Last year, Apple completely reinvented multitasking on the iPad, with the introduction of windowing in iPadOS 26. At first, this meant the removal of the simpler version of multitasking, Split View and Slide Over. Those features did eventually return, but at a cost – they required you to use the clunky new windowing system. I was hoping iPadOS 27 would improve this, but it didn’t.
To be clear, I don’t actually have a total opposition to the new windowing system in iPadOS 26 (and now 27). It has a time and a place, and when I’m trying to bounce between multiple apps at once on my 13-inch iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard, it works exceptionally well. I have mixed feelings about it on smaller iPads, but it’s fine.
What I don’t like, however, is the fact that the only other option (other than Stage Manager, which is more of a feature within windowing than a different option) is to use every single app in full screen – with no sort of flexibility.
What I’d like to see
As mentioned earlier, iPadOS 26 did eventually bring back Split View and Slide Over in later betas – but you can only use them if you only have windowing turned on. This meant that if you wanted the simpler versions of multitasking, you had to deal with all of the layers of complexity meant for pro users.
