iPadOS 17

Is Apple's trusty tablet lagging behind the rest of the roster?

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Interactive Widgets

In iPadOS 17, Widgets are interactive. If, for example, you have reminders set up in the Reminders widget, you can not only check your list, but you can also tap one and mark it as done. This functionality is made available to third-party developers so they can incorporate it into their own apps’ Widgets too.

It’s the same old story. With this year’s iPadOS update, Apple’s tablet gets what the iPhone got last year. The new Lock Screen and Live Activities from iOS 16 finally arrive on the iPad with iPadOS 17, but there’s no sign of the iPhone’s latest new features such as StandBy. We are, however, getting FaceTime Messages, inline replies in the Messages app and an improved keyboard and dictation, so maybe Apple is looking to let iPadOS finally catch up over the next couple of revisions? We certainly hope so.

"With interactive widgets on the Lock Screen, updates to PDFs and Notes, as well as enhancements to Messages and FaceTime, iPadOS gives users even more ways to get thing's done easier and faster than ever.."

Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering

The Lock Screen