8/5
Four betas into iOS 14 and I'm mostly impressed. They have generally been stable and the additional features have been designed well. It's a relief that Apple didn't choose between high impact new features and stability with this release; users appear to be getting both.
The most obvious change to iOS 14 are its revised widgets; they're the big ticket, customer friendly easy-to-market feature. Despite concerns of widget capabilities being too restricted, I like them. They allow for more customization—something Apple has been very slow to offer iOS users, especially on the home screen. That additional personalization will be the primary reason to use them in the short term. As a version one implementation, they work. And they'll get better eventually.
Strangely, these long overdue and much desired widgets are limited to iPhone only. I struggle to understand this decision. The only justification I can point to is the rotation between portrait and landscape orientations that iPadOS home screens support. The home screen grid never changes, though—landscape or portrait you have the same number of rows and columns. Apple couldn't figure out how to animate widgets properly during that transition? I don't believe that.
I've read rumors that the widgets will come to iPad in a later beta. I hope that's true but I don't believe it to be at the moment. Apple has omitted visual proof of iPad widgets everywhere they should have included them—the keynote presentation and the iPadOS preview web page. It reminds me of how strategically they've downplayed the iPhone's notch on its preview and marketing pages over the years. The absence feels more like a decision than a mistake.