With iPadOS 14, Apple opted for refinements over radical changes on the iPad. The first major update to last year’s iPadOS focuses hugely on streamlining the user interface while enhancing productivity. It’s filled with numerous tweaks to native apps, enhanced Apple Pencil support, superior web browsing capabilities, and more. You can find the best iPadOS 14 features here. But if you want to check out all the new iPadOS 14 features, go through the list below.
iPadOS 14 also supports every iPad that ran iPadOS 13 — here’s the complete list of supported iPads. You can also download and install the iPadOS 14 beta right now.
All New iOS 14 Features for iPhone
1. Redesigned and Resizable Widgets
iPadOS 14 features beautifully redesigned widgets that pack in a lot of detail. When adding widgets into the Home screen, you can decide between varying sizes depending on how much information you want access to at a glance.
2. Smart Stack of Widgets
In addition to the resizable widgets at your disposal, iPadOS 14 comes with a Smart Stack of widgets. As the name suggests, Smart Stack automatically brings up the most appropriate widget to the top based on machine learning.
3. Compact Siri UI
Siri no longer hijacks the entire iPad screen when you bring her up. Instead, she shows up as a glowing orb to the lower-right corner of the screen, listens in while you speak, and responds in a compact format.
4. Siri Gets Smarter
Siri is also much smarter than before. She can now send audio messages, help you find better answers to queries. You can even ask her to share your E.T.A. with others.
5. Compact Call Notifications
Incoming calls don’t take up the entire screen anymore. Instead, they show up as compact notifications, which you can quickly accept or dismiss.
6. Universal Search
Universal Search is a productivity-oriented feature that lets you quickly search for and access apps, documents, and websites. If you use a Mac, it should remind you strongly of Spotlight Search.
7. Improved Handwriting
iPadOS 14 sports superior detection capabilities while using an Apple Pencil. You can now select and move handwritten text similar to typed text.
READ: iPadOS 14 Support: Which iPads Are Compatible with iPadOS 14?
8: Auto-adjusts Shapes
Shapes that you draw inaccurately — lines, squares, pentagons, etc. — with the Apple Pencil will now automatically adjust on their own.
9. Scribble Anywhere
Scribble is an exciting Apple Pencil-related feature that lets you quickly write instead of type into any text field. The enhanced OCR detection in iPadOS 14 will take care of the rest.
10. Change Default Programs
Apple knocks down its walled garden a notch by letting you set the default web browser and email client to third-party apps of your choice. Hopefully, this will extend to other areas of iPadOS as well.
11. Improved App Store Pages
The App Store in iPadOS 14 largely remains the same with the familiar set of tabs to the bottom. However, app pages now relay important information prominently to the top, such as the download size, for quick reference.
12. App Store Privacy Info
The App Store also displays privacy-related information about apps. Scroll down the App Privacy section before installing an app, and you can quickly see the type of information that the app can use to track you.
13. Safari Tracking Report
Safari in iPadOS 14 now lets you take a look at the number of trackers that it has detected and blocked using native anti-tracking measures. It will also keep a rolling log of blocked trackers for the past 30 days. The so-called ‘Tracking Report’ is accessible via a menu next to the address bar.
14. Secure Password Monitoring
Safari now alerts you if your login credentials were involved in a data breach, giving you a much-needed heads up to take evasive action.
15. Translate Web Pages
Forget using workarounds to translate text whenever you come across a foreign website. Safari in iPadOS 14 comes with automatic translation capabilities for a number of popular languages such as Spanish, German, and French.
16: New and Redesigned Sidebars
Most native apps feature new or redesigned sidebars that aid navigation. The Photos app is a prime example, which now comes with a prominent sidebar that lets you switch between albums and media types quickly. Other apps that feature new or redesigned sidebars include Music, Notes, and Files.
17: Photos app Drag ‘n Drop
The Photos app sidebar not only aids navigation. In fact, you can now drag and drop photos directly into the various categories and albums on the sidebar, making photo management faster.
18. Offline Keyboard Dictation
Worried about the potential privacy implications of using keyboard dictation? With iPadOS 14, a number of iPad models starting from the second-gen iPad Pro and third-gen iPad Air can help avoid this by running dictation offline.
19. AirPods Switch Automatically
Start using the iPad, and your Airpods will automatically switch to it. This should help you avoid having to manually connect to them whenever you swap back and forth between an iPhone, an iPad, or a Mac.
20. LiDAR Depth API
iPad Pros with LiDAR can expect improved augmented reality apps thanks to a new Depth API for developers.
21. Photos App Action Menu
The Photos app now sport a new action menu when visiting certain categories and albums. Start by tapping the ellipsis icon to the upper-right corner of the screen, and you get to perform a host of tasks. For example, you can share multiple photos straight off the bat, add photos from other albums, filter items by type, etc.
22. Photos Library Privacy
It’s unnerving to provide third-party apps total access to your photos library. iPadOS 14 does away with that by providing you with the option to allow permission to select photos or albums.
23. Music App Revamped
The Music app in iPadOS 14 has got a significant revamp with an improved sidebar, finally making it much easier to navigate your music library. Aside from that, it now features a full-screen player that displays live lyrics, playback controls, and album art, all at the same time for a much immersive experience.
24. Pin Conversations in Messages
Apple performed a significant update to the Messages app in iOS 14, but it didn’t leave the iPad in the lurch. You can now pin conversations to the top of the screen, perform inline replies and mentions in group conversations, and search for stuff faster in the iPadOS 14 version of Messages as well.
