What's New In iPadOS 16

Introduction

figure 1: Source "WWDC 2022 Youtube"

At WWDC 2022, Apple introduced the iPadOS 16. This year in iPadOS Apple has a big release planned that's going to make iPadOS even better. Apple has added awesome features to iPadOS 16, like Shared Photo Library, Shared Tab Group, and Passkeys in Safari. There are big updates, as well. Apple also brings Weather to the iPad with beautiful animations like moving clouds, snowfall, and driving rain. We can also see the details of this information just by tapping on it. Apple also launched WeatherKit for developers so they can add weather features into their applications. In iPadOS 16, Apple includes new features that enable users to collaborate with others.

iPadOS 16: Compatible Devices

iPad Pro all devices
iPad Air (3rd generation and later)
iPad (5th generation and later)
iPad mini (5th generation and later)

iPadOS 16 : New Features

Collaboration

Figure 2: Source "WWDC 2022 Youtube"

When we are asked to pass a document, we can send a copy. But now, we can instantly kick off a Collaboration when we have to send something with the Share Sheet. This makes initiating Collaboration across the system as easy as sending a link. It means a conversation with our Collaborators is just a tap away. To use it, go to the message on the iPad. Let's say I am chatting with my friends on a project, and I have some ideas for a document. In the past, if I wanted to share this document I had to tap "share" to share the document. But now, we can start Collaboration instead. The great part of Collaboration is we don't need to type a bunch of names and email addresses into it. When we will select a message group, everyone will be added to it automatically. This makes it much easier to collaborate with the people we are already communicating with.

Gaming

Figure 3: Source "WWDC 2022 Youtube"

iPadOS provides a great gaming experience with its stunning display, built-in sensors, and support for our favorite game controller. The M1 chip delivers high-performance graphics, enabling immersive games like Divinity: Original Sin 2. In iPadOS 16, we encounter some terrific updates to gaming, like Metal 3, which brings the same metalFX upscaling and fast resource loading API. iPadOS 16 also has a new API, which lets games download large assets in the background, enabling us to multitask while the download completes. It's easy to jump in and play games without creating a new account using a Game Center profile. We can find friends to play with, compare scores on the leaderboard, and track progress through achievements. Now, Apple brings Activity to the Game Center Dashboard, so we can see what our friends are playing, the highlight of their achievements, and even find out when they beat our high score.

Desktop-Class apps

Figure 4: Source "WWDC 2022 Youtube"

Apple continues its work to make iPad apps more capable with Desktop-Class apps. In iPadOs 16, Apple scoured the entire system, adding enhancements across the board, from system elements and interactions to new features we use on Mac and want on iPad, like undo/redo across the system, availability view in calendar, find and merge cards, and creating lists in contacts. Apple also has provided a big update to files with some of users' most requested features, such as the ability to change file extensions, view file sizes, and more. Apple has also added system-wide features that deliver improvements across apps, such as finding and replacing the experience that works in line with a document's menu in Apps, like Files, Pages, and Keynote. Apple has added a great feature to iPadOS Customizable toolbars so we can add the tools we like to it, too. In addition to this, Apple has created a new API for developers so they can build these capabilities into their own apps.

Reference Color

Figure 5: Source "WWDC 2022 Youtube"

This is another great feature for the iPadOS 16. The Liquid Retina XDR display in the latest iPad Pro is ideal for professional color workflows. With iPadOS 16, Apple has introduced reference mode, which meets the color requirements in workflows like review and approval, color grading, and compositing, where accurate colors and consistent image quality are critical. So whether we use iPad Pro as a standalone device or as a second display with a sidecar, Reference Mode provides a consistent reference workflow.

Performance Of M1 Chip

Figure 6: Source "WWDC 2022 Youtube"

The iPadOS 16 has some features that are enabled by the performance of the M1 chip present in the latest iPad Pro and iPad Air. Apple has added a new display scaling setting. This allows us to increase the pixel density of the display, so we can view more in our apps. They have also enabled users to do more with apps. The latest iPad Pro and iPad Air come with a plethora of ultra-fast memory and storage. iPadOS 16 supports virtual memory swap, meaning that iPad storage can be used to expand the available memory for all the apps and delivers up to 16 GB to the most demanding apps.

Stage Manager

Figure 7: Source "WWDC 2022 Youtube"

We already have seen this new feature in MacOS. Stage Manager takes multitasking on iPad to a whole new level by making it more nimble and unlocking full external display support. Now we can resize windows, exposing a powerful new way to work with apps on iPad. We can also easily get to all our apps. All the apps that we are not working on at the moment appear on the left, so switching between apps becomes very fast. Stage Manager also gives us powerful new layout capabilities to create our ideal workspace.

Conclusion

We covered the new features that will be available on iPadOS 16. These are some great updates that can help increase our productivity. These updates are expected to be available on iPads in late 2022.

To know more about these updates in detail, go to Apple's official doc: click here.

Read my other articles where I have covered the new features in iOS 16 What's New In iOS 16 and in macOS 13 What's New In MacOS 13.

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