What's new in iPadOS 14? Which iPads will support iPadOS 14?

Apple’s WWDC has rolled out as scheduled and a slew of upcoming software upgrades and features is upon us. After announcing iOS 14, Apple also took some time to talk about what’s new in iPadOS 14. Well… here we go!

New sidebars and redesigned apps

Apple’s core apps will be redesigned to improve workflow and make use of the rather large screens that Apple’s tablets have. We haven’t seen all of them, but the Photos and Notes have this sidebar, which seems to be persistent, which will house shortcuts to libraries and notebooks, as well as buttons for editing and rearranging your content.


The Files app has also been touched up, with the “New Folder” and “Sort” buttons no longer hidden, but persistent at the top of the screen, which is nice.

Widgets coming to iPadOS 14

Just like iOS 14, iPadOS 14 will get the new widgets. This means they will no longer be tucked away in your left-most homescreen (or to the left of the lockscreen), but you can resize and freely rearrange them along all of your homescreens.

Universal Search

We all know the search function in iOS — you swipe down from your homescreen and you get this all-encompassing search function, which can look for contacts, apps, news, and even initiate a web search.

In iPadOS 14, it’s getting a slight redesign — it will now be a floating window, which can appear over your current apps (so you don’t need to navigate back to the homescreen to initiate a search) and it will be able to look for information within apps. Yes, this was available before as well, but as a more barebones search, which mostly worked within Apple’s core apps only. Now, it’ll have support for 3rd party apps and will perform a deeper search overall.

Scribble me softly

A huge new feature for the Apple Pencil is what Apple calls “Scribble”. iPadOS 14 will now be able to recognize and transform handwritten text to typewritten text instantly. Even if you want to write something within a searchbar — you will no longer need to put the Pencil down and type it on the keyboard. Instead, you will be able to… well, Scribble it over the searchbar, and it’ll instantly become written text.

You will also be able to highlight scribbled notes, copy them, and paste them into a typewriting app — iPadOS 14 will intelligently transform and paste it accordingly.

Scribble will recognize multiple languages automatically. English and Chinese were demonstrated, we don’t know how many will be available at launch.

Additionally, if you highlight a phone number, an address, or date, iPadOS 14 will recognize it as such and intelligently suggest the appropriate action (call, navigate, etc.).

Last but not least, when taking handwritten notes with drawn shapes, Scribble will be able to detect what shape you were trying to draw and… you know — straighten your lines a little. It’s OK, we’re not all artists.

Which iPads will get iPadOS 14?

So, will your iPad be compatible with iPadOS 14? It’s very probable. We have a wide range of iPads with confirmed iPadOS 14 compatibility.


First up is the iPad Air 2, probably setting the record for longest-supported tablet ever. The iPad Air 2 was released in Fall of 2014, which makes it almost 6 years old. Its Apple A8X processor is getting quite long in the tooth already… but it still gets software updates.

So, anything newer than the iPad Air 2 will also get the update. Here’s the full list!

• iPad Air 2
• iPad mini 4
• iPad Pro (all generations)
• The base iPad (2017, 2018, 2019)
• iPad Air (2019)
• iPad mini (2019)

When will iPadOS 14 release?

Historically, new iOS (and therefore iPadOS) releases come out in September. "Fall of 2020", Apple says. So, that's what we're going with.