iPadOS 26 Adds These Four Apple Apps to Your iPad

The upcoming iPadOS 26 update adds four pre-installed Apple apps to all compatible iPad models: Phone, Preview, Journal, and Games.

iPadOS 26 Apple Newsroom
Below, we provide an overview of each of these apps.

iPadOS 26 is currently available as a developer beta, and the update will likely be released to the general public in September.

Phone

iPadOS 26 Phone App
Apple has expanded the Phone app to the iPad, complete with new features coming with iOS 26, such as Hold Assist, Call Screening, and Live Translation. The app syncs with your iPhone, allowing you to make and receive phone calls over Wi-Fi, view recent phone calls, listen to voicemail messages, and more directly on your iPad.

Preview

iPadOS 26 Preview App
A staple on the Mac, the Preview app is now available on the iPad too, providing you with a built-in app to edit and mark up PDFs and images. You can also create an empty page, and use an Apple Pencil to draw and write on it.

Journal

iPadOS 26 Journal App
Apple introduced a Journal app on the iPhone with iOS 17, and it is now available on the iPad too. You can use this app to type out your daily thoughts, and you can include drawings, handwriting, photos, videos, audio recordings, and more.

Games

iPadOS 26 Games App
The all-new Games app on iPad, iPhone, and Mac is an all-in-one app for discovering App Store and Apple Arcade games, and in-game events. There are also new single-player game challenges for competing with family and friends.

Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26
Related Forum: iOS 26

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Top Rated Comments

BelgianChoklit Avatar
24 weeks ago
I'm very happy with Preview considering the best PDF editing apps are all overpriced subscriptions. The h*ll with them.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppliedMicro Avatar
24 weeks ago

hope I can uninstall the others as I don't use those.
Regulation that “stinks” ('https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-explains-why-iphone-mirroring-remains-unavailable-in-the-eu-on-macos-tahoe.2459281/post-33967481') allows you to do so ('https://www.macrumors.com/2024/08/22/apple-eu-default-app-update/').
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Mac Daz Avatar
24 weeks ago
Does the phone app work over 4G / 5G if your in different locations
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
patjem Avatar
24 weeks ago
I use the Files app quite often to go through pictures in a folder. It's easy going to the next photo and find what I'm looking for. Now with the new Preview app it opens that one and I haven't found a way to easily go to the next picture to get a preview. Has anyone experienced the same?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Frosties Avatar
24 weeks ago
Nice update. If we instead could get a full phone app then we finally could match the Apple Watch to an iPad instead of being hand cuffed to an iPhone. I already make phone calls with Siri on the iPad through the iPhone. Any way.?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
24 weeks ago
phone app and preview are nice additions, hope I can uninstall the others as I don't use those.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)