Introducing Liquid Glass
The revolutionary Liquid Glass design in iPadOS 26 enhances the familiar interface of iPad, delivering a more immersive and delightful experience. The Lock Screen and Control Center are now more vibrant, offering users new ways to customize their Home Screen with lively app icons that adapt to light or dark modes, enriched colors, and a sleek, clean appearance.
Refined Design and Functionality
iPadOS 26 debuts a sophisticated and intuitive window management system. This new feature empowers users to effortlessly resize app windows, position them precisely, and manage multiple windows simultaneously. The familiar window controls make it easy to close, minimize, resize, or tile windows, while the innovative window tiling feature is tailor-made for iPad’s unique capabilities, allowing organization through simple gestures.
With Exposé, users can view all open windows at a glance, facilitating quick switches between tasks. The addition of a menu bar provides easy access to app commands. Users can swipe down from the top of the screen or hover their cursor to access these commands, with a search function to quickly locate specific features or tips. Developers can also create custom menus within their apps.
Enhanced Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence in iPadOS 26 is more integrated and powerful. Live Translation in Phone, FaceTime, and Messages allows seamless communication across languages. Messages automatically translate incoming texts, including group messages, into the user’s preferred language. In FaceTime, users can view live translated captions while hearing the speaker’s voice, and phone call translations are spoken aloud during conversations.
iPadOS 26 introduces innovative ways to create Genmoji, enabling users to modify existing emojis with personal traits, such as hair length or accessories, and select emoticons. Users gain more control over these traits and emoticons in Image Playground. Shortcuts now feature new smart actions, enabling users to craft more potent shortcuts, including text summarization with Writing Tools and image creation with Image Playground. Users can also tap on Apple Intelligence models for streamed answers in their shortcuts.
Advanced File Management
The Files app receives significant upgrades in iPadOS 26, allowing users to manage, access, and organize files efficiently. An improved List view reveals more document details with resizable columns and collapsible folders. Users can customize folders with colors, icons, and emojis that sync across devices. Dragging folders to the Dock offers quicker access, and setting a default app for specific files or types is now possible.
Preview App Comes to iPad
The Preview app makes its debut on iPad, providing a dedicated tool for sketching, viewing, editing, and annotating PDFs and images with Apple Pencil or touch. Users can access PDFs and images directly from the Files app, create blank pages, and use Apple Pencil for drawing and handwriting, with AutoFill for swift form completion.
App Enhancements
iPadOS 26 unlocks computationally intensive Background Tasks, allowing apps to run long processes visible alongside Live Events, granting users control and transparency. New audio features offer more flexible input and smoother recording. Users can now select different microphones for each app and website, and Sound Isolation ensures crisp audio recordings. Studio-quality audio recording with AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 enhances content quality and call clarity.
Local capture enables high-quality recordings from iPad with any video conferencing app, easily sharing audio and video files post-call. Echo cancellation keeps the user’s voice prominent, ensuring clear recordings.
The Diary app arrives on iPadOS 26, simplifying the capture of daily moments and special events. Users can add drawings, handwriting, photos, videos, audio, locations, moods, and more using Apple Pencil or touch.
The all-new Games app provides a centralized gaming hub, and iPadOS 26 introduces Game Overlay, allowing users to see new events, edit settings, and connect with friends mid-game.
Messages and Communication Updates
The Messages app now features chat Backgrounds, allowing personalization with stunning designs and custom backgrounds via Image Playground. Messages also include Polls and a redesigned detail view for easier chat navigation, with group chats featuring typing indicators. The Phone app is now available on iPad, featuring updates like Hold Assist and Call Screening.
Additional Updates
- The new reed pen in the tool palette provides a traditional calligraphy experience with Apple Pencil or touch in various apps.
- Calculator introduces 3D graphics in Math Notes, allowing users to graph equations in three dimensions.
- Notes now supports markdown file import/export and captures transcribed audio conversations in the Phone app.
- Accessibility enhancements include Accessibility Reader, a new reading mode for improved text readability, a user-friendly Braille Access interface, and the ability to temporarily share accessibility settings on another device.
Release Date
iPadOS 26 will be available this fall as a free update for compatible iPad models.
News
