New features available with iPadOS 16.

iPadOS 16 has new features to make iPad more intuitive, more customizable, and more capable.

Key Features and Enhancements

iCloud Shared Photo Library

Share a photo library with your family

Share a separate iCloud photo library with up to five other people.

Smart setup rules

Share all your past photos, or use setup tools to contribute specific photos based on start date or people.

Smart sharing suggestions

Contribute photos manually, or use smart features to make sharing seamless, like a switch in Camera, automatic sharing using Bluetooth proximity, and sharing suggestions in For You.

Collaborate on the collection

Everyone has equal permissions to add, edit, favorite, caption, and delete.

Relive more complete memories

Enjoy shared photos in Memories, Featured Photos, and the Photos widget.

Messages

Edit a message

You can edit a message for up to 15 minutes after sending it. Recipients will be able to see a record of edits made to the message.1

Undo send

Unsend any message for up to 2 minutes after sending it.

Mark as unread

Mark messages as unread when you don’t have time to respond but want to be sure to reply to the sender later.

Recover recently deleted messages

You can recover recently deleted messages for up to 30 days after deleting them.2

SharePlay via Messages

Share synchronized activities like movies, music, workouts, games, and more with friends while chatting in Messages.

Shared with You API

Developers can build a Shared with You section into their app, so when someone sends you a video or article that you don’t have time to check out at the moment, it will be easy to find the next time you open the app.

Collaboration invitations

Send an invitation to collaborate on a project in Messages, and everyone on the thread will automatically be added to the document, spreadsheet, or project. Compatible with Files, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, Notes, Reminders, and Safari, as well as third‑party apps.

Collaboration updates

When someone makes an edit, you’ll see activity updates at the top of the Messages thread. Tap the updates to get back to the shared project.

Messages Collaboration API

Developers can integrate their app’s collaboration experiences with Messages and FaceTime, making it easy to initiate and manage collaboration from the places where you’re communicating with your collaborators.

Audio message playback

Fast‑forward or rewind audio messages as you listen.

Mail

Smart search corrections

Intelligent search improves your results by correcting typos and using synonyms for your search terms.3

Smart search suggestions

See a richer view of shared content and more from the moment you begin to search for email messages.

Missing recipients and attachments

Get notified if you forget to include an important part of your message, like an attachment or a recipient.3

Undo send

Easily unsend an email message that you just sent before it reaches the recipient’s inbox.4

Scheduled send

Schedule email to be sent at the perfect moment.

Follow‑up

Move sent email messages to the top of your inbox so you can quickly send a follow‑up.3

Remind me

Never forget about an email that you opened but didn’t get back to. Select a date and time to have messages resurface in your inbox.

Rich link

Add rich links that give your email messages more context and details at a glance.

BIMI support

Easily identify authenticated email messages with BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) verified brand iconography.

Safari

Shared Tab Groups

Share a set of tabs with friends. Everyone can add their own tabs and see the Tab Group update instantly as you work together.

Tab Group start pages

Tab Groups have dedicated start pages that you can customize with a background image and favorites.

Pinned tabs in Tab Groups

Customize your Tab Groups with pinned tabs for each group.

New web extension APIs

Enables developers to create more kinds of Safari web extensions.

Web push notifications

Adds support for opt‑in notifications and badging for web apps on your Home Screen. Once enabled, notifications can be managed under Notifications in Settings.

Extensions syncing

See available extensions from your other devices listed in Safari preferences. Once installed, an extension will sync so you only have to turn it on once.

Website settings sync

Settings you’ve set for specific websites, like page zoom and automatic Reader view, will sync across devices.

New languages

Adds support for Arabic, Dutch, Indonesian, Korean, Polish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese in Safari web page translation.

Web page image translation

Added support for translating text in images using Live Text.

Additional web technologies support

Gives developers more power and control over styling and layout of web pages to enable more engaging content.

Strong password editing

Edit strong passwords suggested by Safari to adjust for site‑specific requirements.

