Apple launches iPadOS! Dedicated home screen and multitasking features!

"We have some big changes coming to iPad," said Craig Federer, Apple's software chief. Apple unveiled a big software update for iPad at WWDC, and now it's splitting up iOS to form a new iPadOS for tablets. Apple has long been tweaking iOS to include more multitasking features, including split-screen functionality, slide-over and multitasking improvements, and changes to the Dock.

       iPadOS now includes a new home screen with widgets that can expand along with app icons. These widgets are the same ones you normally find in the Notification Center. Apple has also added more multitasking gestures, with the ability to swipe between multiple apps and drag and drop apps side by side. All of these apps are then available in an Exposé-like view.

       Designed to run on Apple's iPad devices, iPadOS will give the company more freedom to adapt the operating system for those larger screens. Just as Apple has done for the Apple Watch, tvOS for the Apple TV, and macOS for its Mac line of computers, iPadOS will be separate but familiar to iOS users. iPadOS will also include a revamped Files app. It'll have a column view, just like the Finder on macOS, and an information pane so you can make small changes to files.

       iCloud Drive now supports folder sharing, too, and the Files app even natively supports SMB file sharing. Perhaps most importantly, thumb drives are now supported in the Files app, so you can just plug them into your iPad to access your files in this updated app.

       Apple is also improving Safari on iPadOS with desktop-class browsing and a true download manager. There will even be 30 new keyboard shortcuts, text size controls, per-site settings, and photo upload options. iPadOS will also address the lack of computer-like controls on the iPad. Apple is adding fonts to the App Store, so you can use those custom fonts in your apps. Apple is also improving its copy and paste features on iPadOS, so you can pinch to copy with three fingers and then use three fingers to paste.

Even the Apple Pencil has been updated for this new iPadOS. Apple is improving latency from 20ms to 9ms, and the standard tool palette is getting an update so third-party apps can use the new controls. If you drag the Pencil from the corner of the iPad, it will now grab a screenshot for you so you can start marking up right away.

All of these features really make iPadOS stand out from the crowd on Apple's part, and the company has made it clear today that it's now delightfully customizable to the iPad experience. This should mean that while iOS will still drive many iPadOS features, we'll see independent changes that make sense for the larger display and hardware that the iPad has. That's great news for iPad users.