About iPadOS 16 Updates

iPadOS 16 takes the versatility of iPad even further with powerful new productivity and collaboration features. iCloud Shared Photo Library makes it easy to keep your family photos up to date. Messages adds the ability to edit or undo a sent message and new ways to start and manage collaborations. Mail has new inbox and compose tools, and Safari adds Shared Tab Groups and next-generation security with passkeys. Stage Manager introduces an entirely new way to multitask on iPad allowing you to work with multiple overlapping windows and easily switch between them.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

iPadOS 16.1

iPadOS 16.1.1

This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

iPadOS 16.7.6

This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

iPadOS 16.7.5

This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

iPadOS 16.7.4

This update fixes an issue where built-in Apple apps that have been deleted may not reinstall.

iPadOS 16.7.3

This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/HT201222

iPadOS 16.7.2

This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/HT201222

iPadOS 16.7.1

This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/HT201222

iPadOS 16.7

This update provides important bug fixes and security updates and is recommended for all users.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/HT201222

iPadOS 16.6.1

This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

iPadOS 16.6

This update provides important bug fixes and security updates and is recommended for all users.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

iPadOS 16.5.1

This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users. It also fixes an issue that prevents charging with the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/HT201222

iPadOS 16.5

This update includes enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPad.

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

Sports tab in Apple News gives easy access to stories, scores, standings, and more, for the teams and leagues you follow
My Sports score and schedule cards in Apple News take you directly to game pages where you can find additional details about specific games
Fixes an issue where Spotlight may become unresponsive
Fixes an issue where Screen Time settings may reset or not sync across all devices

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/HT201222

iPadOS 16.4.1

This update provides important bug fixes and security updates for your iPad including:

Pushing hands emoji does not show skin tone variations
Siri does not respond in some cases

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/HT201222

iPadOS 16.4

This update introduces 21 new emoji and includes other enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPad.

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
Apple Pencil hover adds tilt and azimuth support so you can preview your mark at any angle before you make it in Notes and supported apps on iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation)
Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
Fixes an issue with Apple Pencil responsiveness that may occur while drawing or writing in the Notes app
Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home

iPadOS 16.3.1

This update provides important bug fixes and security updates for your iPad.

This update provides important bug fixes and security updates for your iPad including:

iCloud settings may be unresponsive or incorrectly display if apps are using iCloud
Siri requests for Find My may not work

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/HT201222

iPadOS 16.3

This update introduces Security Keys for Apple ID, and includes other enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your iPad.

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

Security Keys for Apple ID allow users to strengthen the security of their account by requiring a physical security key as part of the two factor authentication sign in process on new devices
Support for HomePod (2nd generation)
Fixes an issue in Freeform where some drawing strokes created with Apple Pencil or your finger may not appear on shared boards
Addresses an issue where Siri may not respond properly to music requests

iPadOS 16.2

This update introduces Freeform, an app that offers a great place to brainstorm and bring your ideas to life. This release also adds Stage Manager improvements, Apple Music Sing, Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, and other features and bug fixes for your iPad.

Freeform

Freeform is a new app for working creatively with friends or colleagues on Mac, iPad and iPhone
A flexible canvas lets you add files, images, stickies, and more
Drawing tools let you sketch anywhere on the canvas with your finger or Apple Pencil

Stage Manager

External display support with resolutions up to 6K available on iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation and later), and iPad Air (5th generation)
Drag and drop files and windows from your compatible device to your connected display, and vice versa
Support for using up to 4 apps on the iPad display and 4 on the external display

Apple Music Sing

A new way to sing along with millions of your favorite songs in Apple Music
Fully adjustable vocals let you duet with the original artist, sing solo, or mix it up
Newly enhanced beat-by-beat lyrics make it even easier to follow along with the music

Advanced Data Protection for iCloud

New option expands the total number of iCloud data categories protected using end-to-end encryption to 23 — including iCloud Backup, Notes, and Photos — protecting your information even in the case of a data breach in the cloud

Game Center

SharePlay support in Game Center for multiplayer games so you can play with the people you are on a FaceTime call with
Activity Widget allows you to see what your friends are playing and achieving in games right from your Home Screen

Home

Improved reliability and efficiency of communication between your smart home accessories and Apple devices

This update also includes the following improvements and bug fixes:

