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iPadOS 17, all the news of the Apple operating system

iPadOS 17, all the news of the Apple operating system. During the introductory keynote of WWDC 2023 which saw, among other presentations, the debut of the Apple viewer, from a software point of view, all the expected announcements on Apple’s operating systems were not lacking.

iPadOS 17 supports built-in webcams on external monitors

If it is true that the most awaited operating system is certainly iOS 17, it is equally true that over the years iPadOS has become an operating system capable of shining in its own light, with exclusive functions of the platform. This year, however, it seems that the most interesting innovations concern the operating system for the Apple tablet.

iPadOS 17, the name

As with iOS, the name was not too difficult to predict for the iPad operating system. Not only because numerically iPadOS 17 comes after iPadOS 16, but because Apple has now unified the numbering of its OS. Therefore, iOS 17 could not fail to be accompanied by iPadOS 17.

iPadOS 17, the most important news

New lock screen

The most interesting news certainly concerns the lock screen. With iPadOS 17 the gap with iOS 16 is closed, which last year brought a breath of freshness to the lock screen. Basically, iPadOS 17 will also have a fully customizable Lockscreen.

First of all, there will be a particular effect whereby the background photo can appear in the foreground with respect to the time, so as to give greater prominence to the wallpaper (the same effect exists on the iOS 16 lock screen). Also, on the screen it will be possible to add widgets, which are becoming increasingly important in the Apple ecosystem. Moreover, these will be interactive as in iOS 17, to be able to perform operations with a tap, without the need to open the related app.

Furthermore, real-time activities will arrive on the lock screen, so as to stay updated, for example, on the result of a sporting event, rather than on a flight, or on an order from your favorite restaurant.

The iPadOS 17 lock screen will also be customizable from a graphic point of view, being able to change the style, fonts and colors of the writing, including the clock numbers. It will also be possible to opt for lock screens with particular patterns, such as kaleidoscope, emoji and more, which users have already appreciated since iOS 16.

Widgets

Widgets were the protagonists of the opening Apple keynote of WWDC23, reproposed on Apple Watch, but also renewed on macOS 14 Sonoma. Also on iPadOS 17 the widgets will be improved, now interactive, so as to be able to carry out some activities with a simple tap, without having to open the reference applications.

Note that thanks to WidgetKit, even third-party widgets can be interactive. We need to understand how this could negatively affect the autonomy of the devices.

Health apps

For the first time, Apple’s Health app is appearing on iPad. It is an application well known to iPhone users, which will now also allow the iPad to view their health data, in a rather detailed way. The app will feature a design optimized for the large iPad screen, with highlighted data and interactive graphics.

iPadOS 17, new and notable

PDF on Notes

iPadOS brings PDFs to the Notes app. These will appear within the notes as full pages, so that the user will already have the entire document on which to take notes at first sight, also being able to use Apple Pencil.

Messages app

The messages app becomes even more fun, thanks to the possibility of creating Live Stickers starting from your own photos: with a single tap, you can extrapolate the shape of the main subject and transform it into an animated sticker.

The Messages app, again, will welcome a new expandable menu to access the most used iMessage apps. Furthermore, among other innovations, the audio messages that will be transcribed, so that the user can decide to read them immediately or listen to them at a later time.

Furthermore, with iPadOS 17, the Messages app also improves the global search: now users will be able to search filters by people, keywords, photos or links.

FaceTime

Thanks to iPadOS 17, FaceTime also welcomes reactions to the iPad, such as hearts, balloons, laser beams, fireworks and more. All these effects can be activated simply with hand gestures (the operating system will take care of calling the corresponding one), and will also be available for third-party conference apps.

Also, considering the arrival of FaceTime on the big screen via Apple TV 4K, iPad will be able to act as a wireless webcam. The basic idea is always to take advantage of the Continuity Camera function already available for macOS: when you start FaceTime on Apple TV, the iPad connected to the same account and the same WiFi network will turn into an excellent quality wireless webcam.

iPadOS 17, more features

Compatibility and release date

The iPadOS 17 beta for developers is already available on the dedicated site, while the public one will be available to Apple TV users in July 2023.

iPadOS 17 will be available to everyone as a free software update iPad (6th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation and later), iPad Pro 10.5-inch and iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later).

Compared to last year, the fifth generation of iPad remains out, which therefore will not be upgradeable, just as the 9.7-inch iPad Pros will not be upgradeable to iPadOS 17. It will almost certainly be released in the fall, coinciding with the release of iOS 17 and the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro series, expected in September 2023.