Apple’s upcoming iPadOS 18 update for the iPad is currently in beta and some absolutely cool features are on the way when the new operating system is released to the public this fall. Two of the headline new features of iPadOS 18 are Smart Script and Math Notes. Both of the new features work with the Apple Pencil.
Chris Lawley recently sat down with Apple engineering manager Jenny Chen and product manager Ty Jordan to discuss what went into iPadOS 18’s new features.
Smart Script uses machine language to make handwritten notes that retain the look and feel of a user’s personal handwriting. It makes editing handwritten text just as simple as editing typed text. Jordan discussed how the feature refines a user’s handwriting style:
You’ll notice that as soon as you start writing words, it refines your handwriting. You’ll notice that it spell checks, so if you make a spelling mistake, it’ll be underlined. It can also do some really cool things with reflowing your text, so if you tap and hold your Pencil, you can move words around, and you’ll see that it reflows in your paragraph so you can get some more space.
You can even paste typed text as your own handwritten text right in the middle of a paragraph, so a lot of things that we take for granted with typed text, you can now do with handwritten text.
Math Notes allows users to write out math equations by hand with the Apple Pencil, allowing the iPad to solve the equation when the user draws an equals sign (=).
It sort of works like magic. It combines the natural input of a pencil with the amazing on-device machine learning models that Jenny and her teams work on. You just write math like on a piece of paper and like magic, it just gives you the answer. It’s so simple and intuitive.
Math Notes can recognize variables and their associated values, meaning if you define variables in one section of a note, Math Notes will recognize and use those variables in equations.
Math Notes can also recognize the difference between variables in a note. So, if you have equations that include the same variable, like “Shipments,” Math Notes will not be confused.
The full video is quite informative and is recommended for anyone who’d like to learn more about these iPadOS 18 features. Developer and public betas of iPadOS 18 are currently available, and both will be released to the public in the fall.