News hardware That’s it, the iPad will finally work like a computer
Published on 06/03/2022 at 19:05
If the iPad has had its share of software improvements over the years to give it a little more potential, it is with iPadOS 16 that Apple should step up a gear. The new version is coming in a few days and we expect big changes on window management.
Windows like on a computer for the iPad
It’s Mark Gurman, again him, still him, who strikes a blow and affirms quite certainly that the iPad will no longer be like before after Apple’s keynote this Monday, June 6. WWDC, Apple’s software conference is just around the corner and will bring big changes to the world’s most popular tablet.
Concretely, from iPadOS 16, it should finally be possible to change the size of windows freely, like a computer.
Thus, we could open an application and give it the size we want on the screen. The report mentions that the user would have access to new ways to manage several apps at the same time. This may indicate a potential overlapping of windows, or an increase in their number on the screen.
For now, we are limited to two applications in Split View side by side, in addition to a third in portrait format on one side.
We don’t have the exact details, but Gurman heralds it as a major update for iPads that would bring it closer to running a Mac computer than ever before.
Also, the new interface will clearly indicate which app is open and will make it easy to change tasks. We can therefore expect a redesign of the dock at the bottom of the screen so that it is closer to the Mac with its small circles showing which application is active.
An iPad still too limited
The interface of the iPad is no longer a simple enlarged copy of that of the iPhone, and has even freed itself from the latter by gaining its own OS name: iPadOS. Recent features make use of large screen sizes, but many users still feel limited by multitasking.
With the M1 chip inside the iPad Pro and iPad Air, we’d expect more from Apple, which packs processors so powerful into these machines that they’re almost useless.
This info is still a rumor, even if it comes from a more than reliable source. Either way, we’d be very disappointed if Apple didn’t change the current state of iPad multitasking. The software is what restricts the product for the moment, and if it is released, then the field of possibilities opens up for Apple.