Following the announcement of its new 10.5-inch iPad Pro, Apple showed off a slew of new iPad-specific features that are coming in iOS 11. It’s a pretty impressive collection of improvements, clearly aimed at making the tablet more of a productivity tool.
The company calls iOS 11 the biggest update to iOS for the iPad ever with major improvements to multitasking, app switching, and markup capabilities.
New Dock and App Switcher
The dock can now be filled with apps and it can be accessed even from within apps with a simple swipe and switch between other apps. One can also drag and drop apps to Split View. The App Switcher is also getting a makeover to manage your running apps easily.
The App Switcher is also getting a makeover to manage your running apps easily and can be accessed by swiping up from the bottom. Split View spaces will be preserved when one switches over to the new App Switcher.
iOS 11 will also bring native drag and drop support to the OS on the iPad so one can drag and drop files, images, and content from one app to another and more. So, one can drag and drop photos and links from Safari into the mail app, bring up the dock while having content being ready for being dropped into the screen, and more.
Files App on iPad
The new Files app on iPad allows one to manage all files stored not only on their iPad but also on the cloud like Dropbox, Box, Drive, and more. The Files app features multiple views including list, a Recent view, a sidebar for easier management, and more.
The Files app is essentially similar to Finder on the Mac and will make managing files easier for many.
Markup Support
For iPad Pro and Apple Pencil users, iOS 11 comes with markup support across all apps that support printing. So, one can edit and mark any content being displayed on the screen. Similarly, one can edit screenshots on iOS 11 using the Apple Pencil by simply tapping on it.
The Notes app now makes use of machine learning to decipher one’s handwriting and make it searchable. It can now also scan documents and make them editable for Apple Pencil users.
Apple Pencil users can also simply tap on the lock screen to bring up the Notes app and start taking notes.
The above new features will completely redefine the experience of using iOS on the iPad. With iOS 11, Apple is finally making the iPad a viable PC-replacement for many and adding features that power iPad users have asked for years from the company.