The iPadOS 14 introduces an all-new compact design for incoming FaceTime and phone calls, Siri interactions, and Search to help users stay focused on the task at hand, the company said.
New Apple Pencil features, including Scribble for iPad, deliver a new way to work with handwritten notes, and ARKit 4 delivers a new Depth API that allows developers to create more powerful features in their apps.
"With iPadOS 14, we're excited to build on the distinct experience of iPad and deliver new capabilities that help customers boost productivity, be more creative, and have more fun," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "With new compact designs for system interactions and new app designs specifically tailored to iPad, even better note-taking capabilities with Apple Pencil, and more powerful AR experiences, iPadOS 14 delivers an amazing experience that keeps it in a class of its own."
Siri now appears at the bottom of the screen when activated in the new version, allowing users to seamlessly reference information onscreen while making a request, and it quickly gets out of the way when launching other apps or controlling music.
Search on iPad has also been rebuilt from the ground up with iPadOS 14 and is now the one place to "quickly find practically anything", from locating and launching apps to accessing contacts, files, and quick information. With a new compact design, users can start a search from anywhere, without having to leave the app they are in.
iPadOS 14 brings Scribble to iPad with Apple Pencil, allowing users to write in any text field - where it will automatically be converted to typed text - making actions like replying to an iMessage or searching in Safari fast and easy. To keep it private and secure, all handwriting and conversion to text happens on the device, according to the company.
Scribble will initially offer support for English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, and mixed Chinese and English, so users can write English and Chinese words together without needing to switch languages.
The new software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPad Air 2 and later, all iPad Pro models, iPad 5th generation and later, and iPad mini 4 and later.
The WWDC 2020 kicked off on Monday and will run virtually until Friday.
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