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iPadOS is here and Apple’s tablets will never be the same

Apple has lived up to its promise of delivering iOS 13.1 and iPadOS early, with both landing for iPhone and iPad today.

When dropping iOS 13 on September 19, Apple pledged to bring forward the planned September 30 release date to the first update, and the firm has duly delivered. iOS 13.1 brings the ability to share your estimated time of arrival via the Apple Maps app and introduces Siri shortcuts automations.

The update also takes care of some bugs as well as a remedy for a flaw that may allow someone to use an incoming FaceTime call to access the owners contact information.

iPadOS is a much bigger deal as sees the arrival of the first ever dedicated made-for-iPad operating system.

It includes a new tighter home screen with space for more application icons and a widgets panel. There’s also iOS 13’s dark mode and the desktop-class version of Safari, which has proper download manager, photo upload options and will properly resize websites without pushing you towards the mobile version, whilst also optimising everything for touch.

Related: iPhone 11 vs iPhone 11 Pro

Multitasking also gets better with new ways to manage your open windows, while Apple is only adding a floating keyboard which will sit on top of open apps and can be dragged anywhere on screen. There are also advanced text selection tools that enable users to use gestures for actions like cut and paste. The Photos and Files apps also get better in iPadOS.

Both updates can be downloaded today via the Software Update section of the General Settings. It is advised you back up any valuable date before embarking upon the download.

It is compatible with the following devices: 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 11-inch iPad Pro, 10.5-inch iPad Pro, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, iPad (7th generation), iPad (6th generation), iPad (5th generation), iPad mini (5th generation), iPad mini 4, iPad Air (3rd generation) and iPad Air 2.

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