iPadOS 14 review: We expected more

iPadOS 14 review

Last year, the iPad received its biggest update to date. We therefore felt that iPadOS 13 has matured the iPad. Although things did not always go smoothly in terms of bugs, the iPad was ready for its own platform, iPadOS. This year, Apple is expanding this further with iPadOS 14 and we ask ourselves in this review: is it enough? Because we do miss some useful functions that Apple has promised, but which are not very useful to you as a Dutch-speaking user.

Extensive Apple Pencil support

Let’s just get straight to the point. The most prominent feature of iPadOS 14 is one that you really only find on the iPad, but which does not work well in Dutch.

You can use the Apple Pencil in many more places. For example, you can simply write by hand in a search field and shapes are now automatically recognized while drawing. There is also advanced support for handwriting recognition while jotting down text. That sounds great, but it only works if you have an English language keyboard set up. Otherwise, your browser’s URL box won’t be writable with your Pencil.

It seems to work a bit, if you use short sentences in Dutch, but in the end it turns out to be a frustrating experience with too many spelling mistakes. It happens too often that Apple converts your Dutch text into something similar in English. Apple itself also emphasizes that it only works well in English and Chinese. This eliminates a lot of useful functions for people who like to use their Apple Pencil.

After a little more careful reading of the text on Apple’s iPadOS 14 page, it is mostly confusing. It seems that Apple just wanted to emphasize the fact that Scribble also works in Chinese. But if you look in the small print of the footnotes, again only English and Chinese are mentioned. The Apple Pencil is not mentioned at all on the Dutch version of the iPadOS 14 page.

All those ambiguities make it confusing for an ordinary user: you hear or read about nice new functions and then have to wait and see whether it also works in Dutch. Too bad, maybe it will come sometime in 2025. Or never.

Incidentally, we have read some iPadOS 14 reviews from English-language sites and it turned out that it does not always work well in English either. Only if you write very clearly does the text recognition work flawlessly and instead of moving a text block you sometimes drag the entire app aside.

What, no home screen widgets?

Yet another setback. In iOS 14 for iPhone you will find a new Home screen with many more options than before. You can put widgets (almost) anywhere on your home screen, there is an App Library for all your apps and you can hide home screens for an extra tidy look. Since iOS 14 appeared, we have already made considerable use of it, but you cannot use it on the iPad. We think that’s a big miss. The large screen of the iPad is perfect for displaying many widgets with information.

We would like to see the ability to add at least one or two widgets. For example, you can create a page on your home screen for each app category. Apple is increasingly trying to promote the iPad as a real workhorse. Then we don’t think the option to place widgets anywhere is that crazy. After all, there are no technical objections to supporting it; the iPads are usually more powerful than the iPhones in terms of processor.

Fortunately, new design for widgets

It does not mean that the iPad is completely devoid of widgets. You can use them, but in a separate sidebar. You can also access it from Notification Center. Despite the limitations, the new widgets are a nice addition to the iPad. In particular, the smart stack widget is very useful.

Better navigation through apps

The iPad is more similar to the Mac from iPadOS 14, including a new sidebar in apps. You can now navigate apps in a streamlined way. For example, you can use a sidebar to open folders without having to go all the way to the previous screen. It’s a bit like the Finder interface on the Mac.

You’ll also find a new date picker in the Calendar app in the form of a calendar. We think this is a nice addition, because you can see faster on which day a certain date falls (or vice versa). You will also find a new toolbar in the Calendar app, among other things. This allows you to quickly switch to your incoming invitations, a list view of the calendar or an overview of all your calendars.

Finally, for example, in the Mail app you have a new feature called ‘Popover’. This allows you to quickly switch between inboxes without having to leave the current inbox. Again: just like on the Mac. They are minor additions to app navigation, but they do make apps better.

Spotlight is more like Mac’s

The Spotlight search function has also been addressed. This is now more similar to that of the Mac and now also automatically completes your words, for example. What’s best about Spotlight in iPadOS 14? It works everywhere! Previously, you always had to go to the home screen to search your iPad, even if you were using an external keyboard. From iPadOS 14, Spotlight opens exactly in the app you’re currently using, provided you’re using a keyboard.

The advantage of this is that you can read an app while searching. For example, if you need to find a specific file with a tricky name, you can retype it from Safari if you had it open. Spotlight is therefore much more similar to the Mac version.

App selector and multi-window support still too limited

Leading up to WWDC, we hoped the iPad would do a little more with the app selector. We think this is still very limited for a ‘computer’. You will still only see your recently used apps. That in itself is okay, but slightly more advanced features like sorting by app group would have been nice.

Furthermore, we would like to see Apple spend some more time on multi-window support. At the moment you can use a maximum of 2 apps at the same time, but the iPad can handle much more in terms of processing power. That is why Apple could have supported 4 apps at the same time, all of which, for example, take up 25% of the screen (especially on a 12.9-inch iPad), but that is unfortunately still a thing of the future.

iPadOS 14 lacks many (minor) iOS 14 features

We’ve already highlighted it when it comes to widgets, but there are a lot of features that the iPad doesn’t have that the iPhone does. For example, you cannot search for emoji and there is no Translate app. Moreover, that Translation app is not much use to you, because it does not work in Dutch.

Certainly a Translate app from iOS 14 is a no-brainer for the iPad. It is, after all, a device on which you must be able to process text. Nor is it an app with a complicated interface. We hope that Apple will still add the app and then immediately add Dutch support.

We also want to be able to search for emoji with text, so that you no longer have to scroll through the jungle of images. And there’s still no Calculator and Weather app on the iPad. They are small features that work well on the iPad, but Apple chooses not to make them.

Some iOS features have been adopted

Some small functions are available on the iPad, such as the updated calling screen of iOS 14. Siri also has a new interface on the iPad and there are new iMessage functions in group conversations. It is therefore not the case that Apple has taken over nothing at all.

Conclusion iPadOS 14 review

All in all, we are moderately satisfied with this update. We expected more from Apple, now that iPadOS has been spun off and would receive extra features that are completely tailored to this platform. It had more potential and Apple didn’t get enough out of it in our opinion, especially when we look at the features that were added in iOS 14.

We think the most unfortunate thing is that the widgets, App library and hiding home screens are missing. In addition, there are many functions that do not work in Dutch, such as the Translate app, the Scribble functions and the handwriting recognition. As a result, the list of real innovations becomes very scanty.

Is it a worthless bad update? Not quite. Thanks to the updated Spotlight and improved navigation, the iPad with iPadOS 14 becomes a better replacement for your computer. But we would have liked to see some more productivity features and features that are really tailored to the iPad. These are all small improvements that make using the iPad that little bit more pleasant, such as the renewed calling screen, a smaller Siri interface and the improvements for iMessage. We are also pleased that this update can be installed on no fewer than 17 (!) different iPad models, so almost everyone benefits. And we haven’t actually heard any complaints about the installation.

But the really big leap forward is missing this year.