iPadOS 14 update: The new and what we were waiting for || Tech Review Pro

With the arrival of iPadOS 14, we see a deepening in the use of the iPad's large screen with design changes and small -but powerful- tweaks to some of the interfaces.

I see 3 areas where iPadOS brings new themes for users:

1. Much more power for Apple Pencil

Apple Pencil is one of the best accessories in the world. Point. It is a computer with a very specific purpose and integration with the iPad screen, its sensors, and the operating system offer a fluid, dynamic, and natural experience. And yet it is not all that it could be.

A good example is an ability that the iPad had until now to recognize what we wrote with the Apple Pencil. A basic and limited implementation that with iPadOS 14 is enhanced thanks to a much more powerful text recognition system (OCR).

iPadOS 14 recognizes what you write and can convert it to text. Or, it can recognize the images you paint (for example, a line with arrows at the ends, a triangle, or a hexahedron), and by holding down the pencil, turns that drawing into a default image.

The text you write can be indexed and then searched, and in the same way, you can mark it (for example by enclosing it with a circle), copy it, change its color and take it to other applications either as handwritten text or as converted text.

Even if you want to search for something or go to a specific web address you can now write it in the Safari bar with the stylus and it will recognize it.

Ah! And if you want to erase something you wrote with the pencil, just cross it out and the system will delete it!

2. Improvements in Search Capability

The iPad has been replacing the computer for millions of users who see "the best possible computer" on the device. And even, for slightly more advanced users, the iPad has become the perfect machine to take on trips, take out to meetings and use informally. Such a computer needs a robust and comprehensive universal search application. Like the one offered by macOS.

With iPad's 14, iPad wins - in shape! - in this regard, with a new, more powerful, and useful universal search bar.

3. More similar to macOS, without losing the essence of iOS

Several of the applications have "undergone" aesthetic changes taking advantage of the size and specific factor of the iPad. Thus, with the introduction of sidebars and drop-down menus, it is possible to access more functionalities without having to change the view of the applications.

Productivity, productivity, productivity.

I must say that I was very surprised that Craig Federighi did not speak or show anything related to Augmented Reality, ARKit, and the possibilities offered by the LiDAR sensor that incorporates the newly launched iPad Pro in this regard.

However, the iPad's 14 documentation does emphasize new features such as the Depth API, an API to measure the depth of objects captured using the LiDAR sensor, the possibility of including location “anchors” for digitized objects, improvements in face tracking and faces, and improvements to the digital object occlusion system with which (and added to the depth issue) the system knows if a person should be in front of or behind a digital object in an augmented reality scenario.

To all this, add everything we have this morning that arrives on the iPhone with iOS14 (widgets, mentions, online responses, translator, App Library, App Clips, minimalist notifications, recharged Siri and all the privacy issues of apps and websites via Safari).

I think the only thing I was missing was the multi-user support, which I still think maybe interesting for the platform.

There are more things. Some we will know soon as developers test the beta of iPadOS 14 that is already available and that its availability is extended to the general public in July, but others we will have to wait for the latest versions of the Beta in September and the announcements launch hardware that Apple does in "the fall".

Compatibility

iPadOS 14 is compatible with the following devices:

• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st generation)
• iPad Pro 10.5-inch
• iPad Pro 9.7-inch
• iPad (7th generation)
• iPad (6th generation)
• iPad (5th generation)
• iPad mini (5th generation)
• iPad mini 4
• iPad Air (3rd generation)
• iPad Air 2