iPadOS 18 Launches with New Features Including Calculator App and Smart Script

iPadOS 18 arrives with Smart Script and Calculator

Everyone will have to wait a little longer for Apple Intelligence on iPad, but for now, iPadOS 18 has launched with the long-awaited calculator app and new Smart Script handwriting feature. Apple didn't have much to say about iPadOS 18 during WWDC because a significant portion of new features were either inherited from iOS 18 or Apple Intelligence. Even then, Apple's AI features won't be available on iPad until iPadOS 18.1 is released to the public. So, if you focus on what's exclusive on iPad in 2024, there's not much. A new Smart Script feature learns the user's handwriting for autocorrect and making notes more legible. Oh, and there's a new Calculator app. We could stop there, but thankfully, Apple did have a pile of new features coming to iPad thanks to what was announced for iOS 18. The best part is there isn't any arbitrary customization feature being held off for iPadOS 19 -- it's all here. That said, Smart Script is actually quite a cool feature. Regardless of your skill at handwriting (the author's could fit in with the best kindergarten crayon doodles), the iPad can help straighten letters and make things a tad more legible while maintaining the user's unique handwriting style. That learning adjusts too, so if you improve, so will the corrections. Going beyond simple shape adjustments, the iPad can actually write for you. No, it won't spit out a whole note in your handwriting, but it can simulate your handwriting while correcting spelling. The result is text that appears as if you could have written it, though the effect is still artificial. Users might be more motivated to take handwritten notes on iPad, taking advantage of the excellent Apple Pencil Pro, if the resulting note is actually legible. Apple introduced Math Notes across the ecosystem, but it does get a little boost on iPad thanks to handwriting. Users can write out equations and see the answer after an equals sign. Smart Script kicks in and writes the resulting answer in the user's handwriting too. Plus, if the equation can be used to plot a graph, notes can do that too via automatic suggestions. There is also the long-awaited Calculator app. It's very straightforward and is a basic clone of the iPhone app, but there's a new memory function in the sidebar. PCalc power users need not apply, but at least we'll finally hear the end of "Where's the iPad calculator app?" Math Notes works within the Notes app or in the dedicated section in the Calculator app. One feature unique to iPad has been Apple's reliance on sidebars. This UI element has evolved over the years, but it gets a new customization-focused upgrade in iPadOS 18. A sidebar is an obvious way to create a hierarchical navigation structure for apps like Files, Photos, and more. This information is usually represented in a hidden menu on iPhone that can be found behind a hamburger button. However, the sidebar takes up a lot of screen real estate, and dismissing it every time you want to view on-screen content more fully can be a chore. Apple's answer to that is the floating tab bar. While the UI change is small, it does mean more screen real estate for content while navigating. There's also the added bonus of customized controls. Since iPadOS needs to work across every iPad, from iPad mini to the 13-inch iPad Pro, the UI needs to scale. The floating tab bar helps with that and emphasizes the content that matters in an app. Apple has finally broken the trend of introducing new customization features for iPhone and withholding them for a year on iPad. Everything revealed for iOS 18 is coming to iPadOS 18. Get the full details of all of these upgrades with our coverage of the iOS 18 launch. New Home Screen customization tools, Lock Screen personalization, and individual app upgrades are all coming to iPadOS 18. Light, dark, and tinted mode icons with a large mode that eliminates text labels make the iPad Home Screen feel more full. Developers have the ability to provide specific icons for these modes, otherwise, Apple applies an automatic filter or color inversion. Control Center still feels a little odd on iPad given that it lives only on one side of the display. However, customization and multiple pages make up for the lack of space utilization. Apple has released iPadOS 18 for all compatible devices. If the update hasn't yet appeared in Settings, General, Software Update, it will soon. Apple Intelligence is still coming to all iPads running an M-series processor, just not in this initial update. A beta for Apple Intelligence is available for iPadOS 18.1, which means it will launch with that version once Apple makes the release public -- likely in October.

