More than a month after the release of iOS 16, the iPad finally receives its big annual update, with several new features, but without any sudden change in the interface.
It’s time to heat up your internet box! Apple has just released iPadOS 16, the newest version of Apple’s touchscreen tablet operating system.
The multitasking Stage Manager makes its appearance… in a version still under construction
Numbered iPadOS 16.1, Apple’s new OS was a few weeks late and is released today alongside the launch of the new iPad Pro M2 and iPad (2022).
The cause of this unusual delay at Apple is most likely Stage Manager, the new multitasking system reserved for iPads equipped with an M1 chip, such as the iPad Pro M1 and the iPad Air (2022), but now also iPad Pro 2018 and 2020. We were able to try Stage Manager during the beta version, and the system did not change too much.
It still consists of displaying up to four applications on the screen, fully resizable, even if the system retains control and does not offer the same flexibility as on the Mac. The other software or groups of applications are grouped together on the left side of the screen, to switch from one to the other with a simple “tap”.
The paint is still fresh, and Apple still seems to have quite a bit of work to finalize its latest feature. Proof of this is the numerous bugs still present in this final version and the disappearance of support for an external screen with Stage Manager. This is the big highlight of this multitasking, which should arrive by the end of this year.
Apple finally offers a Weather application, in addition to some more discreet additions
Among the other major new features brought by iPadOS 16, we can mention the “Collaboration” mode. The latter allows in certain applications, such as the word processor Pages, to share a document with one click to its collaborators. It will also be possible from this button to initiate a video call via FaceTime, or even to share a group of tabs via Safari.
The iPad M1 or M2 can also change their native resolution to get even more apps open on the screen. This setting can be found in the “Brightness and display” section of the Settings.
Left: “Default” display / Right: “More space” display © Mathieu Grumiaux for Clubic
After years of inexplicable waiting, the Weather application makes its triumphant arrival on the iPad. Apple has largely taken over the interface and the look & feel of the software available on iOS 16, while taking advantage of the large surface of the tablet to display as much information as possible. You can thus find a satellite view of precipitation or forecasts for the next few days.
iPadOS 16 finally benefits from some improvements seen on iOS 16, such as the possibility of scheduling a sending in Mail, or deleting and modifying messages in iMessage. You can also crop an element in a photo with a tap.
Source : Apple
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