Now, that has changed.

But it is also hamstrung by Apple imposing the same restrictions on the tablet as it does the phone.

Worse, the promise of the iPad has been stunted by the App Store.

iPad and keyboard next to a plant on a white desk and background

The iPad could be so much more than just a big iPhone.Brandon Romanchuk / Unsplash

What it does do is give Apple absolute control over who can make software for its platforms.

That’s about to change and hopefully will become the default in all regions, not just the EU.

iPadOSonly became a separate entity in 2019, nine years after the iPad’s launch in 2010.

White-screen iPad on white background

There’s a real computer in there somewhere.Dmitry Mashkin Unsplash

Until then, it ran the same iPhone OS, which became iOS.

Kelly Sikkema / Unsplash

“iPadOS is clearly more of a marketing distinction than a technical one.

Opening up the iPad to third-party stores could transform it.

A white-screen iPad, and Apple Pencil, on a gray sofa, dramatic lighting

iPads are computers too.Kelly Sikkema / Unsplash

Ableton could make a version of its Live software, for example.

And virtualization companies like Parallels could let you install Windows or Linux on your touch computer.

And if that happens, maybe Apple would be forced into making macOS available on the iPad.

Apple is hurting itself with all this lock-in.

But not for much longer.