Apple

5 Things to Know About the iPadOS 14.5 Update

Published

3 years ago

04/26/2021

Apple’s finally pushed the iPadOS 14.5 update to the iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad mini.

After a lengthy stint in beta, iPadOS 14.5 is available to download right now if you own a compatible iPad.

iPadOS 14.5 is a huge upgrade for iPad, much bigger than the previous version of iPadOS 14 (iPadOS 14.4.2). Like most milestone upgrades, iPadOS 14.5 brings a mix of new features, fixes, and security patches to iPad users.

In this walkthrough we’ll take you through the iPadOS 14.5 update’s performance, the current list of iPadOS 14.5 problems, the best places to find feedback about bugs and performance issues, the iPadOS 14.5 jailbreak status, and more.

iPadOS 14.5 Reviews
iPadOS 14.5 Problems
iPadOS 14.5: What’s New
iPadOS 14.5 Jailbreak
What’s Next for iPadOS 14

We’ll start with our impressions of iPadOS 14.5 update’s performance on iPad.

iPadOS 14.5 Review

If your iPad is currently on iPadOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.5 still requires a pretty sizable download.

If your tablet is running an older version of iPadOS, your update will likely be bigger. In some cases, a lot bigger. That’s because the features and fixes from iPadOS 14 update(s) you skipped are baked into your iPadOS 14.5 update.

If your device is currently running iPadOS 14.4.2, the installation should take around 10 minutes to complete. It took about nine minutes to install on one of our older iPad Pros.

For more on the iPadOS 14.4.2 download and installation, have a look at our guide.

We’ve been using the iPadOS 14.5 update on an iPad Pro for a very short time and here’s what we’ve learned about its performance thus far.

iPadOS 14.5 Connectivity

Battery life is currently stable.
Wi-Fi connectivity is fast and reliable.
Bluetooth is working fine at the moment.
GPS and cellular data are stable.

iPadOS 14.5 App Performance

Third-party apps like Netflix, Dark Sky, Twitter, Slack, Asana, Gmail, Chrome, and Spotify are working just fine right now.
First party apps like Safari, Podcasts, and Calendar are also stable.

iPadOS 14.5 Speed

iPadOS 14.5 feels as fast as iPadOS 14.4.2 did.

If you’re dealing with problems on iPadOS 14.4.2 or an older version of iPadOS 14, you should think about installing the iPadOS 14.5 update right now.

If you need help making a decision, take a look at our list of the best reasons to, and not to, install iPadOS 14.5 right now.

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iPadOS 14.5 Problems

iPad users are already running into trouble on iPadOS 14.5.

The current list of iPadOS 14 problems includes installation issues, Exchange problems, weird battery drain, issues with first and third-party apps, issues with Face ID, UI lag, Wi-Fi issues, issues with Widgets, and Bluetooth issues.

If you run into issues, take a look at our fixes for the most common iPadOS 14 software issues. We’ve also released tips that will help you improve performance and tips that should help you improve your iPad’s battery life.

If you can’t stand iPadOS 14.5 update’s performance on your iPad, you can try downgrading your device’s software in an attempt to improve performance.

Apple is currently signing on iPadOS 14.4.2 which means you can move your iPad back to the previous version of iPadOS 14. Unfortunately you can’t move back to anything older than iPadOS 14.4.2.

iPadOS 14.5 Update: What’s New

Again, iPadOS 14.5 is huge upgrade for iPad. It’s the biggest release since iPadOS 14’s arrival back in September.

The iPadOS 14.5 update includes important bug fixes and security patches and it also brings an assortment of new features that could enhance your experience.

Here are the official changes on board iPadOS 14.5:

New Features

AirTag and Find My

Support for AirTag to keep track of and find your important items like your keys, wallet, backpack and more, privately and securely in the Find My app
AirTag can be located by playing a sound via the built-in speaker
The Find My network with hundreds of millions of devices can help you find your AirTag, even when it isn’t nearby
Lost Mode notifies you when your AirTag is found, and you can enter a phone number where you can be contacted

Emoji

Support for separate skin tones for each individual in all variations of the couple kissing emoji and couple with heart emoji
New face emojis, heart emojis, woman with a beard emoji

Siri

Siri now includes more diverse voice options
Incoming calls can be announced with Siri, including who is calling, when you’re wearing your AirPods or compatible Beats headphones, and you can answer hands-free
Group FaceTime calls are supported by asking Siri to FaceTime a list of contacts or a group name from Messages
Emergency contacts can be called by asking Siri

Privacy

App Tracking Transparency lets you control which apps are allowed to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites for ads or sharing with data brokers

Apple Music

Share your favorite lyrics using Messages, Facebook, and Instagram Stories, and subscribers can play the snippet in Messages without leaving the conversation
City charts showcase what’s popular in over 100 cities from all over the world

Podcasts

Podcasts Show Pages are redesigned to make it easier to start listening
Option to save and download episodes, automatically adding them to your Library for quick access
Download behavior and notification settings can be customized on a show-by-show basis
Top Charts and popular categories in Search help you discover new shows

News

Redesigned News+ tab enables Apple News+ subscribers to quickly find, download, and manage magazine and newspaper issues
All-new Search experience that helps you find relevant topics, channels, and stories

Reminders

Ability to sort reminders by Title, Priority, Due Date, or Creation date
Option to print your reminder lists

Gaming

Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller or Sony PS5 DualSense™ Wireless Controller support

