GoKawiilAt its Worldwide Developers Conference Monday, Apple introduced iPadOS 27, which will infuse more AI features into the system running its iPad and iPad Pro tablets.
In addition to long-awaited advancements to the personal assistant Siri, the main improvements in the iPad's operating system focus less on big feature additions and more on smoothing out your everyday activities. Many of these enhancements are being added throughout Apple's product lineup, from iPhones to Macs.
They include a Spotlight expansion that brings the system-level search feature in line with Spotlight on MacOS and the new Siri AI features, the ability to hand over organization of tabs in Safari to AI, and a method of creating automations in the Shortcuts app by writing or speaking requests using natural language dictation.
Apple is expected to release the iPadOS 27 developer beta today, and the final version will ship in September or October if the company follows its traditional release schedule.
Spotlight search gets a Siri boost
Spotlight, the search bar that appears when you swipe down from the middle of the iPad screen, is due to get smarter in iPadOS 27, getting closer in features to what currently exists in MacOS. In addition to locating apps, files and documents stored on the device, the new Spotlight search will let you type natural-language requests for Siri AI to process. Apple also says it has rearchitected the index of what's on your device, and new information is indexed more quickly.
It also becomes a place to ask Siri to act on information, such as delivering the latest weather and adding calendar appointments. Siri's Visual Intelligence can be activated by taking a screenshot or pointing the camera at objects around you.
Let AI organize your tabs in Safari
How much time do you spend trying to track down a website's tab in Safari that you're sure you've opened but can't locate? It's all too easy to accumulate dozens of tabs when shopping or researching topics. The new Organize Tabs feature in Safari, which will be implemented across Apple's devices, is designed to do the sorting for you, making it easier to bring up tabs more quickly.
It resembles the Use Stacks feature on MacOS, where a mess of document icons on the Desktop gets sorted into groups based on file types like images or PDF documents, or other criteria such as modification date.
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