iPadOS 16 rumored to finally gain laptop-like functionality

The rumor: Apple’s is planning some major upgrades for iPadOS 16 next week, according to Mark Gurman.

Here’s the report, via Bloomberg…

  • Redesigned multitasking view: “makes it easier to see what apps are open and switch between tasks”
  • Ability to resize app windows like you can on macOS, making it easier to use multiple apps simultaneously
  • Improved split-view functionality for running apps side-by-side

Sam’s take: Windowing on the iPad could finally be the game-changer needed to make iPadOS a viable laptop replacement. At the same time, I feel like we’ve heard time and time again that this year would finally be the year that iPadOS gets better! And then every year, it doesn’t. So call my expectations on windowing tempered, to say the least. That being said…maybe this is finally the year?

iPadOS 15 beta 2 allows apps to use more than 5GB RAM

The news: Apple is planning to allow apps to take better advantage of higher RAM capacities on iPadOS, as first spotted by MacRumors.

  • Developers can request a new entitlement from Apple to allow their apps to use larger portions of RAM on iOS and iPadOS 15 beta 2, which will be especially useful on the M1 iPad Pro models
  • Prior to yesterday’s beta release, apps were limited to 5GB RAM, even on iPads with 8-16GB RAM

Our take: This is…a step in the right direction? The fact that developers have to request access to more RAM is pretty wild, and I’m not sure why Apple needs to control this on iPadOS when RAM permissions have never been an issue on Mac. Still, this is an improvement over what we had before.

iPadOS 15 revamps widgets, adds Shelf and more

This is what’s new:

  • Upgraded widgets can be placed anywhere on the Home Screen, with full-size widgets and a new App Library
  • Multitasking menu now present front and center in all apps with new Shelf section added
  • New keyboard shortcuts
  • Notes: mentions, activity view, tags and Quick Note allows you to instantly access your notepad
  • Translate app comes to iPadOS
  • Swift Playgrounds allows you to build iPhone and iPad apps on device