iPadOS 18 hands-on preview | Tom’s Guide
The full version of iPadOS 18 won’t arrive until this fall, but you can now check out its main features via the newly launched public beta. If you’ve had access to the developer beta then you’ll know what to expect here. But if you’re a regular person and are curious to see what new features are coming to the best iPads, this is a relatively safe way to test them out.
iPadOS 18 shares many features found on iOS 18, which also has a public beta you can try out. For instance, you can now place icons freely on the home grid to keep certain parts of the screen free of apps. Control Center lets you add or remove controls from a gallery and place them on as many pages as you want. There’s also a new floating tab bar up top that complements the sidebar to give you more control over apps. In short, you’ll have more customization options on iPadOS 18.
What about new iPad-specific features? One of the biggest is the Calculator app, which has new handwriting tools designed for Apple Pencil. For instance, you can write math problems on the Calculator app and have the iPad solve them for you. This is a feature that also works for Notes — which itself has a feature that cleans up your handwriting.
Apple Intelligence, the company’s name for its upcoming AI toolset, is also coming to iPad and other supported Apple devices this fall. It’s not a feature for the iPadOS 18 public beta, so I can’t discuss it here. When it’s live, Apple Intelligence will be able to generate text and images, take action across apps and generally accelerate everyday tasks.
Here’s what’s coming to iPadOS 18 and what I think of the tablet’s operating system so far after going hands-on with the beta.
iPadOS 18 hands-on review: Availability
You can try the iPadOS 18 public beta right now via the Apple Beta Software Program at beta.apple.com. Check out our how to download the iPadOS 18 public beta for instructions. Once you’re all set up with an account, you’ll see a toggle for iPad betas on your iPad.
iPadOS 18 hands-on review: Supported devices
Here is a list of iPads compatible with iPadOS 18:
- iPad Pro (M4)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later)
- iPad Air (M2)
- iPad Air (3rd generation and later)
- iPad (7th generation and later)
- iPad mini (5th generation and later)
iPadOS 18 hands-on review: New features
Calculator App and Math notes
Apple’s Calculator app is finally coming to iPadOS 18. And it’s not just a larger version of the same app already on the best iPhones and best MacBooks, as its new Math Notes feature gives it additional functionality.
With Math Notes, you can type or write out math problems right on the Calculator app and see them instantly solved in your own handwriting. You can also assign values to variables when learning new concepts, which is handy if you’re studying math. Plus, you can also create a budget and more on the Calculator app.
For example, the new graphing feature allows you to write or type equations for complex math and insert graphs with a simple tap. You’re able to add multiple equations on the same graph to see how they relate.
Math Notes is also accessible in the Notes apps in the new Math Notes folder. Basic and scientific calculators on iPad allow you to view complete expressions before you complete them. Unit conversions let you convert length, weight, currencies and more.
I don’t do much beyond basic math in my everyday life so many of these new Calculator features aren’t particularly useful to me. That said, I’m impressed that people can now write math problems right on their iPads and have the tablet solve them. This is a feature that distinguishes the iPad from iPhones and Macs — especially since it works so intuitively with the Apple Pencil.
Smart Script
Smart Script is another new iPadOS 18 feature that works nicely with the Apple Pencil — and is a godsend for those who, like me, have terrible handwriting. The feature cleans up your handwriting in real time to make it more legible. What’s interesting is that it maintains your personal writing style even though it’s cleaning it up. Because of that, you’re free to write as fast as you want without worrying about legibility. Smart Scripts even highlights typos, which is nice.
If you need to add extra text, you can start writing and Smart Script will automatically adjust the paragraph you’ve written to fit what you’re adding. This also works with pasted text, which instantly gets converted into your handwriting style. In this sense, you get the benefit of handwritten and typed text.
Like Math Notes, this isn’t a feature I’ll personally use since I don’t like writing by hand (thank goodness for the best mechanical keyboards!). However, it’s still an awesome feature for folks who prefer the tactility of writing stuff by hand. The fact it can make sloppy writing legible is extremely impressive.
iPadOS 18 hands-on review: Other features
Many iOS 18 features make their way to iPadOS 18. We have a full list of said features in our iOS 18 hub linked above, but here are the most notable features coming to iPadOS 18.
As with iOS 18, you can now freely place icons on the home screen grid on iPadOS 18. This is useful if you don’t want apps covering up certain parts of your wallpaper. To customize even further, you can add your own coloring to icons via an automatic option that pairs icons to colors on your wallpaper. You can also set icons to blend into the background when the rest of the interface goes into blackout at night.
The overhauled Control Center lets you add or remove Controls from a gallery and place them on as many pages as you want. There’s also a new floating tab bar that rests above app content and complements the sidebar to give you more control over an app’s functionality.
The new customization options work pretty well and help make the iPad uniquely yours. I especially like that you can have apps match the color of your background.
iPadOS 18 hands-on review: Outlook
iPadOS 18 offers some nice upgrades that allow you to customize your iPad to suit your tastes. The Calculator app works well with the Apple Pencil, while Smart Notes is a great feature for those who like writing on a tablet.
That said, iPadOS 18 also feels somewhat unfinished since the Apple Intelligence features the company boasted about aren’t available for the public to try. Apple may (finally) make AI useful for normal folks but we won’t know for sure until later this year when iPadOS 18 and the other operating systems go live to everyone.
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