Welcome to a new era of personalization, productivity, and potential with iPadOS 17. Embrace beautiful and helpful custom Lock Screens, get more done, and make iPad more capable than ever. Here's a detailed guide on the fresh set of features that will take your iPad experience to a whole new level.
1. Personalize your Lock Screen
Stunning Wallpaper Options
Create a captivating look for your Lock Screen with options like the jaw-dropping Astronomy and the animate Kaleidoscope. Browse a gallery of collections for inspiration.
Motion Effect for Live Photo Wallpaper
An all-new motion effect brings your Lock Screen to life when you wake your iPad and elegantly settles when unlocked.
Live Activities
Stay on top of real-time events right from your Lock Screen with Live Activities. Track food orders, flights, scores, and more.
Widgets
Add your favorite widgets to the Lock Screen for a glanceable view of the weather, time, date, battery levels, or upcoming events.
2. Interactive Widgets
From playing music, turning off the lights, or managing your to-do list, accomplish tasks in the moment with just a tap on a widget from your Home Screen or Lock Screen. Learn How to Use Interactive Widgets on iPad with iPadOS 17.
3. Messages
All iMessage Apps in One Place
Access photos, audio messages, and your location with a simple tap on the new plus button.
Swipe to Reply
Swipe right on any message to send a reply swiftly.
Search Filters
Find the message you need faster by combining search filters.
Location Sharing and Viewing
Share your location or request a friend's location from the plus button. View shared locations directly within your conversation.
Audio Message Transcription
Audio messages are now transcribed, so you can read them instantly and listen later.
Stickers
Access all your Live Stickers, emoji, Memoji, and other sticker packs in one place. Stickers sync across your Apple devices via iCloud.
4. FaceTime
Leave a Message
Record a video or audio message when someone misses your FaceTime call with the same video effects like Portrait mode and Studio Light. Your messages can also be played on Apple Watch. Learn How to Record and Send FaceTime Video Messages on iPad.
React with Your Hands
Add fun 3D augmented reality effects to your reactions, and share a reaction with just a hand gesture.
FaceTime on Apple TV
Use your iPad as a camera and start a call directly from the FaceTime app on Apple TV or hand off the call from your iPad to your TV.
5. Health App on iPad
The Health app debuts on iPad with features like medication reminders, menstrual cycle tracking, symptom logging, and new mental and vision health features.
6. PDFs and Notes
Fill out documents faster with AutoFill, annotate or sketch directly on PDFs and scanned documents using Apple Pencil, link related notes, and collaborate on PDFs with real-time updates.
7. Safari and Passwords
Create separate browsing profiles for different topics, enjoy faster and more relevant search, enhanced private browsing, autofill verification codes received in Mail, and password and passkey sharing.
8. Keyboard
Enjoy even more accurate autocorrect with temporarily underlined autocorrected words and predictions inline as you type.
9. Freeform
Use new drawing tools like a watercolor brush, calligraphy pen, highlighter, variable-width pen, and ruler. Collaborate with others using Follow Along.
10. Stage Manager
Flexible Layouts
Arrange your iPad's screen in split view, slide over, or full-screen modes, and easily switch between them for a smooth multitasking experience.
External Camera Support
The Stage Manager feature now allows you to use the built-in camera of your external display for video calls or capturing content, giving you more flexibility in how you use your iPad.
11. Universal Control
With Universal Control, you can use a single mouse and keyboard to move between your Mac and iPad for a seamless work experience. Even more, you can drag and drop files across devices for quick file sharing.
12. Quick Notes
Quick Notes lets you create notes from anywhere in the system. Just swipe up from the bottom-right corner of the screen to bring up a small window where you can jot down your thoughts.
13. Shared Playlists and Mixed Reality
Enjoy a new way to interact with your friends through Shared Playlists in Apple Music and explore the world of mixed reality with the new Mixed Reality app, offering a variety of interactive and educational experiences.
14. Accessibility
New accessibility features include Sound Actions for Switch Control, customizable display and text size settings for each app, and VoiceOver enhancements to describe images.
15. Performance
Experience a faster and more responsive iPad with the new Apple Silicon optimized apps and games, along with improved battery life due to the efficient performance optimizations.
