Apple today announced iPadOS 18. It comes with a bunch of smart new features for note-takers, math students, and more.
Apps on iPadOS can now use a floating tab bar for in-app navigation. Tapping this bar will move it to the side of the screen to show more options. Developers will have access to the APIs for the floating tab bar and sidebar to implement them in applications.
Shareplay is also enriched with new features that will facilitate technical assistance for users. Users will be able to share their screen with another iPad. When sharing the screen, a user can mark the screen in real time to show keys or draw instructions. Users can also request access to control a connected iPad, similar to desktop remote access software.
One of the biggest updates is to the Calculator app, which is coming to iPadOS 18. The Calculator app includes the same functions as its iOS equivalent, including calculation history and unit conversion. However, its biggest feature is Math Notes, which allows users to draw or handwrite equations in the calculator and solve them dynamically. Apple claims that as soon as an equals sign is written, the Calculator app will attempt to read the equation and solve it. It should be noted that this feature is limited to math functions included in the Calculator app, so advanced math may not be supported.
Math Notes can also be used to solve physics and algebra problems and diagrams. It can recognize variables written into a problem and dynamically update equations and solutions that account for a variable if its value is changed.
Notes is gaining functionality similar to Math Notes with Smart Script, which will attempt to learn the user’s writing style and incorporate it into the system’s functionality. This means that once the Notes app has learned a user’s handwriting, it can paste typed text in a font that mimics the user’s handwriting. Additionally, note-takers can move handwritten text to make room for other notes and cross out text.
iPadOS 18 will be available later this year.
