5 Exclusive iPad Features You Won’t Find on an Android Tablet

To date, one of the best tablets available is the iPad. Apple offers a wide range of tablets, and while they can be quite cheap or very expensive, they all provide a consistent experience not only for the customer and their device, but also for several other Apple products. If you’re considering upgrading to an iPad or want to understand how it differs from an Android tablet, it has built-in features like Math Notes, Smart Script, and Universal Control.

Although most of these features were launched a few years ago, they remain exclusive to iPad owners because they come with Apple’s software and expertise and don’t necessarily require third-party apps. Yet one of the iPad’s exclusive features is the wide range of apps developed for Apple platforms that Android users can’t find anywhere else.

Even though the Android tablet market is full of options and Google continues to improve the experience with Android 17 and new features, the iPad remains a great device for education, for scrolling social media, and in many cases, as a computer replacement. Here are some of the exclusive iPad features that users can get and how they can benefit from them.

Introduced in March 2022, Universal Control was one of the original features in iPadOS 15.4. To date, Apple continues to improve this continuity feature which allows users to control multiple Apple devices using a single mouse, trackpad, and keyboard. For example, you can place your iPad next to a Mac and simply drag your cursor past the edge of the monitor, and it will “magically” move onto the iPad’s screen.

This zero-latency browsing setup makes working between operating systems truly seamless. Users can drag and drop images, video assets, or text documents from an iPad app to a desktop timeline on Mac, and vice versa. While some Android tablets, like Samsung’s options, have “Multi Control”-like functionality, these alternatives require strict ecosystem lock-down and lack the seamless system-wide integration available with Apple products.

Since Apple made this feature available, it has become much more fun and useful to have my iPad within reach while I work. After all, I can quickly switch between these products just by looking at them. I can even use my Magic Keyboard on the iPad to control my Mac, which is pretty handy. This feature is a great complement to AirDrop, copy it to one device and paste it to another, along with all the other features Apple has added over the years, and it still impresses users who have never tried it before.

Released in September 2024 with iPadOS 18, Math Notes is a smart way for iPad users to solve math problems using either natural handwriting or keyboard input. This feature integrates the Calculator app, which eventually made its way to the iPad, with the Notes app. That said, when you use an Apple Pencil to write a math expression horizontally or vertically, iPadOS evaluates it instantly, rendering the final answer right after you draw an equals sign. Even more impressive, the result is displayed in a machine-learning-generated font that exactly mimics your personal handwriting.

Apple also lets you declare variables, draw complex equations, or plot algebraic formulas. With this, the system can automatically generate real-time graphs based on these inputs. For Android tablets, on the other hand, users have to rely on third-party apps because they convert handwriting into blocks of digital text, losing the organic aesthetic of your notes.

For me, the beauty of Math Notes is that you can solve equations however you want, whether by handwriting or typing. I wish I had a tool like this at school, especially because it makes the learning experience much more personal, because I feel like I’m the one writing this information down instead of a machine.

Math Notes isn’t the only amazing experience users can have with an Apple Pencil. Apple also introduced Smart Script with iPadOS 18, a powerful on-device machine learning feature that refines your handwritten text on the fly. Basically, when you write on the screen with an Apple Pencil, the system subtly smooths out rough edges, straightens lines, and improves readability while maintaining your unique handwriting. If you use the iPad and Apple Pencil combination, you probably realize that your handwriting is slightly better than usual, and this is why.

However, Smart Script not only makes your writing look pretty, but it also turns this information into an editable element. You can scratch out a word to instantly erase it, cut out and drag text to create extra writing space in the middle of the paragraph, or paste a block of typed digital text and watch iPad convert it into your own writing style (or vice versa).

Although high-end Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab have a very accurate handwriting-to-text conversion tool, they lack the technology that makes the iPad and Apple Pencil combination so special, because they lack several of these layers. On top of that, we’re talking about high-end Android tablets, while Apple brings this experience to any tablet running iPadOS 18. With this, anyone who likes to take handwritten notes doesn’t have to worry about having to retype everything, because the iPad does it automatically.

The iPad offers many exclusive features, but one of its biggest advantages over Android tablets is the number of quality apps available. For example, Photomator is an app I’ve been using for years now, and it can quickly sharpen all the photos I’ve taken and remove unwanted parts, like objects, people, etc. Apple acquired the app, but it still represents some of the best software developed for the platform. Another interesting experience is Portal, which lets you choose from several cinematic and vibrant landscapes to dive into. This app helps users connect with nature, also boosts creativity and alleviates anxiety. More recently, the developers behind this app have made the app much more affordable to make it accessible to a wider range of customers.

Another app that I really enjoy, and even looks beautiful on a larger screen, is Gentler Streak. The app focuses on the iPhone and Apple Watch experience, collecting data from the Health app or workouts I’ve recorded with it to tell me whether I should rest, push a little harder, or keep things as they are. Since the app gets a lot more information, including details about my sleep, recovery, etc., using it on a larger iPad screen is much more useful for getting a clearer view of my data.

Last but not least, Sidecar has been available on iPad for a very long time and still hasn’t been properly translated to Android. Released in 2019 with iPadOS 13, this feature continues to be improved and revamped with the latest software updates. With Sidecar, users can turn their iPad into a high-performance wireless monitor for their Mac. Not only does it mirror or extend the computer’s desktop, but it also integrates the iPad’s hardware capabilities directly into the Mac workflow. It features a numeric sidebar for quick access to modifier keys. It allows creative professionals to use Apple Pencil to interact directly with precision Mac desktop software like Photoshop, Illustrator, and more.

Although Android tablets can technically function as secondary monitors for Windows PCs, these systems still rely on standard Miracast or generic Wi-Fi streaming protocols, which can be noticeably slow or unreliable. Apple’s Sidecar uses proprietary technology that delivers a crystal clear display connection at 60fps.

With this, if you own a Mac and an iPad, you don’t need to spend more money on a monitor because you can have a portable dual-monitor workstation for working from a coffee shop, airport terminal, hotel room, and more. For digital artists, more importantly, it gives them the best of both worlds: all the awesome tools of macOS and a Mac, but the highly reliable touch experience that only Apple’s iPad can deliver.