Apple has revealed iPadOS 18, its latest refresh to the iPhone maker’s tablet lineup — including new features like something iPad owners like me have been wanting for so long, an iPad calculator app.
Apple SVP Craig Federighi walked through the iPad software changes during the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference — always a much-anticipated tech industry event, and this year all the more so. Today was also the day that Apple finally answered the doubters who’ve been nagging at the company for months over the perception that the iPhone maker is falling behind in the AI boom, which you can read more about right here.
As for iPadOS 18, here’s an overview of some of the software changes in store for iPad owners this fall.
In addition to the new Calculator app (finally!), there are new handwriting tools in the Notes app designed specifically for Apple Pencil. iPad users now have more ways to customize the Home Screen and Control Center, in addition to users getting all sorts of new ways to express themselves via the Messages app — while Apple has also given the Photos app its biggest update ever.
By far, though, my favorite new feature coming to iPadOS is the Calculator app, and here’s what Apple says about it.
“An all-new Math Notes calculator allows users to type or write out mathematical expressions and see them instantly solved in their own handwriting. They can also assign values to variables when learning new concepts in class, calculating a budget, and more. With a new graphing feature, users can write or type an equation and insert a graph with just one tap, and can even add multiple equations on the same graph to see how they relate. And Math Notes are automatically accessible in the Notes app in the new Math Notes folder.”
Additionally, History helps users keep track of previous calculations, and unit conversions let users quickly convert length, weight, currencies, and more. Check out the new calculator in action below.
