About iPadOS 18 Updates
iPadOS 18 brings a big update designed for the distinct capabilities of iPad and new ways to get things done that have been reimagined with Apple Pencil. Customize your iPad further by arranging your Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Control Center in all-new ways, and Photos delivers the biggest redesign ever. Smart Script in Notes refines your handwriting in real-time and makes your handwritten notes as flexible as typed text. Calculator comes to iPad with Math Notes, a new way to create, visualize and interact with equations using Apple Pencil. iPadOS 18 also brings new features to Safari, Messages, Freeform, SharePlay and so much more.
For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/100100
iPadOS 18.2
This update introduces new features powered by Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that unlocks powerful new ways to communicate, work, and express yourself, all while protecting your data with an extraordinary step forward for privacy in AI. New features include Image Playground which lets you create delightful, fun images, Genmoji to create original emoji to share with family and friends, ChatGPT support integrated right into Siri and Writing Tools, and more. This release also includes enhancements to Photos and Safari, as well as other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPad.
Apple Intelligence (iPad with M1 and later)
Image Playground
Create fun, playful images in multiple styles using concepts, descriptions, and people from your photo library
Swipe to see previews to choose from as you add concepts to your playground
Choose from animation and illustration styles when creating your image
Create images in Messages and Freeform, as well as third party apps
Sync images in your Image Playground library across all your devices with iCloud
Genmoji
Create custom emoji right from the keyboard
Sync Genmoji in your sticker drawer across all your devices with iCloud
ChatGPT support
ChatGPT from OpenAI can be accessed right from Siri or Writing Tools
Compose in Writing Tools allows you to create something from scratch with ChatGPT
Siri can tap into ChatGPT when relevant to provide you an answer
A ChatGPT account is not required and your requests will be anonymous and won’t be used to train OpenAI’s models
Sign in with ChatGPT to access your account benefits, and requests will be covered by OpenAI’s data policies
Image Wand turns sketches and handwritten or typed notes into images in Notes
Describe your change in Writing Tools allows you to suggest how you’d like something rewritten, for example as a poem
Photos
Video viewing improvements, including the ability to scrub frame-by-frame and a setting to turn off auto-looping video playback
Improvements when navigating Collections views, including the ability to swipe right to go back to the previous view
Recently Viewed and Recently Shared album history can be cleared
Favorites album appears in the Utilities collection in addition to Pinned Collections
Safari
New background images to customize your Safari Start Page
Import and Export enables you to export your browsing data from Safari and import browsing data from another app into Safari
HTTPS Priority upgrades URLs to HTTPS whenever possible
File Download Live Activity shows the progress of a file download on your home screen
This update also includes the following improvements:
Share Item Location in Find My helps you locate and recover misplaced items by easily and securely sharing the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with trusted third parties, such as airlines
Natural language search in Apple Music and Apple TV app lets you describe what you’re looking for using any combination of categories like genres, moods, actors, decades, and more
Favorite Categories in Podcasts allows you to choose your favorite categories and get relevant show recommendations that you can easily access in your Library
Personalized Search page in Podcasts highlights the most relevant categories and editorially curated collections tailored to you
Sudoku for News+ Puzzles provided in three difficulty levels and available for News+ subscribers
Support for the Hearing Test feature on AirPods Pro 2 in Cyprus, Czechia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom
Support for the Hearing Aid feature on AirPods Pro 2 in United Arab Emirates
Pre-market price quotes in Stocks lets you track NASDAQ and NYSE tickers prior to market open
Fixes an issue where recently captured photos do not appear immediately in the All Photos grid
Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:
https://support.apple.com/100100
iPadOS 18.1.1
This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.
For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:
https://support.apple.com/100100
iPadOS 18.1
This update introduces the first set of features powered by Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that unlocks powerful new ways to communicate, work, and express yourself, all while protecting your data with an extraordinary step forward for privacy in AI. It also includes other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPad.
