Three best iPadOS 18 features to boost productivity

Mario Bautista October 5, 2024

The iPad makes a great leisure device for watching videos, reading, or playing games. But it can also be a powerful productivity tool. I use the iPad Pro as my primary computer, and have been enjoying three key upgrades in iPadOS 18. Here are the best new features to boost your iPad productivity.

Reminders and Calendar in one place

The Reminders and Calendar apps have long been two of Apple’s most popular productivity tools. And in iPadOS 18, you can get the benefits of both in one place.

The iPad’s Calendar app now lets you see all of your reminders in-line with your calendar events. You can still use the dedicated Reminders app, but much of the app’s functionality is now baked into Calendar too.

I love this change because it provides a more comprehensive overview of my day.

When I’m planning my day’s work, it’s so helpful to have both calendar events and reminders in the same place. I won’t miss anything, and I don’t have to bounce between apps to get a full picture.

Files app’s long-needed upgrade

Pushing file storage to the cloud is overall a good thing. But at the same time, many of us have found ourselves in situations where critical files are saved in the cloud and we’re off the grid (usually on a flight).

Apple’s Files app has always let you save files for offline use. But until now, the app would also “intelligently” offload those cached files on a whim. Thus, leaving you in a tough spot.

In iPadOS 18, there’s a new ‘Keep Downloaded’ option to ensure that will never happen again.

Long-press or right-click on any file or folder in iCloud Drive, and you’ll find ‘Keep Downloaded’ in the menu. It’s a great addition that provides peace of mind when working on the go.

Customize app tab bars

When I think about being productive, I think of the tools and systems that can help me achieve my goals. I like to get very finicky in creating just the right setup for success.

That means I love to customize my devices. iOS and iPadOS 18 include a ton of new customization tools.

One such iPad-exclusive feature is the new app tab bars.

Many apps adopt a new floating tab bar design in iPadOS 18, and certain apps even let you customize the tabs to your liking.

Customizing the tab bar means you have quicker access to the tools that matter most to you. Here’s hoping a lot of third-party productivity tools adopt the new customizable tab bar soon.

Wrap-up: iPadOS 18 best productivity features

When Apple shipped the latest iPad Pro with an M4 chip, some speculated the company must have big software changes coming too. While iPadOS 18 doesn’t bring changes to Stage Manager or multitasking, it nonetheless packs plenty of powerful new features—with more coming soon.

And in all my time using iPadOS 18, I’ve found that even small productivity enhancements can go a long way toward making the iPad a better device for getting things done.

What are your favorite productivity changes for iPadOS 18? Let us know in the comments.