Wi‑Fi passwords in Settings

Find and manage your Wi‑Fi passwords in Settings. Reference and share passwords or delete old ones.

Passkeys

Passkeys

Passkeys replace passwords with an easier and safer sign‑in method.

Safe from phishing

Passkeys never leave your device and are specific to the site you created them for, making it almost impossible for them to be phished.

Safe from website leaks

Your private key is never kept on a web server, so you don’t have to worry about website leaks compromising your accounts.

Sign in on other devices

Sign in to websites or apps on other devices, including non‑Apple devices, with your saved passkey by scanning the QR code with your iPhone or iPad and using Face ID or Touch ID to authenticate.

Sync across devices

Passkeys are end‑to‑end encrypted and sync across your Apple devices through iCloud Keychain.

Stage Manager5

Resizable windows

Resize your windows to make them the perfect size for your task. You can even move them around on the center canvas.

Center app

Focus on the app you’re working with without going full screen. The app is positioned prominently in the center, at a size that makes it easy to work with.

Fast access to windows and apps

The window of the app you’re working in is displayed prominently in the center, and your other apps are arranged on the left side in order of recent use.

External display support

Full external display support comes to iPad Pro with the M1 chip, with resolutions up to 6K. Work with different apps on your iPad and external display.6

Access apps on external display

Access your favorite apps and the ones that you used recently from the Dock, or use App Library to find the app you want faster.

Overlapping windows

Create overlapping windows of different sizes in a single view, giving you the control and flexibility to arrange your ideal workspace.

Group apps together

Drag and drop windows from the side or open apps from the Dock to create app sets that you can always tap to get back to.

Drag and drop between iPad and external display

Drag and drop files and windows from your iPad Pro to your external display, and vice versa.

New Display Modes

Reference Mode

Enables the 12.9‑inch iPad Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display to deliver reference color for popular color standards and video formats.7

Reference Mode with Sidecar

Use the 12.9-inch iPad Pro as a secondary reference display for your Mac.7

Display Zoom

A new display scaling setting increases the pixel density of the display so you can view more in your apps.8

Weather

Weather app on iPad

The Weather app comes to iPad, with a design optimized for the larger display, including immersive animations, detailed maps, and tappable forecast modules.

More weather details

Tap any module in the Weather app to reveal a new, deeper set of data.

Animated backgrounds

Enjoy thousands of variations of animated backgrounds that represent the sun position, clouds, and precipitation.

Forecasts

See the most important weather information in a smart layout that adjusts to the current conditions.

Weather maps

View weather maps showing precipitation and temperature. Explore the map alongside the location view or in full screen.

Games

Activity

See your friends’ play activity and achievements all in one place on the redesigned Game Center dashboard and profile.

SharePlay support

Games that use Game Center multiplayer support have SharePlay integration. You can start playing automatically with friends on a FaceTime call.

Contacts integration

Contacts shows your friends’ Game Center profiles. Tap through to see what they are playing and accomplishing in games.

Live Text9

Live Text in videos

Text is completely interactive in paused video frames, so you can use functions like copy and paste, lookup, and translate. Live Text works in Photos, Quick Look, Safari, and more.

Quick actions

Data detected in photos and videos is actionable with a single tap. Track flights or shipments, translate foreign languages, convert currencies, and more.

New languages for Live Text

Live Text adds recognition of Japanese, Korean, and Ukrainian text.

Home

All‑new Home app

The Home app has an all-new design that makes it easier to navigate, organize, view, and control all your accessories. Improvements to the underlying architecture enhance your smart home’s performance and make it more efficient and reliable.10

Whole‑house view

See your entire home at a glance in the redesigned Home tab. Rooms and favorite accessories are integrated into the app’s main tab, giving you easier access to accessories you use most.

Categories

Categories for Lights, Climate, Security, Speakers and TVs, and Water let you quickly access all the relevant accessories organized by room, along with more detailed status information.

