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Apple iPadOS 18 preview

by red


Apple’s iOS and iPadOS mobile operating systems have many overlapping features, considering the iPad serves as a more substantial, action-oriented sibling to the iPhone. With the latest iPadOS 18 public beta release, many standouts iOS 18 Features (advanced calculators and notes) make the jump to the big screen where they feel more at home. Like the iOS 18 beta, iPadOS 18 currently lacks AI-powered Apple Intelligence and the new Siri tool. Still, iPadOS 18 is a great productivity boon if you work on an iPad.


How to Download iPadOS 18 Public Beta

iPadOS 18 is compatible with the following iPads: iPad Pro (M4), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd gen and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st gen and later), iPad Air (M2), iPad Air (3rd generation) and later), iPad (7th generation and later), and iPad mini (5th generation and later).

If you want to participate in the beta, sign up via Apple Beta Software Program. After you’re logged in, select iPadOS 18 Beta. Alternatively, using the same method, you can participate in iOS 18 macOS Sequoia Public beta

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Note: Beta software can cause data loss or compatibility issues, so you should back up your iPad via iCloud (or connect it to a computer to create a backup using iTunes).


A new look at Freeform in iPadOS 18

(Credit: Apple/PCMag)

Notes and Freeform: Enhanced Productivity

There are many improvements to Notes in iPadOS 18, the most notable of which is real-time handwriting correction. As you scribble notes in Markup mode, iPad automatically tightens your writing to make it clearer and more legible. When finished, you can highlight your written text to further refine the handwriting. This makes notes a handy tool for jotting down thoughts quickly. If your handwriting is particularly messy, notes highlight questionable words with suggestions for you to select or correct. That said, hand-writing notes with my finger or stylus was a choppy experience because iOS 18 sometimes turned off the markup function. It took multiple attempts before my writing registered.

Headers are now collapsible, a particularly useful feature when creating long documents and outlines; This makes the document much easier to navigate. Like iPadOS 17, iPadOS 18 lets you highlight text without the Apple Pencil. Now, you can select text, tap a formatting icon at the top of the screen, and choose the colored dot to highlight it. It adds pizzazz to Note documents and I’ve used it extensively since downloading the beta.

You can now transcribe audio directly into notes, another nice feature that has become part of my workflow. As someone who uses voice memos heavily during brainstorming, this function is great. You can then export the audio to files or share the note via Airdrop, Mail, Messages or Slack. That said, the transcription is somewhat inaccurate. At one point, Notes failed to fully replicate the recording, making it feel less refined than iOS 18’s version.

Freeform, Apple’s creative digital whiteboard app, now lets you add scenes to your board. Views are shortcuts to specific sections of your board, dramatically improving navigation All these features work well, but in this current beta state they lack some refinement.


Calculator app enhancements in iPadOS 18

(Credit: Apple/PCMag)

Calculator App: Mathematical Wizard

Calculator has been an app that the iPad ecosystem has lacked since its introduction in 2010, and it’s been a recurring joke ever since. With iPadOS 18, the Calculator app finally makes its way to the iPad, along with some impressive improvements to take advantage of the power and size of Apple’s high-tech tablet. In addition to a powerful scientific calculator, Math Notes includes a new toggle that lets you perform advanced mathematical calculations through the Notes interface. You can type the equation or write it with your finger or Apple Pencil, which the calculator can solve automatically. It also keeps track of solutions and can update your answers as you continue writing.

The calculator receives this overhaul in iOS 18, but the extra screen real estate on the iPad makes it more useful. To make the math easier to understand, I’d probably like to add the steps the calculator app uses to arrive at the solution. Aside from some handwriting hiccups, where the app may fail to recognize sloppy digits, the calculator feels great on the iPad.


Enhanced screen customization

Like iOS 18, iPadOS 18 gets a significant boost for screen customization, bringing device personalization on par with what we see on Google’s Android devices. You can move app icons and widgets to your desired location on the screen You can change the color and size of these icons to any color you want, allowing you to match the colors of your wallpaper image if you like.

Control Center, the quick controls page you access by swiping down from the top of the screen, also gets a significant boost in customization. You now have multiple pages of controls for Favorites, Media, and Home Apps/Smart Home toggles, and you can add, remove, and swap controls to your liking. Android’s Material U customization elements are still ahead of the curve thanks to color suggestions and dynamic wallpaper functionality, but Apple is closing in. These customization changes are a huge improvement


New personalization in iPadOS 18

(Credit: Apple/PCMag)

Photo and message enhancements

As mentioned, iPadOS 18 shares many of the same improvements as iOS 18. Here are some other cool changes with iPadOS 18 beta:

The Photos app has been redesigned with new viewing options to help you organize and browse your library You can browse your photo album at the top of the screen by swiping down or browsing new, special collections based on recent days, people and pets, memories, travel and more. Additionally, swiping through Collections opens a carousel view of featured photos that you can further customize by adding new people and places. This new interface radically streamlines the Photos app and is a welcome change.

Messages gets Rich Communication Services (RCS) support in iPadOS 18 You can now receive and send high-quality media to Android devices without quality loss Similarly, group messages involving Android users will no longer break chats, allowing everyone to participate in a single group conversation. You can now also see typing indicators. Additionally, you can schedule messages up to two weeks in advance. Finally, you now have additional graphical effects for text messages, and tapback responses support more emojis and stickers.


Verdict: A promising new iPad Frontier

Apple iPadOS 18 introduces a number of significant improvements to the iPad ecosystem, making the workhorse tablet even more productive. Notes and Freeform are excellent writing and organizing tools, which are even better thanks to beta improvements. Likewise, the Calculator app fits the iPad like a glove. We’re still waiting for Apple Intelligence and enhancements with Siri, but the new features highlighted in the beta are great so far. We’ll update this article with our impressions of Apple Intelligence and Siri additions when they become available later this year.

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