widgets, live activities… the iPad has never looked so much like the iPhone
During its WWDC 2023, Apple unveiled the new version of its iPads, iPadOS 17. And it must be recognized that the iPads will never have looked so much like the iPhones, with options for customizing the lock screen and “Live Activities”.
Who says new year, says new version of iPadOS. During Apple’s WWDC 2023, we had the right to iOS 17, but also to iPadOS 17. The iPads will update to this new version, which comes with its share of new features and additional features.
iOS widgets come to iPadOS 17
First main novelty, the arrival of the widgets that have made the reputation of the iPhone, on the iPad. They allow you to display application information directly on the home screen pages, without having to open them.
Several scenarios have been imagined by Apple for its own applications: controlling its connected objects, listening to music, etc. The brand announces that developers can also create their own widgets.
iPad lock screen transforms
As with widgets, the lock screen incorporates the main customization elements that appeared with iOS 16 last year. You can obviously change the wallpaper, by choosing a photo from your gallery or one offered by Apple. Functionality ” Live Photo also makes an appearance to bring some life to the lock screen.
You can choose to display the weather or not, or add an emoji. The clock can also be personalized: you can change its font, thickness and color. A system of widgets is included: you can add lots of elements, such as clocks, tasks, daily health data, etc.
Finally, the ” Live Activities ” which had appeared with the iPhone 14 Pro and their “ Dynamic Island are coming to iPadOS 17. This allows you to display elements that are happening live at the bottom of the screen: several timers, the score of a football match, the progress of a delivery on Uber Eats, etc.
The Health app is coming to iPads
A new application is coming to our iPads: Health, or Health in English. This is the application that centralizes all your health data on Apple brand devices. You can follow his physical activity, his medication or his body data. All this data is synchronized between his iPad, his iPhone and his Apple Watch.
In addition, HealthKit is also present on iPadOS 17: application developers will be able to take Health data to use it in their applications, for example to offer other interfaces or other views of its data.
Annotating PDFs on iPad will be easier
Apple also announces that it will overhaul the use of PDFs on iPad with iPadOS 17. By opening them, you can fill in their fields, even if they are not configured: the iPad’s algorithm manages to detect the fields and creates them digitally . You can add your signature or create one, go back after a modification, etc.
PDFs fit better in the Notes app. You can add several within a note and open them in full screen, for example to annotate them with the Apple Pencil. In addition, you can work collaboratively on PDFs, including for annotation: adding notes, images, etc. all in real time.
Finally, we can note that Apple will make improvements to Stage Manager, its window management system on the iPad, which has been criticized quite a bit.
It will be easier to adjust the size of the windows in particular. Also, we will be able to use the webcam of an Apple screen, such as the Studio Display, for FaceTime calls.
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