Apple today announced iPadOS 17, the latest version of its iPad operating system. The headlining feature is customisable lock screens, similar to what was introduced in iOS 16 last year. In addition to picking your photo, you can set custom typography, colours, and filters.
One big difference between the iPhone and iPad approach is that you'll not only be able to put interactive widgets on your lock screen. iPad and iPhone widgets have mostly worked as bigger app icons so far, but iPadOS 17 makes them a lot more useful.
You'll be able to tick off Reminders, use the Home widget to control smart lighting, and start tunes without opening the Apple Music app. Interactive widgets will also work on the home screen, and will also be coming to iPhone.
Another key feature is improved PDF support. Fields are easier to fill out, and there's an improved workflow for annotating them in the Notes app.
Other new iPadOS 17 features include the Health app, browsing profiles to separate work and personal logins in Safari, and more flexibility for the position and size of windows in Stage Manager. iPadOS 17 is also getting a number of iOS 17 features including video voicemail in FaceTime, better autocorrect, and an improved iMessage experience.
iPadOS 17 is expected to launch in September this year, with a developer beta available from today. A public beta will be available in July. These are the oldest iPad models that will support iPadOS 17: 6th generation iPad, 5th generation iPad mini, 3rd generation iPad Air, 2nd generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 1st generation 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and 1st generation 11-inch iPad Pro.
If you have one of those devices or newer, you'll be able to install iPadOS 17 when it becomes available.
Alex Choros
