Nice overview of iPadOS 15 on Six Colors. iOS/iPadOS 15 may be one of the least exciting updates to the platforms in a long time, but for a platform that is 14 years into it’s life, there are still some great features here.
One feature I have been enjoying is the updates to iPad multitasking. Dan Moren notes that Apple may well be heading towards a more desktop-like system for multitasking going forward 1:
Apple has made substantial changes to how multitasking works in iPadOS 15. A lot of these changes are more visual than conceptual, but they lay the groundwork for potential expansion of multitasking features in the future.
Apple takes its time and sometimes makes extremely conservative decisions, but it’s hard to believe that iPadOS isn’t headed toward Mac-like multiple window multitasking being an option, especially on larger (and external) displays. Whether the windows will be freeform or follow some strict rules involving tiling, snapping, or some other organizational principle remains to be seen.
Another feature that has impressed is Live Text, which allows you to point your camera at any text, and then copy paste it anywhere you want. As an added bonus, it’s also integrated with Spotlight Search so that, with your permission, it can scan your photos for text and display the results.
Speaking of Photos, you can now view detailed metadata about your photos with a tap from within the Photos app too. On the face of it, these are minor features, but they are ones we will no doubt become reliant on in time to come.
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I really hope they do. The iPad Pro hardware in particular is too sophisticated to only display 2/3 apps at once. ↩