iPadOS 18 Arrives With Calculator App, Better Handwriting, and More

For This Android Lover, Apple Intelligence Might Just Make Me Switch to iPhone The iPadOS 18 update is now rolling out to compatible iPad models. It has new customization options, enhanced handwriting abilities, a long-awaited Calculator app, and much more. The iPad now uses clever AI to improve your handwriting on the fly. While you're taking notes with the Apple Pencil, Smart Script will smoothen and straighten what you write, making it more legible (a great feature for someone like me with hurried handwriting). Smart Script will even learn your handwriting to the point that it can recreate it. So when you copy-paste some text, it won't stick out like a typed sore thumb. It'll naturally blend with the rest of your longhand. You can also edit this pasted handwriting to correct or reformat it. You can even work with a new Calculator app using the Apple Pencil. That way you can work out math problems just like you would on paper, except the Calculator will automatically solve equations as soon as you write them down. It's not just basic math operations either, since it handles every function that a typical scientific calculator can. The Calculator app itself now has unit in-built conversion and history features. Speaking of taking notes, the Notes app can now create live audio transcriptions as you record. It's great for students and professionals alike who need to record and search through their meetings. Another neat little feature lets you highlight text and create collapsible sections within the notes. It keeps everything tidy and organized. With the iPadOS 18, the iPad also becomes a lot more customizable thanks to rearrangeable app icons and widgets, new themes for the icons, and a fully editable Control Center. The Control Center has been reorganized into swipeable "screens," and you choose which toggles appear on it (and how big they are). There's a new Passwords app, an updated interface for the document viewer, a Highlights feature in Safari, a game mode, and a new layout for the Photos app. Apple Intelligence is supposed to finally upgrade Siri and bring new AI writing and image generation tools to the later versions of the iPadOS 18. The iPadOS 18 update is rolling out now to compatible iPad models, alongside the release of iOS 18 for iPhones. Source: Apple

iPadOS 18 arrives today -- how to download and 5 features I'd try first

iPadOS 18 launches today (September 16) and packs several new features for the best iPads supporting the operating system. iPad-specific features include new handwriting tools for the Calculator app, which is finally available for iPad. Smart Scripts for Notes is another new handwriting tool that combines the best aspects of physical handwriting and text. iPadOS 18 also has many of the same features available iOS 18, such as a more customizable home screen, an updated Control Center, a floating tab bar for certain apps and more. Below, I'll detail how to download iPadOS 18 for your iPad and go over some of the top features to try first. Before moving forward, you need to know if iPadOS 18 is compatible with your iPad. Here's a list of all compatible iPads. Before you install the beta, make sure to back up your iPad, just in case anything goes wrong and you need to return to iPadOS 17. With all that done, this is how you download iPadOS 18: iPadOS 18 has a more customizable home screen that helps the tablet truly feel more unique to you. For example, you can now freely place icons anywhere on the home screen -- which is useful if you don't want apps covering up certain parts of your wallpaper. To add more flourish, you can add specific colors to icons through an automatic option that pairs icons to colors on your wallpaper. For instance, if your wallpaper is mostly yellow, you can bring up the coloring tool and select a yellow portion of the background. Icons will take on that specific hue. If you like writing on iPad with the Apple Pencil then I'm sure you'll appreciate Smart Script. This new feature automatically cleans up your handwriting in real time and does a nice job of maintaining your personal writing style. The feature even highlights typos, which you can fix either by rewriting the word or selecting the suggested spelling (which gets translated into your handwriting style). Smart Scripts takes things further by allowing you to add extra text in the middle of a paragraph. Said paragraph will automatically adjust to fit in what you've written. This also works with pasted text, which gets converted into handwriting style. The Calculator app for iPad isn't just a big version of the same app on the best iPhones and best MacBooks. That's because the new Math Notes feature makes smart use of the Apple Pencil to give the app more functionality. You're able to write (or type) out math problems right on the Calculator app and see them solved instantly in your own handwriting. This is handy if you're studying math, doing a budget and more. A new graphing feature is particularly useful when tackling more complex math problems. You can write or type equations and insert graphs with a simple tap. It's also possible to add multiple equations on the same graph to see how they relate. Math Notes also works in the Notes app via the new Math Notes folder. Writing Tools is my favorite iPadOS 18 feature and an excellent use of Apple Intelligence. This is a great tool that can benefit both casual and serious writers. Writing Tools can proofread, rewrite and change the tone of what you've written. For example, you can make your writing sound friendly, professional or concise. If you don't like the changes made, you can hit revert. You can also use Writing Tools if you need inspiration. For instance, you can compare what you've written to Writing Tools' revision and get an idea (or ideas) you might not have considered. This way, you're not relying on the tool to fix your work, but rather, you're having it act as an editor offering advice. This is another iOS 18 feature iPad users will want to take advantage of. You're now able to freely add and remove Controls (like the volume control or flashlight button) from a gallery as you would add widgets to your home screen. You can place Controls on as many pages as you want. Having more Controls at your fingertips means you'll spend less time flipping through pages to find the apps you need. New iPadOS 18 features like Smart Scripts and Math Notes make wise use of the Apple Pencil and feel tailor-made for tablets. That's good considering how the iPad can sometimes feel like either a giant iPhone that doesn't make calls or a MacBook with limited functionality (when attached to the Magic Keyboard). Writing Tools is one of the biggest Apple Intelligence features available right now. However, Image Playground (which lets you generate images in Messages, Notes and other apps) won't arrive until later this year. Because of that, it's hard to pass final judgment on Apple Intelligence. Still, I'm curious to see what Apple's version of AI can do. Even if Apple Intelligence isn't fully realized at the moment, iPadOS 18 is an overall decent update -- especially if you like writing on the iPad.

