IPadOS
iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPad line of tablet computers. It was given a name distinct from iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones, to reflect the diverging features of the two product lines, such as multitasking. It was introduced as iPadOS 13, reflecting its status as the successor to iOS 12 for the iPad, and first released to the public on September 24, 2019. Major versions of iPadOS are released annually; the current stable version,, was released to the public on.
History
The first iPad was introduced on April 3, 2010, and ran iPhone OS 3.2, which added support for the larger device to the operating system, previously only used on the iPhone and its smaller counterpart, the iPod touch. This shared operating system was rebranded as iOS with the release of iOS 4 in June 2010.The operating system initially had rough feature parity running on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, with variations in user interface depending on screen size, and minor differences in the selection of apps included. However, over time, the variant of iOS for the iPad incorporated a growing set of differentiating features, such as picture-in-picture, the ability to display multiple running apps simultaneously, drag and drop, and a dock that more closely resembled the dock from macOS than the one on the iPhone. Standard iPad apps were increasingly designed to support the optional use of a physical keyboard.
To emphasize the different feature set available on the iPad, and to signal their intention to develop the platforms in divergent directions, at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2019, Apple announced that the variant of iOS that runs on the iPad would be rebranded as "iPadOS". The new naming strategy began with iPadOS 13.1, in 2019.
On June 22, 2020, at WWDC 2020, Apple announced iPadOS 14, with compact designs for search, Siri, and calls, improved app designs, handwriting recognition, better AR features, enhanced privacy protections, and app widgets. iPadOS 14 was released to the public on September 16, 2020.
On June 7, 2021, at WWDC 2021, iPadOS 15 was announced with widgets on the Home Screen and App Library, the same features that came to iPhone with iOS 14 in 2020. The update also brought stricter privacy measurements with Safari such as IP Address blocking so other websites cannot see it. iPadOS 15 was released to the public on September 20, 2021.
On June 6, 2022, at WWDC 2022, iPadOS 16 was announced with a Weather app and Stage Manager, along with most of the features included in iOS 16, excluding a customizable lock screen.
On June 5, 2023, at WWDC 2023, Apple announced iPadOS 17 with support for widgets for the lock screen, a feature originally launched with iOS 16, along with the majority of features announced included in iOS 17. In addition, iPadOS 17 now includes the Apple Health app.
On June 10, 2024, at WWDC 2024, Apple announced iPadOS 18.
On June 9, 2025, at WWDC 2025, Apple announced iPadOS 26.