Updated sidebar

An updated sidebar layout includes categories and rooms so you can get to them quickly.

New camera view

Up to four camera views are displayed front and center in the Home tab, and with just a scroll, you can see any additional camera views in your home.

Tile design

Accessory tiles have been redesigned so the different accessories are more visually recognizable through shape and color. Accessories can be controlled directly from their tiles by tapping the tile’s icon, or you can tap the accessory name for more detailed controls.

Updated architecture

Enhancements to the underlying architecture enable faster, more reliable performance, especially for homes with many smart accessories. Communicate with and control connected accessories more efficiently from multiple devices at the same time using the Home app.10

Matter support

Matter is a new smart home connectivity standard that will enable compatible accessories to work together seamlessly, across platforms. Matter will allow you to choose from even more compatible smart home accessories and control them with the Home app on Apple devices.11

Family Sharing

Improved child account setup

Set up an account for a child with the right parental controls, right from the start, including easy‑to‑use, age‑appropriate suggestions for media restrictions.

Device setup for kids

Use Quick Start to easily set up a new iOS or iPadOS device for your child with all the appropriate parental controls already in place.

Screen Time requests in Messages

Screen Time requests from your kids now appear in Messages, so it’s easy to approve or decline a request.

Family Checklist

Family Checklist gives you helpful tips and suggestions like updating a child’s settings as they get older, turning on location sharing, or just reminding you that you can share your iCloud+ subscription with everyone.

Desktop‑Class Apps

Customizable toolbars

Customize toolbars to display the buttons for the actions you use most often in your apps so you can quickly access them.

Redesigned toolbar buttons

Revised icons make actions like look up, translate, and share, as well as navigation within apps, easier to use.

Search

A search field appears consistently in the same location and size across apps. It’s coupled with an instant search experience that shows results as you type.

New context menus

A context menu shows common actions such as close, save, and duplicate, making it easy to edit documents and files in apps like Pages and Numbers.

Multiselect context menus

When you select multiple items, new context menus appear that let you apply actions to all of them at once.

Find and replace

Find and replace are available in apps across the system, including Mail, Messages, Reminders, and Swift Playgrounds. The search field is positioned directly above the keyboard, making it easier to find, move, and replace all instances of a word.

Undo and redo in more apps

A consistent inline undo and redo experience is available in Files, Photos, and Calendar.

Copy or drag contacts to Mail

Copy or drag contact cards to an email and easily share contact information.

Availability view in Calendar

When you create meetings in Calendar, a visually rich and easy‑to‑use design shows mutual availability of invited participants.

Column autocomplete in Numbers

See autocomplete suggestions inline when creating tables in Numbers.

Lists in Contacts

Sort your contacts into different lists so you can easily find them later, and send email to everyone on the list at once.

Look for duplicates and merge cards in Contacts

Contacts looks for duplicate entries and merges them into single contact cards, making it easier to find all the information about a contact.

Freeform

Flexible canvas

Freeform’s canvas is perfect for diagramming new projects, aggregating important assets, or just brainstorming on a board limited only by your imagination.

Fully collaborative

With real‑time collaboration, you can view others’ contributions as they add content and make edits, just as if you were together, standing in front of a real whiteboard.

Rich communication

Freeform leverages the Messages Collaboration API so you can see updates from your collaborators right in your conversation in Messages. And you can jump on a FaceTime call with them with just a tap in Freeform.

Draw anywhere

With full support for Apple Pencil, Freeform is designed to provide a great whiteboard experience. Write or draw anywhere on the canvas, then select and move your text or drawings around as needed.

Rich multimedia support

Embed images, video, audio, PDFs, documents, and web links. You can add virtually any kind of file to the canvas and preview it inline, without leaving your board.

Privacy

Pasteboard permission

Apps need your permission before accessing the pasteboard to paste content from another app.

