Last year, Apple completely reinvented multitasking on the iPad, with the launch of windowing in iPadOS 26. At first, this meant removing the simpler versions of multitasking, Split View and Slide Over. Those features have finally returned, but at a cost – they require you to use a clunky new window system. I was hoping iPadOS 27 would improve this, but it didn’t.
To be clear, actually, I am not against the new window system in iPadOS 26 (and now 27). It has time and place, and when I try to bounce between multiple apps at once 13-inch iPad Pro with Magic keyboardIt works exceptionally well. I have mixed feelings about it on the small iPad, but it’s good.
What I don’t like, however, is the fact that the only other option (besides Stage Manager, which is more of a windowing feature than a different option) is to use all apps in full screen – no flexibility.
What I want to see
As mentioned earlier, iPadOS 26 finally brought back Split View and Slide Over in a later beta – but you can use them if you just open a window. This means that if you want a simple version of multitasking, you have to deal with all the layers of complexity meant for professional users.
It’s definitely good, but sometimes it’s annoying that you have to position your window correctly so that it goes into Split View or Slide Over, while it’s not smoother than before iPadOS 26. It’s also a loss for people who like windowing, because if you drag your window a little wrong, it may go into Split View when you don’t want it.
Apple doesn’t let you long-press traffic lights to have dedicated toggles for managing Split View and Slide Over states, but this still doesn’t feel ideal for simple iPad use.
Split View and Slide Over definitely belong to iPadOS, but shoving them in a window makes it more complicated than it needs to be, even a year later.
Wrap up
Ideally, there will be two sets of multitasking options in iPadOS: Classic and Pro. Most Classics will open apps in full screen mode, but there are options for Slide Over and Split View, and Pro will have the windows that iPadOS 26 introduced. Within Pro, there is also an option to enable/disable Stage Manager.
Overall, I just feel that Apple took the iPad too far in one direction Magic keyboardUsers replace /laptop, and the multitasking experience is a little lacking for those who just want their iPad to be an iPad. Bringing the “easy” option back to many pages would go a long way in that direction.
How do you feel about iPad multitasking since iPadOS 26? Let us know in the comments.
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