Apple Intelligence (iPad with M1 and later)
Writing Tools
Writing Tools are available nearly everywhere you type, allowing you to rewrite, proofread, and summarize text right in the app you’re working in
Rewrite suggests different versions of your text so you can choose which combination of flow and wording you like best
Proofread lets you view suggested improvements to what you’re writing, like grammar fixes and language refinements
Summarize allows you to select text wherever you’re writing and generate a high-quality summary
Siri
A new look and feel includes a glowing light that wraps around the edge of your screen, animates responsively to the sound of your voice, and lets you keep scrolling or typing while you talk to Siri
Type to Siri when you don’t want to speak a request out loud
Richer language understanding enables Siri to follow along if you stumble over your words or change your mind mid-sentence
Conversational context is maintained over the course of a session, so you can refer more naturally to something you said in a recent request or something Siri mentioned in a recent response
Product knowledge helps you get answers to thousands of questions about the features and settings on your Apple products
Voice enhancements make Siri sound more natural, expressive, and clear
Photos
Photos search lets you find photos and videos simply by describing what you’re looking for
Clean Up removes distractions in your photos
Memory movies can be created by describing the story you want to see
Notifications
Notification summaries make it easy to catch up on your notifications with a glanceable summary of the most important information
Reduce Interruptions is a new Focus that ensures the most urgent notifications get through to you while silencing potential distractions
Smart Reply in Mail and Messages help you quickly respond to messages with suggested responses
Transcription summaries in Notes give you an intelligently created summary of the transcript from your audio recording
AirPods
Hearing Test feature provides scientifically-validated hearing test results from the comfort of home (intended for users 18 years or older)
Hearing Aid feature provides personalized, clinical-grade assistance that is automatically applied to sounds in your environment as well as music, videos, and calls (intended for users 18 years or older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss)
Hearing Protection feature helps users minimize exposure to loud environmental noise across listening modes (available in the United States and Canada)
Features require AirPods Pro 2 with firmware version 7B19 or later. All features may not be available for all countries or regions, for more information visit: https://apple.com/airpods-pro/feature-availability/
This update also includes the following improvements:
Control Center has new options to add connectivity controls individually and reset your configuration
Game Center friend invites can be sent directly from the Contacts app and Friend Suggestions and receivers can see the invites in the inbox in Settings
Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/100100
iPadOS 18.0.1
This update enables iPad Pro with M4 to update to iPadOS 18 and provides important bug fixes and security updates for your iPad including:
Messages may unexpectedly quit when replying to a message with a shared Apple Watch face
Performance may be impacted due to an issue with memory allocation on some iPad models
For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:
https://support.apple.com/100100
iPadOS 18
Home Screen
Flexible arrangement to place app icons and widgets in any open position on the Home Screen, such as along the bottom or off to the side, to create the ideal layout for each page
Dark icons give your Home Screen look a darker aesthetic, and can automatically adjust when your iPad enters Dark Mode, or always appear dark
Color tinting lets you apply any color to app icons and widgets or have iPadOS suggest a color that complements your wallpaper
Larger icons allow you to make all the app icons and widgets on your screen appear larger, removing the name underneath
Photos
Photos app redesign features the biggest update ever with a simplified layout that puts everything into a single view
Collections automatically organize your library by helpful topics that you can browse in a collage, grid, as a memory, or on a map
Customization options let you reorder, add, and remove Collections rows, and add just the items you want to Pinned Collections to keep within easy reach
Groups in People and Pets include photos of your favorite people or pets who frequently appear together
Trips automatically organizes your travels into collections so you can relive each trip
Recent Days lets you view your recent photos organized by day without clutter like screenshots
Filter button in the grid helps you reduce clutter by filtering to specific media types, your favorites, or by hiding screenshots from the view
Video speed control lets you slow down high frame rate video content with in and out points
Utilities includes additional helpful collections like Documents, Receipts, QR codes, and more, and items you’ve recently edited, viewed, and shared
Recovered album in Utilities surfaces images that are on your device but were not previously visible due to database corruption in a locked album
Messages
Text effects bring your conversations to life by visually amplifying any letter, word, phrase, or emoji in iMessage with dynamic, animated effects like explode, ripple, and nod
Text formatting lets you add bold, underline, italics, and strikethrough to any letter, word, or phrase in iMessage
Emoji and sticker Tapbacks allow you to react to a message using any emoji or sticker, giving you access to the Tapbacks you and your friends send the most with just a swipe
Send Later enables you to compose a message now and schedule it to send later
Control Center
Redesigned Control Center features convenient groups of controls, the ability to arrange controls just the way you want, and support for controls from third-party apps
Groups of controls can be accessed by continuously swiping from the right edge, including your most used controls, Home controls, Media Playback and Connectivity, with the option to build out entirely new groups too
Controls gallery displays the full set of available controls, including controls from third-party apps, that you can add right into the group you choose
Resizable controls let you drag from the lower right of a control from within Control Center
Lock Screen
Custom Lock Screen controls let you choose controls from the controls gallery from your favorite apps
Font options allow you to customize the time with 10 new numeral scripts in Bangla, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Kannada, Malayalam, Meitei, Odia, Ol Chiki, Telugu, and Urdu
Notes
Handwriting Refinement automatically refines your handwritten text in real-time to be smoother, straighter, and more legible (iPad models with A14 Bionic, or M1 and above)
Paste as Handwriting lets you copy text from a webpage, document, or email and paste it in your own handwriting (iPad models with A14 Bionic, or M1 and above)
Handwriting Reflow allows you to paste in the middle of paragraph or add some space and your written text will automatically reflow to fit your content
