OPINIONoveriOS12,nonethemainfeaturesseemlikethey
weredesignedspecificallywiththeiPad’sformfactor
in mind.Navigationisstillmostlycribbedfromthe
iPhoneX,whichisn’talwaysintuitiveonthelarger
screen. Multitasking is still hit-or-miss based on
developer support. And the new home screen feels
cramped and inelegant.
Where Apple did hit it out of the park is with text
editing. I never really had a problem with the previous
method, but Apple showed us a better way with simple,
intuitive tapsandgestures.It takessecondstolearn
and minutestoforgettheoldway,anditclearlytakes
how you hold and operate the iPad into account. It’s
easily the most intuitive iPadOS feature and it drives
home the fact that the rest of it just isn’t all it could be.
The future is bright
The emergence of iPadOS does mean one thing,
however: Apple is focused on making the iPad into
something greater than it is. With Catalyst on the
MacandnowiPadOSontheiPad,Appleisadmitting
thatthe twodevicesarecloserthanever,butalso
embracingtheirdistinctdifferences.
Witha newname,Appleisatleastgivingushope
thattheiPadwillfinallygrowintoitspotential.There
are exciting pieces in place that could truly transform
the iPad into the device we all want it to be, but a
columnofwidgetsandextraiconsjustdoesn’tdo
itfor me.Evenoverlookingtheglaringomissionof
multiple user support and how the Siri interface still
hijacksyourentirescreen, iPadOS doesn’t live up to
its newbranding.