There’s an unspoken tension in all of Apple’s iPad marketing. The company desperately wants to convince you that an iPad can replace a laptop. At the same time, it doesn’t want you sidestepping the Mac lineup, so the iPad is deliberately crippled in some respects. You can’t customize the OS very deeply, and apps don’t have the full flexibility of their Mac counterparts. You can’t even install anything without the App Store unless you sideload, or else live in the EU.
If you’re bound and determined to make an iPad your primary machine, there are ways of making it behave as much like a Mac as possible. Apple is tweaking this to be slightly better in iPadOS 27. You can install the public beta right now, or wait for the finished version, expected by the end of September.
The history of iPadOS
Trivia challenge
From iPad-flavored iOS to a desktop-class OS — how well do you know the
evolution of iPadOS?
HistoryFeaturesSoftwareAppleUpdates
In what year did Apple officially rebrand the iPad’s operating system from iOS to
iPadOS?
That’s right! Apple announced iPadOS at WWDC 2019, officially splitting
the iPad’s OS from iOS to give it its own identity. The move signaled Apple’s commitment to positioning
the iPad as a distinct, more capable computing platform.
Not quite — Apple unveiled iPadOS at WWDC 2019, with the software
launching publicly in September of that year. Before that, iPads simply ran iOS, sharing the same
versioning and branding as the iPhone.
Which major multitasking feature was introduced with iPadOS 13 at the time of the OS
rebrand?
Correct! iPadOS 13 debuted with a refreshed home screen that allowed
widgets and more app icons, along with significant improvements to Split View multitasking and Slide
Over. It was Apple’s first major step in differentiating the iPad experience from the iPhone.
Not quite. iPadOS 13 introduced a redesigned home screen with widget
support and enhanced Split View multitasking. Features like Stage Manager and Universal Control came
much later, with iPadOS 16 and iPadOS 15.4 respectively.
Which iPadOS version first introduced native mouse and trackpad support for the
iPad?
Spot on! iPadOS 13.4, released in March 2020, brought full mouse and
trackpad support to the iPad, coinciding with the launch of the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. It was a
landmark update that moved the iPad closer to laptop functionality.
Close, but the correct answer is iPadOS 13.4, a point release launched
in March 2020 alongside the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. This update added full cursor and trackpad
support, a feature that fundamentally changed how people could interact with the iPad.
What productivity feature did Apple introduce in iPadOS 16 that allowed users to
work with multiple overlapping app windows?
Correct! Stage Manager arrived with iPadOS 16 in 2022, letting users
work with overlapping, resizable app windows on the iPad for the first time. It was initially exclusive
to M1 iPad Pro and iPad Air models, though Apple later expanded support.
The right answer is Stage Manager, introduced in iPadOS 16. It was
Apple’s boldest attempt yet to bring a desktop-style windowing experience to the iPad, allowing
overlapping app windows and a side app shelf for quick switching.
Which iPadOS version introduced the Scribble feature, allowing users to handwrite
text into any text field using Apple Pencil?
Well done! Scribble launched with iPadOS 14 in 2020, using on-device
machine learning to convert Apple Pencil handwriting into typed text in any text field. It worked across
the entire OS without needing a specific app to support it.
Not quite — Scribble was introduced in iPadOS 14, released in September
2020. It was a standout Apple Pencil feature that used on-device intelligence to recognize handwriting
and convert it to text anywhere in the OS, entirely offline.
iPadOS 15 introduced which feature that allowed iPhone apps to be used directly on a
Mac without modification?
That’s right! iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey together introduced AirPlay
to Mac, but more notably, Apple also allowed iPhone and iPad apps to run natively on Apple Silicon Macs.
However, the feature most celebrated in iPadOS 15 itself was AirPlay to Mac for screen mirroring.
This one’s tricky — iPadOS 15 brought AirPlay to Mac support, letting
users mirror or extend their iPad screen to a Mac. Universal Control, which lets you use one keyboard
and mouse across iPad and Mac seamlessly, actually arrived in iPadOS 15.4 in early 2022.
