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 functions 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 method for customers to create, handle, and ship occasion invites. The app permits customers to design invites with personalized backgrounds, images, and AI-generated imagery through Apple Intelligence’s Picture Playground.
It integrates with Maps and Climate to offer 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 through icloud.com. On condition that iPads are generally used for gentle 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 unattainable, there are nonetheless a number of Pockets options that would 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 useful for accessing occasion tickets or passes while not having to change to their iPhone.
Sports activities
Apple Sports activities equally has not but made the leap to iPad. Whereas iPad customers can clearly entry stay scores by Safari or third-party apps, the dearth 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 stay sports activities by providers 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 shopping on their iPad are left with out the comfort that iPhone customers take pleasure in.
Cellphone
Whereas iPads can not operate as standalone cell telephones, they’re able to receiving calls through an iPhone utilizing Continuity, but there isn’t a Cellphone app for the iPad.
This implies iPad customers can not provoke continuity telephone calls with out first opening FaceTime or a third-party VoIP app. There’s additionally no name historical past, no favorites listing, and no approach to entry voicemail immediately from the iPad.
Journal
Apple launched the Journal app in iOS 17.2 as a brand new method for customers to doc their day by 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 recommendations based mostly on a consumer’s day by day actions.
In contrast to many different iPhone-exclusive apps, Journal can not even be downloaded and run on an iPad. As a result of it’s a system app slightly than an App Retailer obtain, there isn’t a workaround for iPad customers who would possibly need to use it in Stage Supervisor or one other multitasking mode.
On condition 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, resembling Day One, provide glorious cross-platform compatibility.
