Whereas Apple has made strides in bringing long-missing apps to the iPad in recent times, there are nonetheless 5 iPhone apps that stay noticeably absent.
After years of requests from customers, Apple lastly launched the Well being, Climate, and Calculator apps to the iPad in iPadOS 16, 17, and 18, offering a tweaked expertise for the larger display. Nevertheless, this week’s debut of Apple Invitations, an event-planning app unique to the iPhone, highlights that Apple remains to be not bringing all of its first-party purposes to the iPad. Listed below are 5 apps we’re nonetheless ready on to return to Apple’s pill:
Invitations
Apple launched the Invitations app earlier this week, providing a streamlined means for customers to create, handle, and ship occasion invites. The app permits customers to design invites with custom-made backgrounds, images, and AI-generated imagery by way of Apple Intelligence‘s Picture Playground.
It integrates with Maps and Climate to supply location and local weather particulars for attendees, and options RSVP monitoring together with collaborative Apple Music playlists and shared photograph albums.
Regardless of its clear utility, Apple Invitations stays natively unavailable on iPad, with the one choices being working the iPhone model or utilizing the browser model by way of icloud.com. Provided that iPads are generally used for mild productiveness duties, planning, and inventive work, the absence of Invitations on the platform is a peculiar omission.
Pockets
First launched in 2012 as Passbook and later rebranded as Pockets, Apple’s digital pockets app is finest identified for storing credit score and debit playing cards to be used with Apple Pay. Nevertheless, Pockets additionally homes occasion tickets, boarding passes, loyalty playing cards, and transit passes.
Whereas the iPad lacks NFC {hardware}, making contactless Apple Pay in shops unimaginable, there are nonetheless a number of Pockets options that might profit iPad customers. The power to view transaction historical past, obtain Apple Pay notifications, and handle supply monitoring from on-line purchases may all be helpful on a bigger show. For instance, iPad mini customers would possibly discover Pockets helpful for accessing occasion tickets or passes without having to change to their iPhone.
Sports activities
Apple Sports activities launched with iOS 17.2, offering customers with real-time scores, standings, and statistics throughout a variety {of professional} and faculty sports activities leagues. The app integrates with Apple Information and Apple TV.
Apple Sports activities equally has not but made the leap to iPad. Whereas iPad customers can clearly entry reside scores by means of Safari or third-party apps, the shortage of a devoted Sports activities app on iPadOS is an uncommon limitation for such a easy app.
Given the iPad’s well-known suitability for media consumption, together with watching reside sports activities by means of companies like Apple TV+, the absence of a local Sports activities app makes little sense. Customers who would possibly need to monitor video games whereas working or searching on their iPad are left with out the comfort that iPhone customers get pleasure from.
Cellphone
Whereas iPads can’t perform as standalone cell telephones, they’re able to receiving calls by way of an iPhone utilizing Continuity, but there is no such thing as a Cellphone app for the iPad.
This implies iPad customers can’t provoke continuity cellphone calls with out first opening FaceTime or a third-party VoIP app. There’s additionally no name historical past, no favorites record, and no approach to entry voicemail immediately from the iPad.
Journal
Apple launched the Journal app in iOS 17.2 as a brand new means for customers to doc their every day experiences, incorporating textual content, images, places, and audio recordings into structured journal entries. The app makes use of machine studying to supply prompts and options primarily based on a person’s every day actions.
In contrast to many different iPhone-exclusive apps, Journal can’t even be downloaded and run on an iPad. As a result of it’s a system app reasonably than an App Retailer obtain, there is no such thing as a workaround for iPad customers who would possibly need to use it in Stage Supervisor or one other multitasking mode.
Provided that journaling is usually related to prolonged writing and reflection, an iPad model would appear notably helpful, permitting customers to jot down longer entries with a paired Magic Keyboard or Apple Pencil. The shortage of an iPad model is made much more conspicuous by the truth that many standard third-party journaling apps, corresponding to Day One, provide wonderful cross-platform compatibility.