Media streaming improvements

Stream video directly from devices that support non‑AirPlay streaming protocols without having to provide Bluetooth or local network access permission.

Lock Hidden and Recently Deleted albums in Photos

The Hidden and Recently Deleted albums are locked by default and can be unlocked using your iPad authentication method: Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.

Security

Rapid Security Response

Get important security improvements to your devices even faster. These improvements can be applied automatically between standard software updates.

Lockdown Mode

This new security mode provides extreme protection for the very small number of users who face grave, targeted threats to their digital security. It further hardens your device’s defenses and strictly limits certain functions, sharply reducing the attack surface that could potentially be exploited by highly targeted mercenary spyware.

Accessibility

Detection Mode in Magnifier

Get rich descriptions of your surroundings with a new Magnifier mode that contains Door Detection, People Detection, and Image Descriptions.12

Door Detection in Magnifier

Locate a door, read signs or labels around it, and get instructions for how to open the door.12

Buddy controller

Combine inputs from multiple game controllers into one so your care provider or friend can support you in getting to the next level in your game.

Hover Text on iPad

Hover Text is now available on iPad. Easily read input fields, menu items, button labels, and other text.

New accessibility options in Books

New themes and customization options such as bolding text, adjusting line, character, and word spacing, and more.

New languages and voices for VoiceOver and Spoken Content

VoiceOver and Spoken Content are now available in over 20 additional languages and locales, including Bangla (India), Bulgarian, Catalan, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. You can also select from dozens of new voices optimized for assistive features.

Activities in Magnifier

Save your preferred Magnifier controls, including camera, brightness, contrast, filters, and more, for recurring tasks and situations.

Additional customization options for Sound Recognition

Train iPad to listen to sounds that are specific to your environment, such as the beeping sound of an electrical appliance in your kitchen, the precise ring of the doorbell in your home, and more.

Even More

App Clips

Increased size limit

Find and download more immersive App Clips with a 50 percent larger size limit.

Support for Live Activities

Use Live Activities with your App Clips.

Precise location suggestions in Spotlight

See nearby suggested App Clips with increased location precision in Spotlight.

Books

Customizable reading experience

The new reader introduces options that allow you to customize the reading experience for your needs. Choose reading themes for different environments and moods or change font, spacing, text size, and other settings.

Contacts

Message and call status

See any unread messages or missed FaceTime and phone calls from friends and family, right on your Home Screen.

Dictionary

New dictionaries

Five new bilingual dictionaries are available: Bangla–English, Czech–English, Finnish–English, Hungarian–English, and Turkish–English.

FaceTime

Handoff in FaceTime

Move FaceTime calls seamlessly from your iPad to your iPhone or Mac, and vice versa. When you hand off a call, your connected Bluetooth headset transitions to the new device simultaneously.

SharePlay app discovery

See which of your installed apps support SharePlay and open them from the FaceTime controls, or browse new experiences you can share with friends from the App Store.

Collaboration

When you’re collaborating in Files, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, Notes, Reminders, Safari, and supported third‑party apps, you can start a FaceTime call with your collaborators with a tap.

Files

Navigation button

Navigation buttons make file‑related actions more organized and easier to find and let you skip up nested folders.

Sortable columns

Sorting file types are located right on the column headers, making it easier to find what you’re looking for.

Enhanced Open and Save panel

The Files app offers a unified view of Open and Save menus, which makes it easy to save files with related files and rename folders inline to better organize your files. A sidebar shows your external drive and cloud providers in a single place so you can open your files from any location.

Change file extensions

Change file extensions with the rename feature.

View folder size

Shows you the storage size of a folder and all enclosed folders and files.

Focus

Home Screen page suggestions

iPadOS suggests Home Screen pages with apps and widgets that are most relevant to the Focus you’re setting up.

Focus filters

Set boundaries within Apple apps like Calendar, Mail, Messages, and Safari to draw boundaries for each Focus you enable. For example, choose a set of Tab Groups to show up in Safari while in the Work Focus, or hide your work calendar when you’re using the Personal Focus.

