iPads for long have only been entertainment devices. The sheer size and technology that Apple bundled in the iPads were not recognized only until recently. While consuming content remains one of the biggest use cases for iPads, people have slowly realized the potential it actually has as an independent device.
iPads have become very powerful. Up to an extent where you can do almost everything on it that you would do on your computers. Barring the programs that require high end computing, iPads are capable of pulling off all the tasks in the form of apps.
What are iPad Apps?
iPad apps are apps designed for iPads. While most iPad apps are just a bigger version of the iPhone apps, there are many apps that are dedicated for the usage only on iPads. The basic difference between an iPad app and any other mobile phone app is in the aspect ratio. A smart iPad app development service provider would know the fact that the iPad can offer a lot more than just a larger screen. iPad apps can include a lot of detail and functionality on a single page due to the size of it.
How are iPad Apps Different?
The basic difference between an app on iPad and an app on iPhone is the software they run on. iPhones have the iOS while the iPads run on the iPadOS. There is not much of a difference between the main functionalities of both the software. However, because of the better and bigger hardware capabilities of an iPad, there are some things that apps on iPadOS can do which apps on iOS can’t.
Here are a few things to consider when you make an app for iPad.
Screen
The most striking difference between the two devices is the screen. The iPad of course has a bigger screen and can accommodate more matters in it. This changes the whole design language of an app. While designing an app for the iPad, you must ensure that you have realigned all the menus and you have resized all the pictures in your app screens. The fonts too play a big role. You might have only 2 font sizes available for an app on iPhone. For iPad though, you can select more than 2 sizes of fonts for different headings.
Memory
The iPadOS has a mode called Virtual Memory Swap that, if needed by an app, expands upon the available memory to function. iPads are built to do a lot more than just viewing. They offer extra temporary storage to the apps to run heavy functions. The iPadOS 16 offers up to 16GB of memory to the apps to run their programs on it. This changes the whole game in terms of user experience. Some apps offer unbelievable visual and functional features because of the availability of more storage space.
Home Screen
Home screens are completely redesigned for both iOS and iPadOS. The new home screen enables your apps to feature as widgets. This is a great way for users to interact with the iPad apps without having to even open them. These widgets can show call to action buttons of popular features, latest content or even relevant images in the thumbnail size. This is a great way to grab the attention of the users’ right from the home screen without a single interaction with the actual app.
Desktop Features
iPads are a great bridge between mobile phones and actual desk computers. They offer all major desktop-like functionalities to all their apps. Features like undoing something, context menu that has options like close, save and duplicate, find and replace, copy and drag, auto suggestions in fields, availability view in calendar, etc. These features offer great desktop-like functionality to those apps.
Pencil
The Apple Pencil is a very strong tool that has gained a lot of momentum. With the help of the pencil tool, users can crop and select a certain portion of your app’s screen. iPadOS then suggests relevant actions like copy the object, text or even select the color pallet. This is a very intuitive feature and if done right, it can offer great inter-app collaboration.
Conclusion
iPad apps offer a lot of features that take your apps to a whole new level. Apart from the features from the app, the device and the OS itself offers a lot that can change the way your app appears to the users. It is very essential that your app adapts to the hardware and software changes apart from the screen aspect ratio. If utilized well, your iPad app can become the closest thing to a computer software.
