iPadOS 16 Introduces Stage Manager External Display Support Weather App And More

iPadOS 16 Introduces Stage Manager External Display Support Weather App And More

One of the biggest announcements at Apple’s WWDC 2022 Keynote event yesterday was the introduction of iPadOS 16. It is loaded with new features such as Stage Manager, full external display support, iCloud Shared Photo Library, Collaboration features via Messages, a new Weather app, a new Freeform app and more.

 

New Collaboration features in Messages

With the new Messages app, collaboration and managing shared content across Files, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, Notes, etc. is now a lot easier. Users can send an invite to collaborate and everyone on the thread is automatically added to the document, spreadsheet, or project. Changes made by any collaborator will also be reflected in real time too.

Along with this, the Messages app now supports editing or recalling recently sent messages, recovering recently deleted messages, and marking conversations as unread. SharePlay sessions can now be initiated via Messages too.

 

Freeform app – built around collaboration

Apple introduced a new collaboration app called Freeform that offers users the ability to see, share, and collaborate all in one place. The app has full support for Apple Pencil and its editing tools, and users can add content or make edits that will be visible to everyone. A session can be started from FaceTime and updates will show up in the Messages thread.

 

Smart tools for the Mail app

The Mail app supports new features such as the ability to cancel the delivery of an email, schedule send email, quickly send follow-up mails, and a Remind later feature. There is also a new Search-experience that can automatically correct typos and use synonyms for search terms.

 

Improved collaboration features on Safari

Safari is also getting updated with improved collaboration features. Shared Tab Groups allow users to collaborate on a set of tabs with friends and see updates instantly while they work together, share tabs and bookmarks. Safari will also support Passkeys, which allows users to safely sign in to apps and websites without need of a password. Users can also sign in to websites or apps on non-Apple devices with their saved passkey by scanning the QR code with iPad, and using Face ID or Touch ID to authenticate.

Updated Live Text and Visual Look Up

Live Text can now recognize text in video, with the ability to pick up text from paused video frames. Visual Look Up is another cool feature that allows user to allow users to lift the subject from an image or isolate a subject by removing the background with just a tap.

 

Better multitasking with Stage Manager and Full External Display Support

Multitasking was one of the important areas of focus among the many iPadOS 16 updates. To start with, iPadOS will now come with Stage Manager, which can automatically organizes apps and windows, and make it quick and easy to switch between tasks. iPadOS will now let users create overlapping windows of different sizes in a single view, drag and drop windows from the side, or open apps from the Dock to create groups of apps.

On M1-powered iPad models, Stage Manager also supports extending your display with an external monitor. According to Apple, monitors with up to 6K resolution will be supported.

 

Reference Mode, Memory Swap and Display Zoom

There are three new iPad Pro specific features too. Reference Mode enables the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display to match the colour requirements in colour accuracy critical workloads. Display Zoom can let users increase the pixel density of the display, so they can view more in their apps, which is especially useful when using Split View. The third feature is Memory Swap that allows users to access up to 16 gigabytes of memory for the most demanding apps.

 

Other updates

  • iPadOS now has a Weather app that will show weather information, or explore maps to check precipitation, air quality, and temperature.
  • Dictation has been updated, now allowing users easily move between voice, touch, and Scribble with Apple Pencil. Dictation can also automatically add punctuation and insert emoji.
  • Siri adds the ability to automatically run shortcuts from apps, with no setup required

  • The Home app gets an all-new design that makes it easier to navigate, organise, view, and control smart home accessories at a glance
  • Desktop-class apps enable new capabilities optimised for the iPad display, from system elements and interactions to new features available on Mac
  • Apple News introduces My Sports, allowing users to follow their favourite teams, leagues, and athletes
  • Notes allows users to create neater handwritten notes with the ability to automatically straighten the handwriting
  • Handoff in FaceTime allows users to start a FaceTime call on one of their Apple devices and seamlessly hand it off to another Apple device nearby
  • New accessibility tools include Live Captions in FaceTime, a new Magnifier mode that delivers richer descriptions of the surroundings, Hover Text, which helps users to easily read input fields, menu items, button labels, and other text on iPad

 

Availability

The developer preview of iPadOS 16 is available to Apple Developer Program members starting today, and a public beta will be available to iPadOS users next month. iPadOS 16 will roll out to the iPad (5th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), and all iPad Pro models. You can check out the complete set of features here.