We may want too much from iPadOS, but we have a right to do so. The miracle has not happened yet. Separated from iOS, Apple’s tablet operating system is still looking for itself. She copes with her tasks, she is not at all as bad as they write about her. But where is the zest, where is something that would make it admire even those who do not have the slightest sympathy for Apple? On June 7 this year, the third version of iPadOS will be announced at WWDC 2021 (the first was iPadOS 13, there will be iPadOS 15). She has a very important goal – to turn the sunset of the tablets into their new dawn. Does Apple Park know what a modern tablet operating system should be like?
The changes in iPadOS 14 (in fact, iPadOS 2.0) were great and interesting, but they were just a pale shadow of the changes in iOS 14. Something that first appeared in iPadOS 14 was historic – the Scribble feature . handwriting recognition , added a third, “pencil” interface to the system, complementing the touch interface and the interface with a mouse and keyboard.
Widgets, which in iOS 14 can be placed anywhere, in iPadOS are placed only on the first screen and only on the left side of it. And iPad, in order to see them, must be placed horizontally. Problems with multitasking are fixed more slowly than we would like, the Files application is so frequent and dangerous that it seems like a mockery of common sense. They say that iPadOS 15 will change a lot for the better, that it will be a special version of the Apple Tablet system. Only this is not a leak from Apple – this is inference based on facts and assumptions.
When iPadOS 15 comes out
Last year, when Apple was more loyal to leaks that were harmless to it, one of the developers of the low-level part of the system shared by iOS and iPadOS blurted out that in 2020, his colleagues were focusing on iOS. In 2021, the focus will be on iPadOS. Does Apple seem to be a big enough company and not too poor and could organize specialized teams for each of the systems? Most of the developers are engaged in specific functional blocks of the system, although there are groups dealing only with iOS or only iPadOS, but they do not have a decisive role.
That is, this year, according to unofficial information, should be a big and important year for iPadOS. Judging by the fact that in 2020 there were fewer changes in the tablet operating system than we would like, this seems to be true. In addition, very attractive new items have appeared in the iPad lineup, the iPad Air 4 is especially good – and iPad sales in the holiday quarter of calendar 2020 have noticeably improved due to this. There is no point in draining iPadOS. In addition, amazing stories about the new iPad Pro with the Apple A14X inside , a chip that is practically equal to the M1 chip in performance and endurance , are roaming the network . And in order to take everything from this superchip, a lot must change in the operating system (in iPadOS).
What will iPadOS 15 be
Last year, the development of the system of widgets for iPadOS was not completed. The large screen and other features of tablets make the task much more difficult, and the focus in 2020 has been iOS – so widgets should really come to iPadOS this year.
Why split iOS between iOS and iPadOS?
If the complexity of a general-purpose operating system hadn’t grown at this rate and made it difficult to clean up development, all other reasons would not matter. This system was universal for the user – in fact, for every device supported by the system (and there were dozens of them), a subset of systems optimized for this device was installed. The surprising thing is not that there were problems with iOS, but that there were so few of them. The systems were proposed to be divided back in 2010, since there were serious difficulties with the development of a universal. But then there was no alternative. Separation was also proposed later – since the feature set and system requirements for the iPhone and iPad were different and it would be more efficient to develop them separately .
