iPadOS 14 is the second release of iPadOS, released on September 16, 2020. Its defining feature was Scribble: handwrite with the Apple Pencil into any text field and the words convert to type as you write, with on-device recognition — the Pencil graduating from drawing tool to system-wide input method.

The release also began the iPad's design divergence in earnest: sidebars brought Mac-style navigation to Photos, Notes, Files, and Music; toolbars condensed; and the compact UI (shared with iOS 14) shrank Siri, calls, and search into overlays that no longer commandeered the whole screen. Search itself became a Spotlight-style universal floating field.

Scribble with smart selection and shape recognition; redesigned sidebars and pull-down menus across system apps; compact Siri, call banners, and Search; widgets in the Today column (though not yet on the home-screen grid — that gap to iOS drew a year of complaints); AirPods spatial audio; and shared iOS 14 features including App Clips, default browser choice, and the privacy indicators.

Every iPadOS 13 device: iPad Air 2 and later, iPad mini 4 and later, iPad (5th gen) and later, all iPad Pros.

Scribble made the Pencil a text instrument and remains a signature iPad capability; the sidebar language previewed the desktop-class app push formalized in iPadOS 16. The withheld home-screen widgets became the release's cautionary footnote — tablet parity arrived a year later in iPadOS 15, teaching Apple that iPad users notice when the phone gets features first.