iPadOS 18 launches today - 5 new things it brings to your iPad, including the new Calculator app

Apple's brand-new iPad operating system, iPadOS 18, launches today, bringing with it a host of new features to enhance the experience on all the best iPads. From new apps to Apple Pencil enhancements, there's a lot to like about the new update. Here, we've picked out five of the best upgrades in iPadOS 18 that you'll want to try out straight away. With the update expected around 1pm ET / 10am PT / 6pm BST, all you need to do is update your iPad (Settings > General > Software Update, if you don't have automatic updates turned on) and you'll be ready to go. The full list of iPads that support iPadOS 18 are the new iPad Pro (M4), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd gen or later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st gen or later), iPad Air (M2), iPad Air (3rd gen or later), iPad (7th gen or later) and the iPad mini (5th gen or later). Just note that, although Apple Intelligence isn't launching until October, you can try out Apple's artificial intelligence (AI) system in the latest iPadOS 18.1 beta. That said, many of its features aren't available yet, with some not expected until the new year, so you'll need to be patient for those. While you wait, here are the biggest highlights of iPadOS 18... You might think it's strange for us to lead with the new Calculator app that's arriving in iPadOS 18, but it's a surprisingly big deal. Not only does it work really well on the iPad's large display, but it adds some neat functionality that takes it to the next level. The headline feature is called Math Notes (and it also works in the Notes app). This lets you write mathematical equations into the app using an Apple Pencil. When you draw an equals sign, the Calculator app automatically solves the equation for you. Make a change to the equation and the solution updates in real time. Better yet, the Math Notes feature supports variables. Change one of the variables on a page and everything that uses this variable updates too, including the solution to your problem. You can adjust variables using a slider instead of having to rewrite them, and Math Notes can also create graphs from your workings. iPadOS 18 brings some changes to existing apps, and one in particular received a whole bundle of updates: Notes. As with the Calculator app, much of the improvements here focus on the Apple Pencil. So, there's a new Smart Script feature that refines your handwriting as you jot it down, making for a neater and more consistent appearance on the page. You can even paste copied text and it will appear in your own handwriting style. There are other improvements, like being able to move text using the Apple Pencil or erase it by scribbling over it, making the writing experience more enjoyable. Elsewhere, Notes has added highlighting, collapsible sections, audio recording and live sound transcription, too. It's a much better place to organize your thoughts, utilize audio, and get things done with an Apple Pencil. While we're on the subject of apps, Apple has added something that works in apps across iPadOS 18: a new floating tab bar. This shows a few common controls for an app at the top of the screen, and it can also expand out to become a sidebar with more tools. Its controls can be tweaked as needed - all you need to do is drag and drop a menu option from the sidebar onto the tab bar. Apple has made the tab bar functionality available in an API, meaning third-party developers can work it into their own apps. So, you should start seeing this new, convenient way of navigating appear in many of the best iPad apps sooner or later. In iPadOS 18, you can organize your app icons and redesign your Home screen with much more flexibility than before, and it's something that's also available in iOS 18. Using these new controls, the Home screen can now have empty areas devoid of icons - this is great if you want to leave part of your background photo uncovered or just create a cleaner, more minimalistic look. As well as that, there are now options to tint your app icons so that they all take on a similar appearance, giving your iPad a uniform appearance for more visual consistency. And the ability to customize iPadOS extends to the Control Center, where you can add, remove and rearrange tools to make the Control Center more useful to you. Tools can be spread over several pages, which helps if you want to make things a little more organized. The iPad is an excellent gaming device thanks to its large, high-quality display and powerful chip. In iPadOS 18, that's taken up a notch thanks to Game Mode, which automatically optimizes the operating system to devote more resources to your games. When you launch a game, Game Mode starts up. When it's in use, it gives your game high-priority access to your iPad's chip, enabling it to get the resources it needs to ensure smooth gameplay and high frame rates. It also doubles the Bluetooth sampling rate, which in turn reduces input latency for connected devices like games controllers and AirPods. It should all help to make playing the best iPad games a better all-round experience.