iPadOS 16 Adds New Multitasking Features, Along With Full External Display Support

Apple has released a preview of iPadOS 16, which it describes as "a major update that makes the iPad experience even more versatile."

Stage Manager, which takes advantage of the M1 chip's power, introduces a new method to multitask with many overlapping windows and complete external display compatibility. According to Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, collaboration is simpler than ever with new methods to start working with colleagues in applications throughout the system via Messages, and the new Freeform app gives a versatile canvas to brainstorm on together.

New Mail capabilities make users more productive, Safari provides shared Tab Groups for viewing the web with others, and passkeys make browsing even more safe. The redesigned Weather app fully utilizes the iPad's amazing display, and Live Text now interacts with text in video. According to Federighi, new professional capabilities such as Reference Mode and Display Zoom make the iPad an even more powerful mobile studio.

NEW SAFARI COLLABORATION AND SECURITY FEATURES

Safari receives significant upgrades in iPadOS 16 to make it even more collaborative, configurable, and secure. Shared Tab Groups enable users to collaborate on a collection of tabs with friends, view updates instantaneously while working together, exchange tabs and bookmarks, and start a discussion directly from Safari. Tab Groups have dedicated start pages with a background picture, bookmarks, and unique sections that everyone can see and change.

Passkeys, a quicker and safer sign-in technique meant to replace passwords on the web and in applications, make browsing in Safari even more secure. Passkeys are stored on the iPad and are unique to the sites for which they were created.

Since passkeys are unique digital keys that stay on device and are never stored on a web server, Apple says that hackers can’t leak them or trick users into sharing them. Users can sign in to websites or apps on Apple and non-Apple devices with their saved passkey by scanning the QR code with iPad, and using Face ID or Touch ID to authenticate.

Passkeys are unique digital keys that remain on the device and are never saved on a web server, according to Apple, so hackers cannot leak them or deceive users into providing them. Users may sign in to websites or applications on Apple and non-Apple devices using their saved passkey by scanning the QR code with an iPad and authenticating using Face ID or Touch ID.

FEATURES FOR PROS

New "pro" features are included in iPadOS 16. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display may meet color requirements in workflows such as review and approve, color grading, and compositing, where precise colors and consistent picture quality are crucial.

Display Zoom now allows users to boost the pixel density of the display to view more in their apps, thanks to the performance of the Apple-designed M1 processor. When utilizing Split View, this might be handy. With Virtual Memory Swap, iPad storage may be leveraged to enhance the available memory for all programs, delivering up to 16 gigabytes of memory for the most demanding apps, allowing for completely smooth multitasking.

MULTITASKING AND FULL EXTERNAL DISPLAY SUPPORT

iPadOS 16 also includes much-needed multitasking
enhancements and full external display compatibility. Stage Manager is a whole new multitasking experience that automatically arranges programs and windows. For the first time on an iPad, users may build overlapping windows of various sizes in a single view, drag and drop windows from the side, or start applications from the Dock to form groups of apps. The window of the app users are working on is prominently shown in the middle, while other open applications and windows are grouped on the left-hand side in chronological order. Stage Manager, which is available on the iPad Pro and iPad Air with the M1 processor, also enables full external display capability with resolutions up to 6K, allowing users to create the ideal workspace and work with up to four applications on the iPad and four apps on the external display.

ADDITIONAL IPADOS 16 FEATURES, ACCORDING TO APPLE

• Dictation offers a new on-device experience that allows users to easily move between voice, touch, and Scribble with Apple Pencil. Users can type with the keyboard or write with Scribble, tap in the text field, move the cursor, and insert QuickType suggestions, all without needing to stop Dictation. Dictation also features automatic punctuation and emoji dictation.
• Siri adds the ability to automatically run shortcuts from apps, with no setup required. Users can now insert emoji when sending messages with Siri, and can skip the confirmation step when sending messages by enabling the feature in Settings. Siri can now process more types of requests offline without an internet connection, and users can now hang up a call completely hands-free by simply saying “Hey Siri, hang up.”4
• The Home app gets an all-new design that makes it easier to navigate, organize, view, and control smart home accessories at a glance, as well as Matter support,5 a new smart home connectivity standard that allows compatible accessories to work together seamlessly across different platforms, and provides more choice and interoperability, all while maintaining the highest level of security.
• Desktop-class apps enable new capabilities optimized for the iPad display, from system elements and interactions to new features available on Mac, including a consistent undo and redo experience across the system, a redesigned find-and-replace experience, customizable toolbars, the ability to change file extensions and view folder size in Files, and more. 
• Apple News introduces My Sports, allowing users to follow their favorite teams, leagues, and athletes, and see curated and personalized stories from hundreds of the best local, national, and international sports publications, all in one app.6
• Notes allows users to create neater handwritten notes with the ability to automatically straighten the handwriting, use their iCloud password to lock personal notes, add screenshots in Quick Note, and take organization even further with powerful Smart Folders and filtering capabilities. 
• 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. When switching to a different device, the connected Bluetooth headset transitions simultaneously so users don’t miss any of the conversation.
• New Accessibility tools include Live Captions in FaceTime;7 a new Magnifier mode that delivers richer descriptions of the surroundings;8 Hover Text, which helps users to easily read input fields, menu items, button labels, and other text on iPad; support for over 20 additional languages in VoiceOver and Spoken Content; and more.
• Later this year, Game Center will introduce a redesigned dashboard that allows a player to see which games friends are playing, as well as their achievements and high scores across games, in one place, and with SharePlay integration, a player will be able to start playing multiplayer games with friends automatically on a FaceTime call.
• The Weather app is coming to the iPad.

The developer preview of iPadOS 16 is available to Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com and a public beta will be available to iPadOS users next month at beta.apple.com. New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPad (5th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), and all iPad Pro models. For more information, visit apple.com/ipados/ipados-preview. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages.