Apple spent WWDC 2024 adding features to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS that probably should've been there all along. iPadOS 18 brings a Calculator app to the best iPads a stunning 14 years after the first one was introduced. In 2020, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said the iPad didn't have a first-party calculator app because it wanted to make one that would be "distinctly great," or just not have one at all. So, is the Calculator app in iPadOS up to that standard? After spending two days with iPadOS 18 developer beta 1, I think it is. There's just one problem: the Calculator app is basically the only thing about iPadOS that can be described as distinctly great.

Despite the new iPad Pro debuting as the only device in Apple's lineup — computer or tablet — to feature the company's latest M4 silicon, it's still hampered by iPadOS 18. While I wasn't expecting anything like macOS on the iPad at WWDC this year, I definitely didn't expect there to be zero mentions of new multitasking features either. Apple's iPad-first multitasking environment, Stage Manager, didn't get a single mention in the keynote. It's a shame, because every iPad power user knows there's real room for improvement.

Unless you're riveted by the new Calculator app — and I'm sure many students are — the biggest additions to iPadOS 18 come from iOS 18. And, to be clear, that's a big deal. iPadOS has lagged behind iOS in new feature additions for quite a while. iOS 16 got freeform widgets and customizable lock screens, but those features didn't come to iPad until iPadOS 17. Instead, the iPad is getting everything iOS 18 will receive with no wait — including Apple Intelligence, a customizable Home Screen, and more. But keeping pace with iOS isn't enough. iPadOS needs to be more, and it just isn't.

What I like

Math Notes is actually a game-changer for students

It's easy to crack jokes about how long it took Apple to add a calculator to the iPad, but let's give credit where it's due. The new Calculator app in iPadOS 18 is fantastic, even if it isn't entirely new. That's right — there is an app called MyScript that calculates handwritten equations for iPad users already. I've personally used it for years, so I wasn't all that impressed by the basic concept of Math Notes. Looking at the big picture, Math Notes in iPadOS 18 is more impressive. No one is going to whip out their Apple Pencil and draw out a math problem instead of just using the Calculator app normally. However, the real idea behind Math Notes is to give you a calculator right in your digital notebook, which is much cooler.

I probably would've used the Calculator and Notes app in iPadOS 18 for math classes in high school and college. For what it's worth, I've already had friends and family in college reach out about how excited they are about Math Notes. The game-changer for me is how the Calculator app and Math Notes can automatically chart perfect graphs for algebraic equations. After drawing the equation, a pop-up will appear with an Insert Graph button. When you tap it, a perfect graph will be drawn in real time and inserted into your note. I may have bought an iPad just for this feature back when I was studying algebra and precalculus. On that note, beta testers smarter than me have figured out Math Notes doesn't understand calculus, so there is a limit to be reached.

Smart Script fixes my awful handwriting

My trusty third-generation iPad Pro got me through college, and Smart Script would've been a godsend during my studies. It identifies the characteristics of your handwriting to retain your personality, but smoothens and straightens your handwriting in real time. Though Apple spoke about both Math Notes and Smart Script in relation to the Apple Pencil, I can confirm that both features absolutely work with just your finger. However, it may not work with all iPad models. Smart Script worked immediately on my M4 iPad Pro, but is nowhere to be found on my third-gen iPad Pro. Apple is using an on-device machine learning model to recreate your handwriting, and this could create a hardware limitation.

Still, on the devices that can use it, Smart Script is an incredibly useful tool. As someone with messy handwriting on paper that's even worse on tablets, it'll make it so that I can actually read my notes too. My favorite feature is that when you edit or delete a word in a note, everything around it will reshuffle to fill in the empty space. The iPad is already a great product for students, and Smart Script and Math Notes in iOS 18 lean into that heavily.

Home Screen and Control Center overhauls are nice here, too

I already took a complete look at the new Home Screen and Control Center in my iOS 18 developer beta 1 hands-on, but I'll briefly touch on it here. The new customization options, which let you place apps or widgets anywhere on the Home Screen, are even more useful on the iPad than on the iPhone. There's more space to use, and this adds more ways to fill it up with widgets, apps, and more.

The new Control Center feels like less of an upgrade to iPadOS 18 than iOS 18. There's so much space on the iPad that I can't help but wonder what a fully-expanded Control Center would look like in a one-page format. It feels silly to swipe through tiny pages in the top right corner of your iPad's screen when the rest of it is completely unused. Perhaps if Apple wanted to keep the Control Center consolidated, it could show other types of information — like notifications — beside it. Either way, there's room for improvement.

What I don't like

Hey Siri, why can't iPadOS be more like macOS?

It's been hashed out endlessly at this point, but Apple really dropped the ball by not adding more productivity and multitasking features to iPadOS 18. The new iPad Pro has too high of a price and too much power to be limited by iPadOS in its current state. The fact that Stage Manager didn't even get a mention at WWDC shows how little Apple cares about making the iPad better for getting real work done. People like to suggest that iPad users wanting a better experience just don't get the point of the iPad. That's ridiculous, because the iPadOS pointer — which you use with official Apple accessories, like the Magic Keyboard — is incapable of selecting certain UI elements in iPadOS apps and on websites.

Whether you're doing literal rocket science or just trying to draw on an iPad, there are frustrating things about iPadOS that aren't up to par in 2024. I had hope for iPadOS 18, but using the developer beta felt exactly like using iPadOS 17. Nothing in my workflow materially changed from Apple's improvements to iPadOS 18. Maybe when Apple Intelligence launches this fall things will change, but I doubt it. Until Apple starts making iPadOS good enough to keep up with the iPad Pro's hardware, I'll have a hard time recommending it.

The new tab bar is inconsistent

The last thing I'll note about iPadOS 18 developer beta 1 is that the new central navigation tab is inconsistent. It won't appear in places you expect (Apple TV), but will appear in places you don't (App Store). This navigation tab feels like it was pulled straight from tvOS and visionOS, and I'm all for Apple's operating systems having a streamlined and consistent user interface. However, if more iPadOS 18 apps don't take up this UI before launch, it'll be a strange and inconsistent new feature.

It's another underwhelming update for iPad users

Maybe Apple Intelligence can save it, but probably not

At some point, it seems foolish to keep expecting or hoping for Apple to revitalize iPadOS with more desktop-class features. To me, the fact that Apple did nothing to Stage Manager with iPadOS 18 shows it just isn't concerned about the same things iPad users are. iPadOS 18 marks the first time every meaningful new iOS feature is coming to the iPad in the same year. However, that kind of emphasizes the problem with iPadOS. It's keeping pace with iOS, but it's not doing anything more to stand out.