iOS 4.2 Pours iPad a Strong, Smooth Shot of New Features

With iOS 4.2, iPads get a new Folders feature that lets users group app icons together.

Change can stoke conflicted emotions in a computer user. There's the thrill of the new. Then there's the dread of problems that may erupt when the old meets the new. Admittedly, I felt those qualms when I prepared to upgrade my iPad to the latest version of its operating system, iOS 4.2. As it turns out, my fears were unnecessary.
At first I was hesitant to upgrade on the first day the new version was available. Typically, the pent-up demand for something that's received the volume of ink and electrons that this edition of iOS has garnered swamps a company's servers, so I was surprised with how smoothly and effortlessly the upgrade occurred. There was narry a hiccup, except for an annoying message that kept telling me I was going to lose some purchased programs if I didn't backup my iPad. Problem was, the message kept popping up even after I backed up my iPad.
When I booted up my iPad for the first time under 4.2, I noticed that the wallpaper had changed -- it was simulated drops of water on a gray background. The simulation was so good, that I tried to wipe the drops from the screen a few times before realizing they weren't real.
Other than the new wallpaper, the iPad appeared to be unchanged. That was comforting -- familiarity always is -- but disquieting, too, because I was anxious to take the new features for a spin. After fumbling around with my apps for a bit, I decided to accelerate the discovery process and downloaded the iPad user's guide from Apple's website, which has been recently revised to accommodate the changes brought to the tablet by iOS 4.2.

Better Organization With Folders

Since my app library has grown to three screens of programs, one of the first new features I tried was Folders. Creating new folders was incredibly simple. You simply touch and hold any app's icon until all the icons on the screen start jiggling. Then you drag one icon onto another and a folder is created.
To edit a folder, you touch and hold its icon. A palette will appear containing flashing icons of the apps in the folder. From that view, you can remove apps from the folder or give it a new name.
Folders is just what the doctor ordered for organizing apps on the iPad. It cuts down on swiping from screen to screen, and it makes it easier to associate apps with groups where they can be more easily found.
Another feature 4.2 brings to the iPad is multitasking. That's activated by double pushing the the tablet's home button. When that's done, the screen of the iPad will gray out and a bar appears on its bottom displaying the apps that are active.
Whenever you use an app, it's automatically added to the multitasking bar. That means if you want to shut the app down, you'll have to touch and hold its icon on the bar, wait for the jiggling to start and close it. It's a bit inconvenient.

Become a Multitasker

Multitasking really speeds up moving from app to app on the iPad, and so far, true to Apple's claims, I haven't seen a hit on the tablet's performance. However, it's still early in the game, and I am obsessive about closing apps that I've finished using and not letting them linger on the multitasking bar where they can sap processing power.
Another benefit of mulitasking is the ability to run a music service like Pandora or play cuts from iTunes in the background while working with another app in the foreground.
When you right swipe the multitasking bar, controls appear for launching iTunes, controlling the tablet's volume and brightness, playing and jumping between songs and locking the screen orientation.
The slider button on the side of the iPad that was originally the orientation lock is now a mute button. This change has upset some souls in iPadland, but personally, I always had trouble locating that button when I wanted to lock the screen orientation and find the change more convenient.

Text Search on Web Pages

With 4.2, Apple has made it easier to print from the iPad. It's really easy if you have a printer that supports AirPrint; less so if you don't.
AirPlay support has also been added to the tablet's capabilities. Coupled with multitasking, that feature allows you to do things like beam video from the iPad to Apple TV while surfing the Web.
For gamers, Game Center, Apple's online gaming service, has been added to the iPad mix. With one Game Center ID, you can pick up your game activities from any iOS powered device.
The iPad's mail program has also been improved. It now has a unified mailbox where messages from all email accounts are aggregated. It also supports conversation threading. What's more, you can reply to invitations directly through the iPad's calendar app.
A small but productive feature has been added to Safari. It allows you to search for text on a Web page. When you type a search term into the search field at the top of the browser, not only will a list of Web search suggestions appear, but also an option for searching for the term on the page.
This latest version of iOS 4.2 is an iPad owner's dream. It adds powerful features that can increase productivity without disrupting the old look and feel of the device.

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