What was the version number of the very first release of iPadOS when it launched to
the public in September 2019?
Correct! iPadOS launched as version 13, continuing the version numbering
from iOS rather than starting fresh at 1. This made it clear that iPadOS was a fork of iOS rather than
an entirely new operating system built from scratch.
The first version of iPadOS was actually iPadOS 13, not a fresh start at
version 1. Apple kept the numbering aligned with iOS to reflect the shared codebase, so the rebranded OS
picked up where iOS 12 left off on iPad.
Which iPadOS version first gave users the ability to set third-party web browsers
and email apps as their defaults?
Exactly right! iPadOS 14 (alongside iOS 14) finally allowed users to
change their default browser and email client away from Safari and Mail. It was a significant shift in
Apple’s approach to openness, likely influenced by ongoing regulatory scrutiny in Europe and beyond.
The answer is iPadOS 14, released in September 2020. For the first time,
Apple allowed users on both iPhone and iPad to set third-party apps like Chrome or Outlook as their
default browser and email client, ending years of lock-in to Apple’s own apps.
Your Score
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Take full advantage of Windowed or Stage Manager multitasking
Spend time feeling them both out
iPadOS 27 defaults to Windowed mode, and if you’re a long-time iPad owner, it can be tempting to rely on the mode’s gesture shortcuts that mimic the old Split View and Slide Over functions. That’s fine if it helps you get more done — but if you want to see more than two or three apps at once, it’s worth sticking with free-floating windows. Tap and drag their top bars to reposition them, and drag their handle icons in the lower-right to resize them. When you’re done with an app, tap the traffic lights on the top-left, then hit the red button. Apps remember their last size and position when you reopen them, just like a Mac.
You can flip between Windowed and Stage Manager via Settings -> Multitasking & Gestures. Stage Manager is largely similar, except that it saves apps in groups, making them easier to close and recall — assuming that fits into your workflow. For example, I have a carefully-positioned pairing of Spotify and Facebook Messenger. When I tap the icon for one app or the other, both pop up — and when I hit the Home button on my keyboard, they both disappear. If you don’t normally use apps in set combos, you might prefer Windowed, but it’s worth experimenting with Stage Manager for a little while.
Be prepared to reposition your windows
One of the small yet significant improvements Apple made in iPadOS 26 was the inclusion of a Mac-style Menu Bar. In many apps, it doesn’t serve much purpose. For apps with more complex functions, though, it can be a lifesaver.
In the feature’s original incarnation, a critical mistake Apple made was forcing you to swipe down to make it visible. Thankfully, that’s changed in iPadOS 27. You can set the Menu Bar to remain visible at all times by going to Settings -> Multitasking & Gestures, then toggling off Automatically Show and Hide Menu Bar.
This works best on 13-inch iPads or with an external display, for an obvious reason: real estate. While the Menu Bar can sit overlaid on some apps (see the screenshot above), that’s not always an option, which may require you to shrink an app’s vertical size to compensate.
Integrate the Files app into your workflow
Customize it, too
Finder is an essential part of using a Mac, just like File Explorer on Windows. iPadOS lacks a direct equivalent, but if you can make the Files app a part of your daily workflow, you’ll be able to find, open, and move files a lot easier than you would by relying on in-app functions.
One trick I like is putting the largest possible Files widget on the homescreen. This takes up a lot of space, but you’ll see a grid of files, each of which you can tap to open. The widget defaults to the Recents folder, but if you tap and hold it then choose Edit Widget, you can pick a different folder, or filter by the tags you’ve assigned.
Speaking of which, it can be helpful not just to assign tags to files, but to spend a few moments customizing the layout of the Files app. You’ll want to keep the sidebar visible at all times, and switch it over to the Column view. That way, when you tap on a file, you’ll get a full preview pane with file details. If you tap on the triple-dot icon and hit Edit Sidebar, you can add or remove cloud services you want to see.
