iPadOS 14 is the second major release of the

iPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its iPad line of tablet computers. It is a rebranded variant of iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones, renamed to reflect the diverging features of the two product l ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...

developed by

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

for their

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...

line of

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...

s. It was announced on June 22, 2020 at the company's

Worldwide Developers Conference The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in t ...

(WWDC) as the successor to

iPadOS 13 iPadOS 13 is the first major release of the iPadOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for their iPad line of tablet computers. The successor to iOS 12 on those devices, it was announced at the company's 2019 Worldwide Developers ...

, making it the second version of the iPadOS

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...

from

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

. It was released to the public on September 16, 2020. It was succeeded by

iPadOS 15 iPadOS 15 is the third major release of the iPadOS operating system developed by Apple for its iPad line of tablet computers. The successor to iPadOS 14, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 7, 2021 al ...

on September 20, 2021.

History

Updates

The first developer beta of iPadOS 14 was released on June 22, 2020 and the first public beta was released on July 9, 2020. iPadOS 14 was officially released on September 16, 2020. There was no public beta testing of 14.1.

Features

Home screen

Widgets

To the left of the first page, the Today View now has new redesigned widgets. Widgets may be added, with options for small, medium, or large widgets, but the widgets can no longer collapse or expand. Widgets of the same size may be stacked over each other and swiped between for convenience; a Smart Stack may be placed which automatically show the most relevant widget to the user based on the time of day. Unlike in

iOS 14 iOS 14 is the fourteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for their iPhone and iPod Touch lines. Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 22, 2020 as the successor to iOS 13 ...

, widgets cannot be placed directly on to the home screen in iPadOS 14; this was only allowed starting in

Compact UI

A series of changes were made in iPadOS 14 to reduce the visual space taken by previously full-screen interfaces; such interfaces now appear and hover in front of an app, allowing for touch (and therefore multitasking) on the app behind. Voice calling interfaces, including Phone, or other third-party apps such as

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...

, are made substantially thinner, taking approximately as much space as a notification. Siri's interface is now also compact.

Search and Siri

Improvements to the Search feature on the home screen were made, including a refined UI, quick launcher for apps, more detailed web search, shortcuts to in-app search, and improved as-you-type search suggestions. The search function now appears and functions more like the Spotlight Search feature of

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

. In addition to being made compact,

Siri Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer questio ...

can now answer a broader set of questions and translate more languages. Users can also share their ETA with contacts and ask for cycling directions.

Storage

iPadOS 14 gains the ability to mount encrypted external drives. However, this capability is limited to APFS-encrypted drives. Upon connecting an APFS-encrypted external drive to the USB-C port on the iPad, the Files app will present the external drive on the sidebar. Selecting the drive will prompt the user to enter the password to unlock the drive.

Supported devices

All the devices that supported iPadOS 13 also support iPadOS 14. Devices include: *

iPad Air 2 The iPad Air 2 is the second-generation iPad Air tablet computer designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced on October 16, 2014, alongside the iPad Mini 3, both of which were released on October 22, 2014. The iPad Air 2 ...

iPad Air (3rd generation) The iPad Air (3rd generation) (colloquially referred to as iPad Air 3) is a tablet computer developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced and released on March 18, 2019, alongside the 5th-generation iPad Mini. Its case design is id ...

iPad Air (4th generation) The iPad Air (4th generation), informally referred to as iPad Air 4, is a tablet computer designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced by Apple on September 15, 2020. Pre-orders began on October 16, 2020, and shipping began ...

iPad (5th generation) The iPad 9.7-inch (officially iPad (5th generation)) is a tablet computer designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. After its announcement on March 21, 2017, conflicting naming conventions spawned a number of different names, including ...

iPad (6th generation) The iPad 9.7-inch (officially iPad (6th generation)) is a tablet computer designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced on March 27, 2018, during an education-focused event at Lane Tech High School in Chicago and is the ...

iPad (7th generation) The iPad 10.2-inch (officially iPad (7th generation)) is a tablet computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It features a 10.2-inch Retina display and is powered by the Apple A10 Fusion processor. It is the successor to the 9.7-inch 6th-g ...

iPad (8th generation) The iPad 10.2-inch (officially iPad (8th generation)) is a tablet computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. as the successor to the 7th-generation iPad. It was announced on September 15, 2020 and released on September 18, 2020. Features ...

iPad Mini 4 The iPad Mini 4 (stylized and marketed as iPad mini 4) is the fourth-generation iPad Mini tablet computer designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced along with the iPad Pro on September 9, 2015, and released the same day. ...

iPad Mini (5th generation) The fifth-generation iPad Mini (stylized and marketed as iPad mini and colloquially referred to as iPad Mini 5) is a tablet computer in the iPad Mini line, designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Announced in a press release along with ...

iPad Pro The iPad Pro is a premium model of Apple's iPad tablet computer. It runs iPadOS, a tablet-optimized version of the iOS operating system. The original iPad Pro was introduced in September 2015, and ran iOS 9. The second-generation iPad Pro ...

(all models)

References

External links

* – official site * – official developer site
iOS Reference Library
at the Apple Developer site {{Navboxes, list= {{iOS {{Apple Inc. operating systems {{Darwin derivations {{Unix-like {{Operating system {{Mobile operating systems {{Apple Inc. 14 IPad Apple Inc. operating systems Mach (kernel) Mobile operating systems Products introduced in 2020 Tablet operating systems