Apple iPadOS 17 Features
The latest iPadOS is iPadOS 17. The iPad has most of iOS 17’s new features, and the two operating systems are identical. iPad users can receive all FaceTime and Messages upgrades, enhanced self-correction, interactive components, support for password sharing and AirTags, AirPod updates, and more.
The iOS features that are unique to the larger screen are covered below, but for a thorough rundown of everything new in Apple iPadOS 17, check out their dedicated summary of the latest updates.
A new Lock Screen interface is included in Apple iPadOS 17, which is similar to the redesigned Lock Screen that Apple introduced to the iPhone in iOS 16. Users may choose different backgrounds, colours, and fonts for the Lock Screen, which has been upgraded, to personalise it. To capitalise on the larger screen size of the iPad, Apple produced Weather and Astronomy-specific wallpapers. Similar to the iPhone, you may use your own images (with motion effects for Live Photos), create wallpaper using emoji, or choose an Apple-designed wallpaper.
The Lock Screen may have widgets added to it. In portrait mode, the widgets are shown underneath the time, however in landscape mode, there is a widget bar on the left side of the screen. The iPad has all of the widgets that are accessible on the iPhone, including Wallet, Weather, Notes, News, Sleep, Health, Clock, and more. Larger widgets than those on the iPhone can be used on the iPad because of its larger display. In order to avoid becoming distracting, iPad widgets are made to blend in with the background.
You may flip among various choices by supporting several Lock Screens. Additionally, Lock Screens can be connected with a Focus mode, allowing you to have Lock Screens activate Focus modes or vice versa. With Apple iPadOS 17, the iPad can follow live activities like as sports results, restaurant delivery, and more, all of which appear on the Lock Screen.
Apple also updated and added interactivity to the widgets on the Today Centre and Home Screen. You may use widgets to do tasks like playing music, setting a reminder, or turning on lights without opening an app. Additionally, widgets from third-party applications may include interaction. You may add interactive widgets to your home screen and lock screen.
With Apple iPadOS 17, editing PDFs is faster because the system uses machine learning to recognise fields in a PDF and automatically fills in names, addresses, and email addresses from the Contacts app. PDFs open in the Notes app full width, making it simpler to read and annotate with an Apple Pencil. Additionally, you may annotate PDFs and scanned documents right in the note. If you use live collaboration, revisions to shared notes happen instantly.
Apple iPad 17 inch
Users now have the opportunity to see their statistics on a bigger display by using the Health app on both the iPad and iPhone thanks to Apple iPadOS 17. Favourites now have a new appearance as a result of the design’s optimisation for the iPad’s bigger screen. The iPad has an easy-to-find sidebar, and health data may be connected to the device via the iCloud, allowing for the availability of prescriptions, medical records, trends, and highlights. The iPad is also a device that offers new capabilities related to mental health, such as mood monitoring.
In order to enhance multitasking, Apple redesigned Stage Manager for iPad, giving users additional choices for the size and placement of Stage Manager windows. Built-in cameras on an external display are also supported by Stage Manager.
iPadOS 17 Apple Pencil
Along with support for tilt and hover on the Apple Pencil, snap to shape, connecting lines and forms for objects, and a Follow Along guide for collaborators, the Freeform app now comes with additional sketching tools.
Additionally, Apple iPadOS 17 offers other innovations that are detailed in their summary of iOS 17, such as improvements to Spotlight, AirPlay, Siri, Privacy, and Security.
The Most Recent Version
iPadOS 17.4.1, published March 21, is the latest version. Security and bug updates were included to iPadOS 17.4.1. Additionally, Apple has made the first beta of the next iPadOS 17.5 upgrade available to public beta testers and developers.
Customisation of the Lock Screen and Widgets
Customisation of the Lock Screen
Apple iPadOS 17 brings the Lock Screen customisation features found on the iPhone to the iPad. Users can now stylize photos, shuffle through a dynamic set of photos throughout the day, create unique designs using emojis and colour combinations, and more. A selection of font styles and colours are available for customisation.
Apple now offers a variety of optimised wallpapers, such as Astronomy or Kaleidoscope, to make the most of the bigger screen. Moreover, Live Photos now have a brand-new motion effect that animates as your iPad wakes up and slides into your Home Screen when it opens.
To see information at a glance, like as the weather, time, date, battery level, or forthcoming events, users may now add a whole column of widgets to the iPad’s Lock Screen. Adaptive tinting is a feature of lock screen widgets that helps them blend nicely with the background without losing readability.
With Apple iPadOS 17, users may now monitor real-time events such as sports scores, flights, restaurant orders, and timers straight from the iPad’s Lock Screen with Live Activities.
Enhancements to the Home Screen Widget
Similar to iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, Apple iPadOS 17‘s Home Screen widgets are interactive. Users may touch to activate lighting, play music, mark a reminder as completed, and more without having to launch the app.
Developers may use WidgetKit to add interactivity to their pre-existing widgets. In order to further customise the Home Screen, widgets may now be placed anywhere on the screen.
Manager of the Stage and Assistance for External Cameras
With Apple iPadOS 17, users can now flexibly resize, move, and position windows precisely where they want them thanks to increased freedom in Stage Manager.
Moreover, webcams and the built-in camera in external displays like Apple’s Studio Display may now be used with FaceTime and conference calls on the iPad when an external camera is used. This comes in especially handy when utilising an iPad for video chats and connecting it via Stage Manager to an external monitor.
App Updates
Wellness
The Health app makes its iPad debut with Apple iPadOS 17, offering users additional methods to see their health data in depth. The new Favourites view and insights into health data with Trends, Highlights, and intricate interactive charts are features of the iPad-optimized app design.
The iPhone Health app offers the same capabilities to users, including cycle tracking, daily mood monitoring, health information, and more. Developers who create apps for fitness and health may now utilise HealthKit on the iPad.
Downloads and Notes
In order to enable users to rapidly enter data, such names, addresses, and email addresses straight from contact cards, iPadOS 17’s Enhanced AutoFill feature employs machine learning to recognise fields in a PDF or scanned document.
Now, while sharing a note with others, users may work together on PDFs and get real-time changes. The modifications you make show up instantly on your collaborator’s device when you annotate a document, sketch a diagram, or apply stickers.
There are new methods to collaborate, read, annotate, and organise PDFs using the Notes app. When a PDF is shown in its full width, it is simple to quickly annotate, scan between pages, and draw right in the document with an Apple Pencil. While users are sharing a note with others, updates show up instantly with live collaboration.
Moreover, it is now feasible to rapidly make inline linkages between notes, giving users a means to link research notes, cite recipes, or build wikis.
Form Freeform
A watercolour brush, calligraphy pen, highlighter, variable-width pen, and ruler are among the new sketching tools available in the Freeform app. Similar to the Notes app, users can now hand-draw shapes like squares with the Apple Pencil and witness an exact replica of the design snap into place thanks to design Recognition.
Using Follow Along, users may view what other people are working on during live collaboration. As they navigate the endless canvas, what they see is shown on your screen.