Improved search in Messages allows you to find photos based on their content, like a dog, car, person, or text
Reload and Show IP Address setting enables iCloud Private Relay users to temporarily disable the service for a specific site in Safari
News articles in Weather display information relevant to the weather in that location
Participant Cursors in Notes allow you to see live indicators as others make updates in a shared note
AirDrop now automatically reverts to Contacts Only after 10 minutes to prevent unwanted requests to receive content
Fixes an issue that causes some notes not to sync with iCloud after updates are made
Fixes an issue that may cause Multi-Touch gestures to become unresponsive while using the Zoom accessibility feature

iPadOS 16.1.1

This update includes bug fixes and security updates and is recommended for all users.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/HT201222

iPadOS 16.1

iCloud Shared Photo Library

Separate library for seamlessly sharing photos and videos with up to five other people
Setup rules allow you to easily contribute past photos based on start date or people in the photos when you set up or join a library
Library filters for quickly switching between viewing the Shared Library, your Personal Library, or both libraries together
Shared edits and permissions let everyone add, edit, favorite, caption, and delete photos
Sharing toggle in Camera lets you choose to send photos you take straight to the Shared Library, or enable a setting to share automatically when other participants are detected nearby using Bluetooth

Messages

Edit a message for up to 15 minutes after sending it and recipients see a record of edits
Undo send allows you to recall any message up to 2 minutes after sending it
Mark as unread makes it easy to come back to a conversation later
SharePlay in Messages lets you enjoy activities like watching movies, listening to music, playing games, and more with friends while messaging
Collaboration provides a simple way to invite others to collaborate on a file via Messages and get activity updates in the thread when someone makes an edit to a shared project

Mail

Improved search delivers more accurate, complete results and provides suggestions as soon as you begin to type
Undo send allows you to cancel delivery of a message within 10 seconds of hitting send
Scheduled send for sending an email at a specific day and time
Follow‑up surfaces sent emails that have not been replied to, to the top of your inbox so you can quickly follow‑up
Remind me lets you schedule a date and time to be reminded about an email

Safari and Passkeys

Shared Tab Groups let you share a set of tabs with others and see the Tab Group update instantly as you work together
Tab Group start pages can be customized with different background images and favorites for each Tab Group
Pinned tabs in Tab Groups enable you to pin frequently visited websites for each Tab Group
Safari web page translation adds translation for web pages in Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese, Polish, Indonesian, and Dutch
Passkeys offer support for an easier and safer sign‑in method to replace passwords
Passkey syncing through iCloud Keychain makes your passkeys available across all your Apple devices while keeping them end-to-end encrypted

Stage Manager

A new way to multitask on iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later) and iPad Air (5th generation)
Overlapping and resizable windows allow you to adjust the size of your apps and arrange your ideal workspace
Recent Apps arranged on the left of the screen allow you to quickly switch between apps
App groups allow you to create sets of apps that you can quickly get back to

New Display Modes

Reference Mode delivers reference color for popular color standards and video formats on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display and with Sidecar, use it as a reference display for your Apple silicon Mac
New display scaling setting that increases the pixel density so you can view more in your apps on iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation and later) and iPad Air (5th generation)

Weather

Weather app on iPad is optimized for the larger display, including immersive animations, detailed maps, and tappable forecast modules
Weather maps show precipitation, air quality, and temperature alongside the location view or in full screen
Tappable modules reveal more detail such as hourly temperature or precipitation forecasts for the next 10 days
Air quality displays a color-coded scale for air quality, level and category, and you can view air quality on a map to see related health recommendations, pollutant breakdown, and more
Animated backgrounds represent the sun position, clouds, and precipitation with thousands of variations
Severe weather notifications let you know when a severe weather alert has been issued near you

Game Center

In-Game Dashboard Activity shows you what your friends are accomplishing in this game, and what they are playing and achieving across all games in one place
Game Center Profiles highlight your achievement and leaderboard activity across all of the games you play
Contacts integration shows your friends’ Game Center profiles and lets you see what they are playing and accomplishing in games

Live Text

Live Text video support allows you to interact with text in a paused video frame so you can copy, translate, look up, share, and more available on iPad (8th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) and iPad Pro 11-inch all models
Quick actions let you take action on data detected in photos and videos with a single tap, so you can track flights or shipments, translate foreign languages, convert currencies, and more, available on iPad (8th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) and iPad Pro 11-inch all models

Visual Look Up

Lift subject from background isolates the subject of an image so you can copy and paste it into apps like Mail and Messages, available on iPad (8th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) and iPad Pro 11-inch all models
Visual Look Up adds recognition of birds, insects, spiders, and statues in your photos available on iPad (8th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) and iPad Pro 11-inch all models

