Apple announced iPadOS 15 and iOS 15 earlier this week. The new iPadOS is finally starting to bridge the gap between the iPadOS’ limitations and iPad hardware’s potential. One of the key improvements of iPadOS 15 is its new Files app, and Apple has introduced one new feature that makes it more Mac-like.
Support for NTFS File System on iPadOS
Apple has finally added support for the NTFS file system on iPadOS 15. Up until now, iPad’s Files app could only read external hard drives formatted in exFAT or FAT32, and of course Apple’s own APFS. With the new update, Apple has added the functionality to support the NTFS file system as well.
Though just like Mac and macOS, iPadOS 15 only supports reading NTFS hard drives. You still cannot copy files to an NTFS formatted hard drive on Mac or iPad since the file system hasn’t been licensed by Apple.
NTFS, or New Technology File System, is the format developed by Microsoft for its own Windows operating system. Apple has not licensed the file system, so its products cannot write to a hard drive or a USB thumbstick formatted in this format. However, it can still read though.
New Progress Bar While Transferring Files
The new Files app on iPadOS 15 also features a new progress bar that appears when you copy files in between the folders, or from your iPad to an external hard disk and vice-versa. Tapping the progress bar show more details like how big the file is, how much has been transferred, and how much time will the transfer take.
iPadOS 15 brings a lot of features to the iPad. There’s one feature called Universal Control that lets you use your iPad and Mac as a seamless one device. Click here to read the best features that iPadOS 15 will unlock on your iPad. If you’re eager to install iPadOS 15 Beta on your iPad, check out our explainer on how you can download and install iPadOS 15 on your iPad.