25. Updated Shortcuts App
The Shortcuts App in iPadOS 14 has received a significant visual overhaul. Thanks to the inclusion of a sidebar, it’s much easier to navigate between the My Shortcuts, Automation, and Gallery sections. Furthermore, My Shortcuts is now further categorized based on the functionalities of shortcuts. For example, shortcuts that work in the Share Sheet can be filtered quickly by tapping ‘Share Sheet.’
26. Create Folders in Shortcuts App
Aside from the visual overhaul in the Shortcuts app and preset filters, you can now create your own folders to categorize shortcuts. Just tap the Folder icon to the bottom of the Shortcuts sidebar to set up new folders.
27. New Automation Triggers
The Shortcuts app also received several new automation trigger types. These include Email, Sleep, Message, Battery Level, Close App, and Charger.
28. Quick Access Home Controls
The Control Center in iPadOS 14 stays largely the same. But one notable inclusion is the dedicated Home control area — accessories and scenes will show up there for quick access whenever you add any via the Home app.
29. Sound Recognition
Sound Recognition is a new accessibility setting that can actively listen to and notify you of certain sounds — fires, sirens, certain animal sounds, or even general household sounds. You can completely customize the exact sounds that you want to be notified of (go to Settings > Accessibility > Sound Recognition), and even add a toggle to the Control Center to switch the feature on or off.
30. Disable Share Sheet Suggestions
iPadOS 13 started displaying suggested contacts onto the Share Sheet. If you didn’t like that, you can now disable them by going to Settings > Siri & Search, and then turning off the toggle next to Share Sheet Suggestions.
READ: Apple Announces iPadOS 14 With Sidebar Inside Apps, Redesigned Siri
31. Download App Clips
App Clips are stripped-down and light-weight versions of apps that you can quickly download and use in a hurry. They more geared for iPhone users on the go, but that hasn’t stopped iPadOS 14 from supporting them.
32. Watch YouTube in 4K
iPadOS 14 includes Google’s VP9 codec, which means that you can finally stream YouTube in full 4K glory. Here’s hoping that Apple won’t remove the codec from the stable release in September.
33. Apps Will Request to Track You
Downloaded apps now require explicit permission to start tracking you. If you don’t like the privacy-related information pertaining to an app on the App Store, then feel free to decline.
34. Passwords & Accounts Split Up
The Settings app has renamed the Passwords & Accounts group of options to just ‘Passwords,’ which now only contains saved passwords and security recommendations. To configure iCloud and third-party accounts for apps such as Mail, Notes, and Calendar, simply head into the settings area of the app itself.
35. Unified Files App Sort Options
The Files app now unifies both view and sort options into a single unified menu. You can also tap and drag your finger to access the menu and switch between options in one seamless gesture.
36. Quickly Rotate Images in Files App
Last year, the Files app received an incredibly useful contextual menu when long-pressing files. This time around, it has a couple of additional options that let you quickly rotate images to the left or to the right.
37. Love Your Voice Memos
You can now ‘love’ any memo in the Voice Memos app. They will then appear underneath the Favorites category in the new sidebar.
38. Voice Memos Folders
The Voice Memos app now makes it easy to organize and manage your notes with the use of folders. The sidebar contains the option to create folders. You can then drag and drop your voice recordings into any folder.
39. Enhanced Recording
Voice Memos also comes with a feature called Enhanced Recording. Switch to the Edit screen of a recorded memo, and then tap the Enhanced Recording icon to improve sound quality and reduce background noise.
40. Camera/Microphone Notifications
iPadOS 14 now notifies you whenever an app uses either the microphone or the camera in the form of colored dots — orange for microphone and green for the camera. To reveal the name of the app, bring up the Control Center — it will also notify you of the last app that used the camera or microphone.
41. Disable/Enable Precise Location
You now have the option in Location Services to disable or enable apps from gaining access to your precise location. If disabled, these apps will only receive your approximate location. This option is only available for apps that require Precise Location (such as Maps).
42. Sign Language in Group FaceTime
Group FaceTime calls will automatically give more prominence to the tiles of any person using sign language.
READ: Apple Releases iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 Beta 1 to Developers
43. Headphone Accommodations
iPadOS 14 comes with an accessibility setting called Headphone Accommodations. When enabled, the iPad will amplify soft sounds for more clarity on any headphone with an H1 chip.
44. Updated Calendar App
The Calendar app has received a minor visual overhaul, with practically all options placed conveniently to the upper-left corner of the screen. You can switch calendars, check your inbox, see upcoming notifications, and more. Perfect for two-handed use.
45. Back Button History
Long-pressing the Back button on any native app will reveal your history, helping you quickly jump back to previous pages.
46. Aspect vs. Square
In the Photos app, you can now quickly switch how albums display photo thumbnails. Tap the Square/Aspect icon to switch between perfect squares and real aspect ratios.
47. Updated Maps App
Apple Maps hasn’t underdone any redesigns in iPadOS 14, but it brings improvements in the forms of updated cycling routes and curated guides that help you discover new places.
48. Jiggle Apps From Anywhere
It’s now possible to jiggle your apps by long-pressing any vacant area on the screen. Previously, you have to tap and hold an app to start jiggling them.
49. Mirrored Selfies
If you prefer taking selfies with your iPad, then you’re going to love mirrored selfies. Just turn on the feature via the Camera Settings, and Camera will capture your selfies exactly as they appear on the viewfinder.
50. Updated Reminders App
Last year, the Reminders app received a significant visual overhaul. iPadOS 14 keep the app largely the same, but with various under-the-hood enhancements such as smart suggestions to create new reminders, the ability to assign reminders to others, and improved search.
We promise to update this article continuously as we find more iPadOS 14 features. However, if you have found something new in iPadOS 14, then drop a comment below.
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