With WWDC 2022 just over a month away, we’ll get our first look at the future of Apple’s software on its various platforms.
After releasing the not-so-groundbreaking iPadOS 15 last year, I hope Apple has something special for the iPad. Ahead of its official launch in June, let’s take a look at all the areas where iPadOS in 2022 will desperately need attention.
Improved multitasking view
Source: Adam Oram/iMore
iPadOS 15 does address iPad multitasking, but it’s not enough to really revolutionize the experience of using multiple apps side-by-side.
While the new multitasking controls with split view and swipe over are easier and more discoverable, the end-user experience remains the same.
In iPadOS 16, I’d love to see Apple overhaul multitasking, offering more ways to display multiple apps on the screen at the same time. This could take the form of a more liberal split view, support for three or four apps that share screens, and even see Apple moving to a floating window approach.
Parker Ortolani offers the best concept I’ve seen so far of how it works without having to throw away all the benefits of the simplicity that iPadOS now offers.
Made a whole beautiful faux web page last night for my iPadOS 16 concept. The file was too big to post on its own, so I had to cut it out…see my thoughts on multitasking, home screen, dock, etc… pic.twitter.com/l68denoWcK
— Parker Ortolani (@ParkerOrtolani) April 11, 2022
iPad hardware, especially that of the iPad Pro and iPad Air 5, which run the desktop-class M1 chip, is powerful enough to run multiple apps simultaneously. At this point, productivity on the iPad is artificially hampered by software.
Granted, Apple would have to make its iPad multitasking a touch-first experience if it was to work on all supported devices. Having said that, multitasking has been largely hidden and used by those who know about it and want to use it. It could undergo a major redesign while retaining this type of opt-in power user functionality.
desktop mode
One of the things I love about the iPad is that it can do whatever you want. Whether you want to use it as a handheld web browser, snap onto a keyboard and use it as a laptop replacement, connect your Apple Pencil and use it as a drawing tablet, or pair with a Bluetooth controller and play games, the iPad can do it all.
As MacStories editor-in-chief and noted iPad enthusiast Federico Viticci wrote a few years ago, the iPad is a modular computer:
“In essence, the iPad Pro is still a tablet; however, with the right additions, it’s also a modular computer that I didn’t know I needed.”
This is exactly why I think iPadOS 16 needs to offer a desktop or “pro” mode. As Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman speculated earlier this month, a special mode, such as Apple’s Magic Keyboard or Apple Pencil, can be activated when the right accessories are paired.
This could allow for more Mac-like multitasking, a more advanced home screen experience, and even allow the iPad to properly extend its screen to an external monitor (instead of just mirroring the display as it does now).
As I’ve written before, people spending laptop-like prices on iPads and Magic Keyboards these days expect a laptop-like experience. iPadOS doesn’t really offer that yet.
Interactive widget
Source: Adam Oram/iMore
Speaking of the home screen, it’s time Apple enabled interactive widgets. iPhone widgets launched with iOS 14 and made their full presence on iPad in iPadOS 15, but they don’t function as well as they should.
While widgets provide convenient at-a-glance information in their current form, they do little else. For example, you can’t check items on your to-do list or skip songs in the widget. Instead, tapping on any part of the widget will open the corresponding app, interrupting your flow.
On the iPad, with plenty of home screen real estate, being able to set up a dashboard with at-a-glance information would be very useful and Interactive widgets for these types of quick actions.
The Apple Music app on Android has an interactive widget, so there’s at least hope that Apple will consider bringing the same functionality to its own operating system.
Professional application
Source: Joe Keller/iMore
It’s been a long time since Apple brought its first-party Pro apps to the iPad, and it probably never will, but if it wants to continue telling the iPad’s pro story, then it shouldn’t wait any longer.
For years, Apple has referred creative users to GarageBand and iMovie for making music and movies, but these apps aren’t as advanced as Apple’s professional-grade Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro for the Mac.
Third-party apps fill some of the holes Apple has left, such as Ferrite and LumaFusion, but many pro users of Apple products already use Apple’s apps on their Macs and can benefit from the same apps available on iPads.
The same goes for app developers. While Swift Playgrounds 4 was touted last year as a proper developer tool rather than a purely educational app, it’s still not as comprehensive as Xcode on the Mac. The iPad, especially the Pro side, is powerful enough for development work, so let’s take a final look at Xcode for iPad.
Multiple user account support
Source: Bryan M. Wolfe/iMore
There have been calls for iPadOS to support multi-user accounts for a long time, but I’m not sure it’s coming. Although Apple offers the feature on macOS and Apple TV, the company has always presented the iPhone and iPad as separate devices.
While this may apply to phones, tablets are often used by multiple people in a household. As a former Apple Genius, I’ve seen how this can wreak havoc on one’s Apple ID or personal privacy.
Multi-account support will be a way to differentiate iPadOS from iOS, further justifying the name change while offering more “proper computer”-like functionality. With Home Sharing, Apple also makes setup really easy.
That being said, if a household can all use one iPad, there’s a chance that Apple will only sell one iPad to that household, which is likely why the feature hasn’t appeared and probably never will.
HomeKit Hub Mode
Source: Adam Oram/iMore
This might be a niche feature, but I personally would like to see it in iPadOS 16: HomeKit Hub Mode for iPad.
In my home, I repurposed an old iPad model and turned it into a dedicated HomeKit device by permanently docking and locking it to the Home app via Guided Access. It gives me easy access to my HomeKit accessory controls, and is generally easier to use when I’m out and about, rather than barking Siri commands or fiddling with my phone.
We’ve seen a lot of dedicated smart displays pop up in the Alexa and Google Assistant ecosystems in recent years, but so far, the only way to replicate it for HomeKit is with a similar device I’ve set up.
The problem is, it’s a somewhat hacky solution that requires a spare iPad to do. The Home app is also very information dense and not so obvious at a glance. What I’m suggesting is an optional mode that the iPad can use by default to display relevant HomeKit-related information on the screen when the iPad is docked.
Amazon’s Fire 8 HD Plus and the Charging Dock’s Show Mode do very similar things. With its famous hardware and software integration, Apple could brazenly take this idea, put some Apple design in some Apple design, make it functional and aesthetic, even in a first-party docking solution if you wanted to. Make some money on the program.
hope it won’t be the same again
With WWDC 2022 just over a month away, we have some hope for the launch of the new iPadOS 16. Since Apple split iPadOS from iOS, we’ve only really seen iterative updates to the tablet-specific operating system.
After a less exciting iPadOS 14 cycle (more focused on improvements) and an iPadOS 15 version improving some of the underlying experience without reinventing the wheel, it’s time to fundamentally rethink iPadOS 16.