Check Spelling for Handwriting underlines spelling errors and can fix them while keeping your own writing style (iPad models with A14 Bionic, or M1 and above)
Math in Notes let you enter expressions and equations while typing or writing with your Apple Pencil to have them solve in your note
Math Notes from Calculator automatically sync to your Notes in the Math Notes Smart Folder
Audio recordings can be started right from inside a note, and kept with related comments, checklists, and documents
Live transcriptions show as you record audio, and transcripts are fully searchable so you can always find what you need (iPad models with A14 Bionic, or M1 and above)
Collapsible sections help you simplify and hide text in long notes; just tap next to a section header to lighten up your most text-heavy notes
Highlight text in your note with a choice of five colors allows you to make your text standout
Calculator
Math Notes let you evaluate expressions, assign variables and even draw graphs by simply typing or writing out math
Solve written math naturally by writing out an equation horizontally or even vertically using Apple Pencil, and Math Notes will solve your expressions inline as soon as you write an equals sign
Solve typed math in Math Notes, or type out math in other apps like Messages and Mail to see results as suggestions in your keyboard
Variables let you assign a value to letters and words like “x=10” and can then be used to quickly solve an expression or graph and equation
Graphs help you visualize written or typed equations, and can be zoomed in on, panned around, resized, or combined to show multiple equations at the same time
History shows you your previous calculations so you can quickly get back to them or copy results to use in other apps
Unit Conversions allow you to quickly convert categories of units like length, weight, currencies and more
Gaming
Game Mode minimizes background activity to sustain the highest frame rates and dramatically improves responsiveness with wireless accessories like game controllers and AirPods
Safari
Distraction Control helps you hide items on a webpage that you find disruptive to your browsing
Highlights surface key information from the webpage you’re visiting with summaries, locations, and more
Redesigned Reader offers even more ways to enjoy articles with a streamlined view of the article you’re reading, a summary, and a table of contents for longer articles
Passwords
Passwords app lets you see all your credentials for websites and apps in one place, making it even easier to access your passwords, passkeys, Wi-Fi passwords, and verification codes
Verification codes for two factor authentication can be set up right in Passwords so you can easily copy them or autofill them into Safari without opening an authenticator app
Secure syncing ensures your accounts saved in Passwords sync seamlessly with iCloud with end-to-end encryption so you can access them on your other devices
Windows support through the iCloud Passwords app so you can access your passwords on Windows devices
SharePlay
Ask to share lets someone share their screen with you from Messages or while in a FaceTime call
Draw to highlight lets you tap and draw directly on the screen being shared with you, helping your friends and family take the right actions on their own screen
Remote control lets you assist more directly, you can ask for permission to remotely control their device and take the actions yourself. Only known contacts can request control and the device owner’s actions will always take preference over remote ones
Freeform
Scenes allow you to organize your content into sections, then save, label and order them as you like
Send a Copy of your board with a link that anyone can use on their iPhone, iPad or Mac
Handwriting Recognition allows you to select, search, translate, and copy the handwriting in your board as text
Improved Diagramming lets you join objects together with magnetic connection lines that can be anchored anywhere
Snap to Grid makes it easier to precisely align content of your board
Math Results lets you write out a basic or scientific expression with an equals sign and you’ll see results inserted or suggested inline on your board
Designed for iPad
Redesigned tab bar floats above your app’s content so you can focus on what matters and your favorite tabs stay within easy reach
Updated sidebar gives you access to more within your apps, you can easily switch from the tab bar to an updated Sidebar that lets you dive deeper into your apps functionality like your list of playlists in Music, or all your favorite channels in the Apple TV app
Updated Document Browser gives apps a distinct new look while also helping you jump back to your most recent documents more quickly in Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and Swift Playgrounds
Refined Animations and fluid gestures in your apps make them feel even more delightful, responsive and fun
Privacy
Locked apps let you protect your sensitive apps and the information inside them by requiring Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode to open them and hiding the content from search, notifications, and other places across the system
Hidden apps have the same protections as locked apps, plus they are placed in a new hidden apps folder that is locked, and you won't receive notifications or calls from the app
Improved Contacts permission empower you to choose which contacts to share with an app
Improved Bluetooth pairing lets you pair accessories seamlessly while keeping them private
Maps
Topographic maps display features like trails, contour lines, elevation, and points of interest
Hikes are available across all U.S. national parks and can be saved to your device to access while offline
Custom walking and hiking routes can be created with just a few taps for hikes in the park, regular exercise routines in your neighborhood, walking tours while on vacation, and more
Places Library combines all your saved places, guides, and hiking routes into one location for easy access
Apple TV app
InSight delivers real-time information for every live-action Apple TV+ movies and shows that complements what you’re watching onscreen
Enhance Dialogue enables you to hear what’s being said onscreen more clearly, especially when loud effects or music is playing
Subtitles automatically appear at just the right times, like when the content language doesn’t match your device language, when you mute the audio, or when you skip back while watching a program
This release also includes other features and improvements:
Calendar lets you create, view, edit and complete reminders alongside with your events
Recently Deleted list in Reminders lets you view and retrieve deleted reminders
Guest access in Home app lets you provide visitors with date and time- based access to locks, garage doors, and alarm systems
Electricity usage and rate plan information in Home app are displayed for eligible customers when connecting their utility account, starting with Pacific Gas and Electric Company in California
Repair Assistant prompts you to configure the genuine Apple parts replaced on your device after a repair (iPad Air models with M2 and iPad Pro models with M4)
This release includes even more features and improvements. For more information, please visit this website: https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-18
Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/100100