Focus filter API

With the new Focus filter API, developers can use the signal that you’re using to enable Focus to hide distracting content.

Focus schedules

Have a Focus turn on automatically at a set time or location or while using a certain app.

Easier setup

Get started with Focus with a personalized setup experience for each option.

Allow and silence list

When you’re setting up a Focus, select apps and people you want to receive notifications from by either allowing them or silencing them.

iCloud+

Hide My Email in apps

Hide My Email is integrated directly into QuickType keyboard suggestions, so you can keep your personal email address private in third‑party apps.

Custom Email Domain

Share your custom domain with people outside your Family Sharing group, purchase a new domain, or enable catch‑all aliases right from iCloud Mail settings.

Inclusive Language

Choose your term of address

Choose your term of address for Canadian French, European French, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese to make your device feel more personal. In Language & Region settings you can choose how you would like to be addressed throughout the system: feminine, masculine, or neuter.

Keyboard

New Shuangpin layout

An additional layout called Changyong is now available for Shuangpin users.

QuickPath for Traditional Chinese

QuickPath is now supported for typing Traditional Chinese using Pinyin.

Cantonese input

Users can now input Cantonese words and phrases using Jyutping and other phonetic methods.

Sichuanese dialect support

Type words and phrases in Sichuanese more easily when using the Simplified Chinese Pinyin keyboard.

New languages for autocorrect

Autocorrect supports three new languages: English (New Zealand), English (South Africa), and Kazakh.

New languages for emoji search

Search for emoji in 19 new languages including Albanian, Armenian, Azeri, Bangla, Burmese, Estonian, Filipino, Georgian, Icelandic, Khmer, Lao, Latvian, Lithuanian, Marathi, Mongolian, Punjabi, Tamil, Urdu, and Uzbek (Latin).

New languages for keyboard layouts

New languages supported are Apache, Dzongkha, Samoan, and Yiddish, and the English Dvorak keyboard is now available.

New emoji

Enjoy more than 21 new emoji, including faces, hand gestures, plants, animals, and food. And choose separate skin tones for each of the pushing hand emoji.

Maps

Multi‑stop routing

Plan a driving route with multiple stops on your iPad and it will automatically sync to your iPhone when you’re ready to go.

Memoji

More sticker poses

Memoji stickers include six new expressive poses.

Contact stickers

All Memoji stickers can be used as contact pictures, and there are three new contact sticker poses to choose from.

More hairstyles

Choose from 17 new and updated hairstyles, including new curly styles, updates to tight curl styles, box braids, and boxer braids.

More headwear

Style your Memoji with a bonnet.

More noses

Choose from more nose options when you customize your Memoji.

More neutral lip colors

Customize your Memoji with more options for a neutral lip color.

Music

Keep track with favorites

Keep track of the artists you care about most with new music notifications and improved recommendations.

Music Recognition

History sync

Songs identified with Music Recognition in Control Center now sync with the Shazam app.

Notes

Enhanced Smart Folders

Automatically organize notes in a Smart Folder based on powerful new filters. Create rules for Date Created, Date Modified, Shared, Mentions, Checklists, Attachments, Folder, Quick Notes, Pinned Notes, and Locked notes.

Lock with passcode

Encrypt locked notes end‑to‑end with your iPad passcode.

Notes grouped by date

Notes are grouped by chronological categories like Today and Yesterday for easy reference in your list and gallery views.

Shapes and arrows

Insert simple shapes like boxes and arrows into the drawing area using your finger or Apple Pencil.

Text boxes

Add typed text in editable text boxes within the drawing area of your note.

Screenshots in Quick Note

Add screenshots to your Quick Note with a tap from the share menu.

Handwriting straightening

Select handwriting in a note and automatically straighten it for neater written notes.

Rotate images

Rotate images added to the drawing area.

Collaborate with a link

Share notes that allow anyone with the link to join.

