iOS 14 vs. iPadOS 14: The biggest iPhone features missing on the iPad

iOS 14 vs. iPadOS fourteen: The biggest iPhone features missing on the iPad

(Epitome credit: Apple)

The iOS fourteen and iPadOS xiv reveals at WWDC gave users a lot to exist excited about, but left united states of america wondering almost the differences between those platforms, differences that we've been learning about all calendar week long. And since the differences are and so stark, and often confusing, we've decided to pit iOS xiv vs iPadOS 14, and accept a look at how they differ.

While I'm not going to make a big deal out of some of the differences, the iPhone and iPad have significantly different use cases at times — peculiarly when yous're out of the house. But some of these differences make me wonder if Apple's internal deadlines for some apps pushed some features to iOS or iPadOS 14.ane version, or subsequently.

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Can't expect for Scribble? How to download the iPadOS xiv beta

Stacks and smart stacks are the same, but the iOS xiv widgets can be moved to alive alongside app buttons, which is what I wanted from iPadOS 14. Unfortunately, widgets are locked down into the Today view sidebar on the left side of the iPad home screen.

In theory this could exist considering they already have a place on the dwelling house screen, where your existing Today view mini apps sat. On the iPhone, Apple's got nowhere in the home screen itself to really put widgets, so they have to sit on the home screen if they're going to make a difference.

This all the same doesn't feel like the right call, though. A perfect solution, at least in my eyes, could see widgets live wherever on the 10.2 to 12.ix-inch iPad screens they could sit. And so, you wouldn't demand to have the Today View bar e'er there, and get more command over your abode screen. The iPad has more screen space, why shouldn't you be able to maximize it?

iOS 14 vs. iPadOS: iPads don't get the App Library

You know how iPhones will do your dwelling house screens housekeeping for y'all in iOS 14, with the App Library that takes all of your apps and organizes them by category? For some reason, that's not coming in iPadOS fourteen.

And with all of the big changes coming in iPadOS 14, which make it look more than similar macOS than before, App Library would have fit well in this new surroundings. It would have become iPadOS' version of the Outset Bill of fare.

It'due south not similar your iPad can't have a series of poorly organized home screens of apps strewn about everywhere, like a bunch of plushies in a toddler'due south crib. I'd share my lock screens to evidence information technology, but I take a sense of shame.

iOS 14 vs. iPadOS fourteen: Easier emoji hunting for iPads

Practically every app outside of Apple's has added the ability to search for emoji. And while we're happy to see the emoji search bar arrive in iPadOS fourteen, information technology's non going to exist on iOS 14 — so iPhone owners will continue to demand to memorize how the sheets and sheets of emoji are laid out, or waste material time hunting and pecking for the right one.

There's one way to explicate this difference: the emoji search pops upward on the iPad when you apply a continued keyboard. Nigh folks, I'd guess, aren't going to connect an iPhone to an external keyboard that often. Sure, you can, only the small-scale screen and a big keyboard makes for an bad-mannered, cumbersome experience.

That beingness said, a simple text field for search isn't going to accept upwards a lot of space on the screen. And why should iPhone users be expected to rely on the frequently used sail.

iOS 14 vs. iPadOS: Menus and Pencil tricks are for big screens

I went through this when I talked about how iPadOS is becoming more than like macOS: apps like Photos, Notes and Bulldoze now have a left menu pane. That change, which moved them from tabs on the bottom of the screen to the more Mac-similar sidebar section, makes a lot of sense. Not a big bargain that iOS fourteen isn't getting them, because the iPhone doesn't have the infinite for them.

iPadOS 14 scribble — (Prototype credit: Apple tree)

Similarly, I'm non shocked that the iPhone isn't getting Pencil support any fourth dimension before long. Nevertheless, the Scribble handwriting recognition would take been a big deal for the iPhone. I'm sure some folks would love to write shorter messages out with their fingertips. It makes more than sense than swipe-typing to me.

iOS 14 vs. iPadOS: Whole apps are missing from the iPad

The new Translate app, used to assistance people talk across linguistic communication barriers, isn't in iPadOS fourteen. While some apps don't need iPad versions, this i confuses me. If you've ever seen a tourist in New York, especially if they're clearly a dad, you know they apply their iPad equally a camera (they're not the but ones that do this, but it's a clear and visible trend). With that established, wouldn't the iPad exist a perfect device for translating, if tourists are often carrying information technology with them in public?

iOS 14 vs iPadOS 14: The biggest iPhone features missing on the iPad — (Prototype credit: Apple)

Apple has all the same still to add the Health app to the iPad, either. We're non sure why, peradventure it'due south considering of keeping sensitive personal information on every bit few devices every bit possible, but I bet all that sleep-tracking information would look a lot more hands digestible if I had the iPad's larger screen.

Similarly, Apple believes the iPad just needs a Weather widget, as there is no total-blown Weather app in iPadOS 14. Peculiar, correct? The iPad'southward brandish could brand it easy for you to see the weather in your neighboring towns and cities on the same screen. Hopefully this gets corrected shortly.

Also, iPadOS 14 doesn't fill up the calculator shaped hole in the iPad. This is the biggest head-scratcher, as the iPad's large screen is perfect to apply all the buttons you run across when you rotate your iPhone's calculator app into landscape mode.

iOS 14 vs. iPadOS: Speed Cameras and Machine Keys are iPhone exclusives

iPadOS 14 lacks some of the navigational and driving features you get in iOS 14, and I'1000 not going to hold that confronting Apple tree. Specifically, the iPhone and iPad will both get directions and assist with regard to cycling and electric vehicle routes.

But the iPad isn't going to have the Speed Cameras tool, used for being aware of speed traps and cameras tracking beliefs at red lights. This makes more than sense to me than any of the other exclusions, because while routing tips tin can exist helpful for planning where you're going, these more "in the moment" tips seem more than suited to the iPhone, which is used more often for navigating as you drive and travel.

An iPad is a bit too big to be used by a driver, and I've never seen a dashboard mount big enough for one. Similarly, Car Keys (for unlocking your car) isn't on the iPad. Who would rather take out their iPad than their iPhone when it comes time to unlocking their Prius?

iOS 14 vs. iPadOS 14 outlook

It feels like one-half of these differences are due to the ways we appoint with iPads and iPhones, and the residuum can be filed under "please, Apple, share the wealth." Comparing iOS 14 vs iPadOS 14 isn't almost finding a "winner" but trying to get people's expectations in order for when the public beta debuts in July, and the finished versions announced this autumn.

I also hope that Apple is reading this and then that it adds some of the all-time iOS xiv features to iPadOS xiv sooner than later...

Check out the pinnacle 15 hidden iOS fourteen features

Henry is a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the by six-plus years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He'south also covered the wild globe of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.