iOS 13 could be Apple’s biggest iPad-focused upgrade ever

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Apple Smart Keyboard Folio turns the 2018 iPad Pro into a notebook.
Details leaking out ahead of next month’s iOS 13 announcement indicate it will offer plenty for iPad, but iPhone won‘t be overlooked.
Photo: Apple

The unveiling of iOS 13 is expected in less than a month, and a new report spills details on many of the improvements supposedly coming. For iPhone users, iOS 13 is bringing refinements to already existing features. iPad users, on the other hand, are supposedly getting plenty of new capabilities.

Whether tablet or phone, the next version of this operating system is designed to offer faster performance, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

A Dark Mode is also expected for iPhone and iPad, a year after it came to Mac.

iOS 13 brings significant changes to iPad

A major focus of iOS 13 seems to be making iPad even more capable. That includes the ability to run the same app in multiple windows, such as two word processing documents side-by-side. This new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman helps confirm earlier rumors.

The home screen on iPads will also supposedly be redesigned. The current version is very wasteful of space.

iOS 13 will reportedly let an iPad function as an external display for a Mac. This is already possible with third-party products like Luna Display, but the function is supposedly being built into the operating system.

To encourage iPad and iPhone users to read more, the Books app will allegedly add a rewards system.

Bloomberg’s list of changes coming in the next iOS version makes no mention of mouse support for iPad. This was included in a earlier report from a separate source, however.  Improvements to the Files app are also expected, but didn’t make this list.

Changes in iOS 13 for iPhone, and sometimes iPad

Apparently, users should look forward to changes to almost every one of the apps bundled with iOS 13, though Health, Reminders and Screen Time are getting some of the most significant enhancements.

The Health app is getting “revamped,” according to unconfirmed information from Bloomberg. Its home screen is being redesigned to better display activity. And this software will track “hearing health,” including ambient noise and playing music too loudly through headphones.

The Reminders app is also supposedly being redesigned into four sections: “tasks to be done today, all tasks, scheduled tasks, and flagged tasks,” according to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg.

After this update, the Screen Time app that debuted in iOS 12 will allegedly enable parents to block their children from contacting certain people at specific times of the day.

More tweaks in iOS 13

As mentioned. the next version of the iPhone and Pad operating system — supposedly code-named Yukon — will bring tweaks to many of the built-in applications.

Maps will let users add multiple locations to a list of favorites. And speaking of locations, Bloomberg mentions a recent report that Apple is combining Find my Friends and Find my iPhone.

iMessage is reportedly going to let users set a profile picture and a display name. And the iOS 13 Mail application will let users block email from contacts, and mute notifications from threads.

A Sleep Mode is reportedly being added, which could tie in to sleep-tracking devices.

Apple executives are expected to unveil iOS 13, as well as watchOS 6, at a keynote address for the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 3.

 

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