Filter by any or all

Choose whether to filter for any or all of the criteria in a Smart Folder or the Tag Browser.

New tools

Write or draw in Notes with Watercolor, Monoline or Fountain.

Apple Pencil hover tilt and azimuth

Preview your mark at any angle before you make it with tilt and azimuth support through Apple Pencil hover.

Photos

Duplicate detection

Photos identifies duplicate photos in Albums > Utilities so you can quickly clean up your library.

Lock Hidden and Recently Deleted albums

The Hidden and Recently Deleted albums are locked by default and can be unlocked using your iPad authentication method: Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.

Copy and paste edits

Copy the edits you’ve made to a photo and paste them onto another photo — or a batch of photos.

Sort people alphabetically

Sort your People album alphabetically.

Undo and redo edits

Undo and redo multiple edit steps in your photos.

Tap to restart a video in Memories

When a video is playing in a memory, tap to restart the video and play it from the beginning while the music continues to play.

New memory types

New memory types for This Day in History and children playing.

Turn off featured content

Disable Memories and Featured Photos from appearing in Photos and in the Photos widget.

Podcasts

Designed for iPad

New, customizable sidebar menu designed specifically for iPad. Find the right podcast and browse the catalog with improved navigation.

Reminders

Pinned lists

Pin your favorite lists to get to them quickly.

Templates

Save a list as a template to reuse it for routines, packing lists, and more. Create a link to publish and share a template with others, or download templates that others have shared.

Completed Smart List

View all your completed reminders in one place, along with details like time of completion.

Improved Scheduled and Today Lists

Time- and date-based grouping makes it easier to view and add reminders. The Today List is grouped by Morning, Afternoon, and Tonight to help divide your day. The Scheduled List has new week and month groups to help with longer‑term organization.

Improved list groups

Tap a group to see a combined view of the lists and reminders it contains.

Notifications in shared lists

Get notifications when tasks are added to or completed in your shared lists.

Richer notes

Create bullets and underline, bold, or strike through text when adding notes to your reminders.

Filter by any or all

Choose whether to filter for any or all of the criteria in a Custom Smart List or the Tag Browser.

Settings

AirPods Settings

Access and customize AirPods features and settings in one place. When AirPods are connected, an AirPods menu will appear at the top of Settings.

Known Networks editing

The Known Networks list in Wi‑Fi settings lets you delete known networks and quickly view network information.

Spotlight

Image search in more apps

Spotlight uses information from images in Messages, Notes, and Files to enable searching by locations, people, scenes, or even things in the images, like text, a dog, or a car.13

Quick actions

Use Spotlight to quickly take action. Start a timer, turn on a Focus, find the name of a song with Shazam, run any shortcut, and more. Search for an app’s name to see shortcuts available for the app, or create your own using the Shortcuts app.

Expanded rich results

Receive rich results when searching for businesses and sports leagues and teams.

Stocks

Earnings dates

See the date for a company’s upcoming earnings report and add it to your calendar.

Multiple watchlists

Create multiple custom watchlists to organize the tickers you follow. Group symbols using any criteria you choose, such as sector, asset type, ownership status, and more.

New widget options

Use a new two‑column layout in the medium‑size and large Stocks widgets to see even more symbols.

System

DriverKit

DriverKit provides developers with a modern, secure way to build support for audio, USB, and PCI hardware devices connected to iPad.

Virtual memory swap

iPad storage can be used to expand the available memory for all apps and delivers up to 16 gigabytes of memory for the most demanding apps.14

New languages

New system languages include Bulgarian and Kazakh.

Tips

Collections

You can now access collections by theme and interest.

TV App

Sports: Live Updates on Lock Screen

When you can’t watch your favorite sports matchups, Live Activities allow you to follow along right on your Lock Screen with scores and play by play.

Visual Look Up

Lift subject from background

Lift the subject from an image or isolate the subject by removing the background. This works in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, Safari, and more.15