Hello! I know we all have been loving the latest and greatest features of iOS & iPadOS 13, and maybe heard of some coming in 14. But how do those features impact my day to day usage of my iPad? I will tell you, from the perspective of a beta tester. Head down to the bottom to become one for free.
The New Widgets:
A close up screenshot of the new Widgets from my iPad
The new widgets have an all new look, plus there are different sizes of them depending on how much info you want. (On iPhone, you can add the widgets directly to your Home Screen, but I haven’t tested that out yet.) You can also add stacks of them that intelligently rotate, and you can rotate them yourself, too. One thing that I hope will happen is to have third-party widgets behave like new. For now, apps that aren’t included with your phone don’t have a new widget, but you can add them into a different section. I think that third party widgets will be new too when iPadOS 14 gets released to the public, but I think it depends on the developer to change the widget.
The New Siri:
Siri on my Lock Screen
Speaking of all-new looks, Siri got a makeover too. She now has a compact design which stays in the corner, rather that obstructing your whole screen. She also is able to access more sources on the Internet to look for facts. This enables her to be 20 times smarter than just three years ago, according to Apple. I really like the new design, but since it takes up such a small space, I wish you could still interact with other elements on the screen while Siri is still on the screen.
Scribble:
The Scribble tutorial dialogue
This one may not be for everyone, since not everyone has an Apple Pencil. However, you aren’t really missing out on anything. It’s convenient when I have my Apple Pencil in my hand, except most of the time I use it, I end up editing what it puts in. Overall, I could be better without this.
Other new features:
New app design:
As you may have noticed from the photo above, there is an all new look for apps, including a new sidebar. You may also be able to tell that there is a new selection of style. I think that this brings it could refresh to iPad, making it look more like macOS. It is also a little more round, rather than being so squared off.
New Music app:
The music app got a new icon and a new tab. The Listen Now tab replaces For You. Also, the Now Playing screen is full screen on iPad, making it perfect for karaoke!
Where should you get the beta?
In my opinion, there are really no bugs, except for the fact that Pokémon Go crashes. To get all Apple betas for free, click
here.
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Cool. Looking forward to having it on my new iPhone 12 Pro when the phone is released. Lots of features to explore.