iPadOS 17: It's Like iOS 16 Remastered For iPad

Last night Apple announced the iPadOS 17 at the WWDC 23. The updates focus on two aspects: personalization and productivity. After every announcement, we hear a lot of people saying that the new features could be better or that these updates were already available on other devices (both of which are usually true claims!). This year’s no different, to be honest. The features in iPadOS 17 are quite similar to the ones we saw in iOS 16 last year. There aren’t any major wow-inducing changes. Nevertheless, these features will make the iPad more productive and easy to personalize. Let’s take a closer look at these so-called “NEW FEATURES.”

Home screen and Lock screen Widgets

The new iPadOS 17 allows you to add widgets not only to your home screen but also to your lock screen. It appears that Apple developers spend countless hours researching and developing widgets as if they’re worth their weight in gold. But credit where it is due; their extensive research has shown great results. The widgets make the iPad look really classy and put a lot of information, be it the weather, time, date, or battery level, within easy access.

Personalized Lock Screen

An update we saw in iOS 16 has finally made its way to the big stage (literally and metaphorically). The iPadOS 17 brings a variety of wallpapers, be it a view of the solar system or the inside of a kaleidoscope(which, by the way, animates as we move our iPads!). The in-depth effect has also been introduced along with the iPadOS 17. This feature will look amazing on a big screen, but sometimes I wonder why it took the folks at Apple an entire year to bring this update to the iPad. Nevermind!

The motion effect for the live photo wallpaper looks nice. After switching the iPad on, the animation looks amazing and gives your iPad a lively feel. The live activity tracker to the lock screen is a really useful addition to the update, but it could have been introduced much earlier.

Introducing the Health App (Finally!)

After a year-long wait, the Health App has finally been introduced to iPad, which, among other things, sends reminders for your daily medication and tracks your menstrual cycle. Adding the new mental health feature to the iPadOS 17 will also be of great help, helping monitor your state of mind and providing valuable feedback and insights on how good your mental health is. Being able to access all these stats on the iPad is definitely handy, and you don’t have to reach for your phone for everything.

And more!!

The improved auto-fill allows you to fill out forms or log into Safari faster and without hassle. The experience of reading and marking notes on iPad has been made a rather exquisite experience for all users.

How do we feel about the iPadOS 17? Well, the fact that almost all the new features were launched a year back on iOS 16 is a bit of a bummer. We expected something new and different, but we were let down. The updates will roll out in mid-September when the next iPad launches. The developers already have access to their Beta version, whereas regular users like us will have to wait until July 2023.