Apple made the first beta of iPadOS 16.2 available to developers on October 25, and the upgrade comes with a few noteworthy changes – Freeform collaboration, stage manager, external display, etc. The Freeform collaboration app, which was initially introduced at WWDC in June, is now a part of iPadOS 16.2. Stage Manager is also once again supported by external displays.
Cupertino’s tech giant has made the external display available with the iPadOS 16.2 beta on iPads running on M1 or M2 chip. Older iPad Pro models without Apple silicon processors can still use Stage Manager, but they will not be able to use it with an external monitor.
Apple’s attempt to turn the iPad into a multitasking powerhouse is Stage Manager. Although it’s designed to automatically arrange all of your windows and make switching between apps simpler, some users have expressed frustration with the functionality due to its botched introduction.
Aside from external display integration in Stage Manager, the iPadOS 16.2 beta adds another multitasking feature mentioned by Apple at WWDC: Freeform. This whiteboard tool allows you to interact with others using a single canvas while taking notes with an Apple Pencil and sharing PDFs, photos, and web connections.
Apple described the new Freeform app as, “a powerful productivity app with a flexible canvas.”
According to Apple, you can also use FaceTime to connect with a team while using the app and keep track of any modifications made to the canvas in a Messages thread.
According to MacRumors, the betas of iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, and macOS Ventura 13.1 include the redesigned HomeKit architecture that Apple had planned to release with iPadOS 16.