Fitness+

Ability to stream audio and video content from Apple Fitness+ workouts to AirPlay 2-enabled TVs and devices

Bug Fixes

Messages at the bottom of the thread may be hidden by the keyboard under certain circumstances
Deleted messages may still appear in Spotlight search
Messages may persistently fail to send texts in some threads
Mail would not load new emails for some users until restarting the device
iCloud Tabs may not appear in Safari
iCloud Keychain could be prevented from turning off
Reminders created via Siri may be unintentionally set for early morning hours
AirPods audio routing to incorrect device for Automatic Switching
AirPods Automatic Switching notifications might be missing or duplicated

iPadOS 14.5 also includes security patches and you can read about those over on Apple’s website.

iPadOS 14.5 Jailbreak

The developer teams behind the Checkra1n and unC0ver jailbreaking tools have released versions that are compatible with newer versions of iPadOS 14, but they aren’t compatible with iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.1 and iPadOS 14.4.

Again, there’s no way to get your phone back to iPadOS 14.3 or any older versions of iPadOS which means you’re out of luck if you upgrade or already upgraded to iPadOS 14.5 iPadOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.1, or iPadOS 14.4.

iPadOS 14.4 plugged up the exploits used by these jailbreaks so there’s no telling how long it will be until we see a public jailbreak for newer versions of iPadOS 14.

What’s Next

Apple’s confirmed a new version of iPadOS 14.

The company’s put its iPadOS 14.6 update into beta testing and the pre-release version of the firmware is available to download right now through the company’s beta programs.

Like iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.6 is a milestone upgrade which means it should carry new features, fixes, enhancements, and security patches.

We don’t have an official iPadOS 14.6 release date yet, but we’ll let you know if we hear anything concrete about its arrival.

For more on iPadOS 14.6, take a look at our guide.

4 Reasons Not to Install iPadOS 14.8.1 & 11 Reasons You Should

Install iPadOS 14.8.1 for Better Security

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If security is important to you, and it should be, think about installing iPadOS 14.8.1 right now.

The iPadOS 14.8.1 update has 12 new security patches on board. They'll help protect you and your device from harm. You can read more about them on Apple's website.

If you missed iPadOS 14.8, you'll get its security patches with your iPadOS 14.8.1 update. You can read more about them on Apple's security site.

If you missed iPadOS 14.7.1, you'll get its security patch with your upgrade. If you want to learn more, head on over to Apple's website.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.7, you'll get its 30+ security patches with your upgrade. If you want to learn more, head to Apple's website.

If you skipped, iPadOS 14.6, you'll get its patches with your upgrade. iPadOS 14.6 brought 50+ security patches to the iPad, iPad Pro, iPad mini, and iPad Air. You can learn all about those changes right here.

If you missed iPadOS 14.5.1, you'll get its security patches with your update. Both of them are related to WebKit. If you want to learn more about them, check Apple's website for more details.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.5, you'll get its security patches with your upgrade. You can read more about the changes over on Apple's website.

iPadOS 14.5 also brought Apple's new App Tracking Transparency which lets you control which apps are allowed to track your activity across other companies' apps and websites for ads or sharing with data brokers.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.4.2 you get its security patch with your upgrade. You can read more about the change over on Apple's website.

If you missed iPadOS 14.8, iPadOS 14.7.1, iPadOS 14.7, iPadOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.5.1, iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.4.2 and iPadOS 14.4.1, you'll get iPadOS 14.4.1's security patch with your update. You can read more about the patch on Apple's security site.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.8, iPadOS 14.7.1, iPadOS 14.7, iPadOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.5.1, iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.1 and iPadOS 14.4, you get iPadOS 14.4's patches with your upgrade. You can learn more about iPadOS 14.4's security patches right here.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.8, iPadOS 14.7.1, iPadOS 14.7, iPadOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.5.1, iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.1, iPadOS 14.4, and iPadOS 14.3, you'll get iPadOS 14.3's patches with your upgrade.

iPadOS 14.3 also included a new privacy information section on App Store pages that includes a developer-reported summary of the app’s privacy practices.

If you skipped iPadOS 14.8, iPadOS 14.7.1, iPadOS 14.7, iPadOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.5.1, iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.1, iPadOS 14.4, iPadOS 14.3, and iPadOS 14.2, you'll get iPadOS 14.2's 24 security patches with your upgrade. You can learn more about those patches on Apple's security website.

If you're still running iPadOS 13, iPadOS 14.8.1 includes iPadOS 14.0's security updates.

iPadOS 14.0 brought 11 new security patches to iPad models. If you're interested in the exact nature of these improvements, you can read about them over on Apple's website.

If you skipped iPadOS 13.7 or any older versions of iPadOS 13, you'll get the security patches from those updates with your upgrade. They're baked in.

In addition to those patches, iPadOS 14 comes with some security and privacy upgrades including improvements to Home/HomeKit and Safari.

For instance in Safari, you can now tap the Privacy Report button to better understand how websites handle your privacy.

With iPadOS 14 on board you can now get information on the App Store that will help you understand the privacy practices of apps before you download them.

There is also a new recording indicator that will appear at the top of your screen whenever an app is using your microphone or camera. You can see if an app has used them recently in Control Center.

Researchers also discovered that Apple brought a new "BlastDoor" sandbox security system to iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. The system is meant to prevent attacks from occurring via the Messages app.

You can read more about "BlastDoor" right here.