Siri

Easy Shortcuts setup makes it possible to run shortcuts with Siri as soon as you download an app with no upfront setup
A new setting allows you to send messages without Siri asking you to confirm before sending
“Hey Siri, what can I do here?” helps you discover Siri capabilities in iPadOS and apps just by asking, available on iPad (8th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) and iPad Pro 11-inch all models
Call hang up option for ending Phone and FaceTime calls with Siri by saying “Hey Siri, hang up”, available on iPad (8th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) and iPad Pro 11-inch all models
Emoji support lets you insert emoji using your voice when sending messages on iPad (8th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) and iPad Pro 11-inch all models

Dictation

All-new Dictation experience supports using your voice along with keyboard or Apple Pencil to enter and edit text, available on iPad (8th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) and iPad Pro 11-inch all models
Automatic punctuation inserts commas, periods, and question marks as you dictate
Emoji support lets you insert emoji using your voice while dictating, available on iPad (8th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) and iPad Pro 11-inch all models

Maps

Multi-stop routing supports adding up to fifteen stops along your driving route in Maps
Transit fares show you how much your journey will cost in the San Francisco Bay Area, London, New York, and more

Home

Redesigned Home app makes it easier to navigate, organize, view, and control your smart home accessories
Home tab now integrates all your accessories, rooms, and scenes into a single tab for a whole-house view, allowing you to see your entire home at a glance
Categories for lights, climate, security, speakers and TVs, and water let you quickly access all the relevant accessories organized by room, and displays more detailed status information
New camera view displays up to four cameras front and center in the Home tab, scroll to see any additional camera views in your home
Redesigned accessory tiles feature more visually recognizable icons that are color-matched to their category, and new behaviors for more precise accessory controls
Matter, the new smart home connectivity standard, is supported enabling a wide variety of smart home accessories to work together across ecosystems

News

My Sports enables you to easily follow your favorite teams and leagues and watch highlights right in the News app
Favorites give you easy access to the channels and topics you read the most, in a consistent place near the top of your Today feed
New homepages deliver visually updated and easier to navigate topic feeds for local news locales, sports teams and leagues, and more

Family Sharing

Improved child account setup makes it easier to create an account for a child with the right parental controls, including age‑appropriate media restrictions
Device setup for a child lets you use Quick Start to easily set up a new iOS or iPadOS device for your child with your selected parental controls in place
Screen Time requests in Messages make it even easier to approve or decline requests from your child
Family Checklist gives you tips and suggestions like updating a child’s parental control settings, turning on location sharing, or just reminding you to share your iCloud+ subscription with everyone

Desktop-Class Apps

Customizable toolbars allow you to add the features you use most often in your apps
Menus provide additional context for actions such as close, save, and duplicate, making it easier to edit documents and files in apps like Pages and Numbers
Find and Replace is available in apps across the system, including Mail, Messages, Reminders, and Swift Playgrounds
Availability view in Calendar shows availability of invited participants when you create meetings in Calendar

Accessibility

Door detection in Magnifier locates a door, reads signs and symbols around it, and gives you instructions for how to open the door
Live Captions (beta) automatically converts audio into text for users who are Deaf or hard of hearing to follow along more easily with calls and media content
Buddy controller helps users with cognitive disabilities get support from a caregiver or friend while playing a game, by combining inputs from multiple game controllers into one
VoiceOver is now available in over 20 new languages and locales, including Bangla (India), Bulgarian, Catalan, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese
Voice Control spelling mode gives you the option to dictate names, addresses, or other custom spellings letter by letter

This release also includes other features and improvements:

New Watercolor, Monoline, and Fountain pens in Notes
AirPods Pro (2nd generation) support, including Find My and Precision Finding for the MagSafe Charging Case as well as Personalized Spatial Audio for a more precise and immersive listening experience, also available on AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro (1st generation), and AirPods Max
Handoff in FaceTime allows you to move FaceTime calls seamlessly from your iPad to your iPhone or Mac, and vice versa
Memoji updates include more sticker poses, hairstyles, headwear, noses, and lip colors
Translate camera lets you translate text around you using the camera in the Translate app
Duplicate detection in Photos identifies duplicate photos so you can quickly clean up your library
Pinned lists in Reminders helps you quickly navigate to your favorite lists
Search on the Home Screen enables Spotlight to be accessed directly from the bottom of the Home Screen, making it easy to open apps, find contacts, or get information from the web
Rapid Security Response gets important security improvements to your devices even faster, as they can be applied automatically between standard software updates

This release includes even more features and improvements. For more information, please visit this website: https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-16/features/

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all iPad models. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

Published Date: March 22, 2024