathematical equations in the Notes app. With Math Notes, users can type or draw equations with the Apple Pencil, and watch them being solved automatically. Math Notes supports variables that can be plugged into different equations, with results automatically updated as the variables’ values are changed. Graphing support makes it easy to visualize graphs of equations right within a Math Note.
The Calculator app is finally available on the iPad with iPadOS 18. Available in basic and scientific modes, the iPadOS 18 Calculator app also supports unit conversions with different units spanning weight, length, currencies, and more. The new Calculator keeps a history log, allowing users to look back at previous calculations and results easily.
Leveraging the capabilities of Apple Pencil, Smart Script enhances handwritten notes while preserving the unique style of the user’s handwriting. This feature allows quick writing without compromising legibility by smoothing and straightening text in real-time. Editing handwritten notes becomes as simple as editing typed text.
With Apple Pencil, users can effortlessly add space, erase a sentence, or even integrate typed text into their handwriting, with the paragraph seamlessly adjusting to accommodate the new content. The Notes app is more convenient than ever for typed text. Content can be easily adjusted with support for collapsable sections under headings. Written text can now be highlighted in one of five colors.
Like iOS 18, Home Screen customization options are coming to the iPad with iPadOS 18. Users will get to place app icons and widgets freely while adding a dark shade for Dark Mode and color tints. A new option to make app icons bigger while hiding their name labels is present.
The all-new Control Center can now be freely customized, with options to rearrange and resize widgets. New options can be added from the Control Center itself with the new controls gallery, which supports controls from third-party apps for the first time. Multiple related controls can be grouped on one page, which Control Center now supports multiple pages each with a dedicated set of controls.
Apple is shaking up user navigation with iPadOS 18. The update includes a new tab bar that floats above the app content with the most common app controls. With a single press, users can expand the sidebar for complete access to all available tabs. The favorite tab options in the floating bar can be customized, so users always have the quickest access to their most commonly used tabs.
The Photos app in iPadOS 18 is redesigned from the ground up for a more streamlined experience. The app now features a single scrollable view instead of multiple tabs. The photo library grid is now fixed at the top, with suggested collections based on themes automatically curated below. There’s a new carousel that highlights special moments and collections, and a new filter to quickly hide screenshots from the main library.
The Messages app is more capable than ever in iPadOS 18. Tapback reactions are now colorful and more expressive, and users can now react with any emoji from the iPhone’s keyboard. Rich text effects are now supported where users can now add special effects to specific words or phrases rather than the entire message. Rich formatting is also supported, with options to add bold, italics, underline, and strikethrough effects. Messages can now be scheduled to be sent later at a specified date and time rather than immediately.
The Mail app will gain new categorization options that automatically separate incoming emails into different categories depending on their content. For business emails, there’s a new digest view that pulls together all relevant information from multiple emails or threads into a single view.
Safari gains new tools for a more streamlined and faster browsing experience with iPadOS 18. The redesigned Reader mode can now summarize articles and generate a table of contents. Highlights is a new feature that automatically scans relevant information from webpages such as maps and music info and automatically presents them to users for easier access.
iPadOS 18 comes with a new app for password management. The Passwords app is a new way for users to quickly manage their iCloud Keychain, with support for passwords, passkeys, Wi-Fi passwords, and verification codes. Like Keychain, the new app can alert users if their passwords appear in data leaks, are easily guessed, or are repeated across multiple logins.
iPadOS 18 brings considerable privacy improvement across the system. Now, there’s an option to lock apps behind Face ID or passcode access. Apps can also be hidden from the Home Screen, which will hide their content from everywhere else in the system. iPadOS 18 supports more granular app access to contacts, so users can select which contact information is shared with which apps.
Apple Intelligence is the company’s forrays into artificial intelligence, and iPadOS 18 features Apple Intelligence everywhere across the system. Writing Tools make it easier to craft paragraphs of text with support for tone change, proofreading, and summarization in apps like Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps.
iPadOS 18 and Apple Intelligence feature a built-in image generation tool. Image Playground empowers users to create a unique image or illustration by describing its appearance in a prompt. Image Playground can also generate Genmojis, which are custom emojis in the Messages app.
Apple Intelligence can also generate Memories in the Photos app where users can enter their descriptions in a prompt. Photos also gain a new Clean Up feature, allowing users to remove unwanted objects in an image’s background while keeping the main subjects untouched.
The first developer beta of iPadOS 18 is now out for developers, with a public beta program following in July. iPadOS 18 will be available to the following iPad models:
- iPad Pro with M4 chip
- iPad Air with M2 chip
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch – 3rd generation and later
- iPad Pro 11-inch – 1st generation and later
- iPad Air – 3rd generation and later
- iPad – 7th generation and later
- iPad mini – 5th generation and later
Apple Intelligence features will be available as a beta when iPadOS 18 publicly launches in the fall for users with their iPad language and Siri set to U.S. English. Apple Intelligence requires iPad models with the M1 chip and later to run.
