The iPad Pro’s LiDAR helps AR objects interact
convincingly with reality.ELSEWHERE IN iPADOS 14
Other new features in iPadOS borrow
from macOS or iOS. Safari gets the
new privacy and security features,
shares the Mac’s tweaks to tabs and
gains full–page translation; but iOS
14’s Translate app is missing.
Messages, Maps and the Apple Store
get the same improvements as on
the other platforms. Unique to the
iPad in ARKit and RealityKit are
functions to exploit the LiDAR
scanner in the latest iPad Pro models
— although they won’t stay exclusive
for long if, as seems likely,
the hardware Ľnds its way
into new iPhones.
As in iOS, Siri now appears
as a blob instead of full–
screen. On the iPad
especially, it feels odd that
you can’t keep this around
while interacting with an
underlying app. Apple’s
Craig Federighi has admitted
there’s still debate about
how this should work.
APPLE PENCIL
AND SCRIBBLE
A major addition exclusive to iPadOS is Scribble,
a system–wide handwriting recognition engine.
Thanks to Apple’s machine learning tech, we’re
hoping this works better than its 1990s
predecessor in the Newton MessagePad,
immortalized in a Doonesbury strip where the
character’s input comes out as “Egg freckles.”
Initially supporting English and Chinese,
Scribble interprets your handwriting as text, so
you can select letters or words and copy and
paste them as plain text. To erase writing, just
scribble it out. Anywhere you’re invited to type
text, you can now write with the Pencil, avoiding
the need to switch to the keyboard. Scribble will
also detect when you try to draw a geometric
shape and make it perfect.
APPS AND
WIDGETS
Having already rearranged the iPad’s icon grid
for last year’s launch of iPadOS, Apple has
chosen not to bring it into line with iOS 14’s new
Home screen design.
Although the same new widget formats are
supported, including Smart Stack, they’re not
intermingled with your app icons but, as before,
occupy their own space that’s brought into view
by swiping right on the Home screen, squishing
your app icons out of the way. It doesn’t look as
if the iPad’s getting App Library (see page 25)
either. We would guess, and frankly hope, that
a full redesign of iPadOS’ awkwardly over–spaced
Home screen is being carefully considered for
release next year.Image rights: Apple.
Hands–on: iOS 14 & iPadOS 14
maclife.com SEP 2020 29