These are just a few of the features that iPadOS 17 has introduced, demonstrating Apple's ongoing commitment to enhancing the iPad user experience. As you familiarize yourself with these new features, you'll undoubtedly discover many more ways that iPadOS 17 can make your digital life easier, more productive, and more enjoyable.
16. Photos
Photos app in iPadOS 17 introduces some significant enhancements.
Improved People Album
The People album has become even smarter. Not only does it recognize your favorite people with higher accuracy, but it also includes your beloved pets. So your cats and dogs are now part of your family album too.
17. Apple ID
iPadOS 17 also brings new conveniences for managing your Apple ID.
Nearby Device Sign-in
You can now securely sign in to your iPad using a nearby device. This feature makes setting up a new device or accessing your Apple ID on a friend's device even easier.
Alternate Contact Info Sign-in
Forgot your Apple ID password? No problem. You can now securely sign in to your iPad using any email address or phone number listed in your account. This added flexibility means that even if you forget your primary Apple ID credentials, you can still access your account with ease.
Remember, with any software upgrade, it's a good idea to back up your device before installing. It's also important to remember that some features might not be available in all regions or all languages. Enjoy exploring iPadOS 17 and all the new features it has to offer!
18. Stickers
Creating one-of-a-kind stickers is now possible using your own photos. These Live Stickers can be added directly to the bubble from the Tapback menu. Furthermore, you can use these stickers across different apps as the sticker drawer is integrated into the emoji keyboard. Learn How To Create Your Own Stickers on iPad with iPadOS 17
19. Spotlight
Spotlight on iPadOS 17 offers more intelligent and interactive search experiences.
App Shortcuts in Top Hit
When you search for an app, Spotlight can intelligently offer you app shortcuts to your next action within the Top Hit. So if you search for Photos, you can jump right to the Favorites album.
Rich Visual Results
Find what you’re looking for faster with familiar app colors and icons in search results.
20. Siri
Siri also gets a significant update in iPadOS 17, becoming even more user-friendly.
Siri Activation
With iPadOS 17, Siri can now be activated just by saying “Siri” in addition to the traditional “Hey Siri” command.
Back-to-back Requests
Once you activate Siri, you can issue multiple requests back to back without needing to reactivate it. This is a significant time-saver for those using Siri regularly.
21. AirPlay
AirPlay on iPadOS 17 comes with new features that make streaming content more straightforward and enjoyable.
Smart Device Suggestions
Devices in the AirPlay list are now shown by relevance, and iPadOS can send suggested connections proactively based on your preferences.
AirPlay in Your Hotel Room
Later this year, AirPlay will be available in supporting hotel rooms. Scan the QR code on your room TV, and you can securely share videos, photos, and music from your iPad to the TV.
22. AirPods
iPadOS 17 has added several new features for AirPods users, enhancing the overall user experience.
Adaptive Audio
For the AirPods Pro (2nd generation), Adaptive Audio dynamically blends Transparency and Active Noise Cancellation to tailor the noise control experience as you move between changing environments and interactions throughout the day.
Press to Mute or Unmute
You can now quickly mute or unmute yourself while on a call by pressing the stem of your AirPods Pro or the Digital Crown on AirPods Max.
c. Switch Devices Without Missing a Beat
Updates to Automatic Switching make moving between Apple devices with AirPods even easier, faster, and more reliable.
23. Privacy and Security
iPadOS 17 reinforces Apple's commitment to user privacy and security with several enhancements.
Communication Safety
Communication Safety now includes protections for sensitive videos and photos. It extends beyond Messages to include content sent and received in AirDrop, the system-wide photo picker, FaceTime messages, Contact Posters in the Phone app, and third-party apps.
Sensitive Content Warning
You now have the option to blur sensitive photos and videos before you choose to view them. This feature will be available in Messages, AirDrop, Contact Posters in the Phone app, FaceTime messages, and third-party apps.
Improved Permissions
Choose which photos to share from within an app while keeping the rest of your Photos library private. You can allow an app to add an event in Calendar without being able to view your information.
Lockdown Mode
The expanded Lockdown Mode increases security to help protect against sophisticated cyber attacks. Turn it on across all your Apple devices, now including Apple Watch.
That covers the main features in the iPadOS 17 for Spotlight, Siri, AirPlay, AirPods, and Privacy and Security. Always remember to back up your device before any major updates. Enjoy exploring all these new features!
