iPadOS, coming “this fall”: Thumb drives, more gestures, “desktop-class” browsing [Updated]

Enlarge (credit: Samuel Axon)

In addition to expected updates to WatchOS and iOS, Apple’s Monday WWDC keynote included an announcement of a new iOS fork: iPadOS. This new updated OS focuses squarely on the larger-screen capabilities of iPads—though Apple didn’t confirm which iPad models will be supported. The OS’ beta period will begin “today,” with a full release slated for “this fall.”

In the demo, Apple’s Craig Federighi showed off features that are likely familiar to anyone who has used larger Android phones and tablets, including the ability to pin homescreen widgets and a “fanning” interface to pick through recently opened apps.

• 

  Pin widgets! Where have we seen this before…

iPadOS does put a welcome, Apple-like spin on multi-window support: supported apps will allow users to grab and drop content between windows. Federighi showed this off by using a “tap-and-drag” feature to move attachments and links from one Mail window to another on the same screen. He pointed out that third-party apps like Microsoft Word will also support the feature. But he said nothing about such multi-window support working with multiple apps on the same screen—such as dragging-and-dropping Safari content into a Microsoft Word window.