A very elderly friend has asked for help with this problem
He has an iPad with software is 15.1
its a one year old iPad with no physical home button
He sent me a picture with his camera (which I have blurred to prevent showing the email text) of a row of icons that appeared over the Mail app which he can't remove.
What are they and how can he get rid of them?
Your friend has encountered the iPadOS15 “shelf” - a new multi-tasking feature of iPadOS15. On the basis of your attached image, your friend currently has many open Mail Windows…
The shelf is applicable to many Apps - including Mail and Safari.
In this instance, tapping the Mail App icon summons the shelf view - which will show you a thumbnail image of all the open Windows/instances of the Mail App along the bottom of the screen. Where multiple instances of an App are running, a simple tap of a chosen thumbnail will instantly switch to that window/view. Tapping anywhere else on the screen causes the animated collapse of the shelf view.
For example, if you have three running instances of Mail, tapping the Mail icon will open the shelf with four thumbnails - one thumbnail for each of the three running instances - plus another (with a “+’) with which you can open a New Window (instance) of Mail. Simply tapping a thumbnail will switch directly to that running Window/instance. Swiping a thumbnail off the top of the screen will close the associated Mail Window/instance.
This article from Appleinsider has a useful explanation of this new feature along with many of the updates to multitasking:
The iPad User Guide is also a rich source of frequently overlooked information. The Guide is available both online using a web browser (such as Safari), or as an Apple Books download:
iPad User Guide - Apple Support
https://books.apple.com/book/id1567104892
It is perhaps worth noting that the shelf is a fundamental element of the revised User Interface - and cannot be disabled.
Your friend has encountered the iPadOS15 “shelf” - a new multi-tasking feature of iPadOS15. On the basis of your attached image, your friend currently has many open Mail Windows…
The shelf is applicable to many Apps - including Mail and Safari.
In this instance, tapping the Mail App icon summons the shelf view - which will show you a thumbnail image of all the open Windows/instances of the Mail App along the bottom of the screen. Where multiple instances of an App are running, a simple tap of a chosen thumbnail will instantly switch to that window/view. Tapping anywhere else on the screen causes the animated collapse of the shelf view.
For example, if you have three running instances of Mail, tapping the Mail icon will open the shelf with four thumbnails - one thumbnail for each of the three running instances - plus another (with a “+’) with which you can open a New Window (instance) of Mail. Simply tapping a thumbnail will switch directly to that running Window/instance. Swiping a thumbnail off the top of the screen will close the associated Mail Window/instance.
This article from Appleinsider has a useful explanation of this new feature along with many of the updates to multitasking:
The iPad User Guide is also a rich source of frequently overlooked information. The Guide is available both online using a web browser (such as Safari), or as an Apple Books download:
iPad User Guide - Apple Support
https://books.apple.com/book/id1567104892
It is perhaps worth noting that the shelf is a fundamental element of the revised User Interface - and cannot be disabled.
Thanks LotusPilot. Iv learned something new, I don't have iOS 15 to try it out, so your reply was so helpful.
Iv sent your reply to my friend who is in his late 80's.
Gary
You are very welcome.
strange icons on email for ipad
