How can I allow Split View on my iPad running iPadOS 26?

Sja_321 wrote:

I certainly agree. It is far more complicated now and takes a lot longer to figure out simple things like being able to swipe up to close the apps. I wish the three dots were still at the top. They were straightforward, quick, and easy to use.

The three dot button to control multitasking is still present - but is visually now a traffic-light button. These are illustrated within my earlier reply to this thread; once understood, controlling App windows using the button is straightforward - and using it will become second nature as you become accustomed to this revised control.

The button location has changed. Instead of being top-centre of the App window (a location which frequently conflicted with controls for many third-party Apps - of which regular complaint was seen here), the button is now at top-left of App windows that are not being viewed in full screen mode.

For Apps that are being viewed in full screen mode, a simple downward swipe from the top-edge of the screen reveals the new menu bar - where the button is located at the left.

Remember, for iPadOS 26, you have a configuration choice to use Full Screen Apps only, use Windowed Apps, or Stage Manager mode as you prefer:

Settings > Multitasking & Gestures - select your preferred multitasking mode

Apple invites constructive feedback, comments and feature requests via their product feedback pages. For iPad and iPadOS:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

If you would like to see additional multitasking options or controls in a future version of iPadOS, this would be the most appropriate channel through which to make a request.

Really, so many keystrokes, and figuring out how many fingers to use to do this or that, and exactly where to place them is becoming overly complicated and frustrating.

The iPad User Guide is a rich and frequently overlooked resource that documents the many features and capabilities of iPad. The User Guide can be accessed here:

iPad User Guide - Apple Support

The Tips App, installed by default, provides a brief introduction to new features and capabilities of iPad and iPadOS 26 - and leads you to the User Guide. In case you missed it, here is a link to the Tips App:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/tips/id1069509450

Apple also has a huge YouTube Channel - containing videos and feature guidance:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Apple

[Edited by Moderator]

Istash wrote:

Please bring back those three buttons . SOOOO MUCH easier.

As previously outlined, the three dot button to control multitasking is still present - but is visually now a traffic-light button; simply touch-and-hold to expose the available window options. These are illustrated within my earlier reply to this thread; once understood, controlling App windows using the button is straightforward - and using it will become second nature as you become accustomed to this revised control.

The button location has changed. Instead of being top-centre of the App window (a location which frequently conflicted with controls for many third-party Apps - of which regular complaint was seen here), the button is now at top-left of App windows that are not being viewed in full screen mode.

For Apps that are being viewed in full screen mode, a simple downward swipe from the top-edge of the screen reveals the new menu bar - where the button is located at the left.

Remember, for iPadOS 26, you have a configuration choice to use Full Screen Apps only, use Windowed Apps, or Stage Manager mode as you prefer:

Settings > Multitasking & Gestures - select your preferred multitasking mode

Apple invites constructive feedback, comments and feature requests via their product feedback pages. For iPad and iPadOS:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

If you would like to see additional multitasking options or controls in a future version of iPadOS, this would be the most appropriate channel through which to make a request.

Rachy Pach wrote:

Bad enough to move away from Apple and my iPad Pro:

The new OS ‘updated’ this week has destroyed my creative ability by making the old split screen capacity unusable. whichever of the 3 multitasking options I choose, I have lost all kinds of capacity. The rounded corners are annoying and lose screen space, the ‘upgrades’ inside Apple apps - Notes particularly - now bounce out of the menu bar - if they register my touch at all. Feels like some egotistical developer at Apple has decided to have fun at the expense of actual users.

BRING BACK THE SPLIT SCREEN!

BRING BACK CLEAN MENU BARS THAT WORK AND DON’T BOUNCE AROUND

In fact bring back functionality. I hate this.

Please understand that the Apple Support Community is a user-to-user technical forum. Contributors here are all end-users, just like you. Other than the site Moderators, Apple neither monitor nor participate here - as as such, your pleas here will not be seen or acted upon by Apple.

Apple invite submission of constructive comments and feature requests via its Product Feedback portal. If you would like to see a specific feature or change to functionality in a future version of iPadOS, this would be the most appropriate channel through which to make a request:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

iPadOS multitasking has received a significant makeover from that to which you may be accustomed in iPadOS 18.x and earlier - and may take a little time to learn and adjust your workflows. This short video may help you to understand how to use the multitasking system:

https://cdsassets.apple.com/vid/live/hls/7WUAS350/videos/93ad67d2_1759269510.m3u8

You would also likely benefit from reviewing the official iPadOS User Guide and the many available online tutorials (such as YouTube) to become better acquainted with the new multitasking interface and associated gestures and controls:

Multitask on iPad with iPadOS 26 - Apple Support

Work with multiple windows at once on iPad - Apple Support

OS - iPadOS 26 - Apple

The three-dot multitasking button with which you are no doubt familiar from earlier versions of iPadOS has been replaced with the traffic-light button to access and control the revised window-based User Interface.

If you dislike the windowed environment, you can switch to using the basic Full-Screen App mode - but this disables all multitasking capabilities and hide the traffic-light controls; you will not be able to use split screen or slide-over modes with which you are likely familiar:

Settings > Multitasking & Gestures - select Full Screen Apps

zofia82 wrote:

How can I split screen on the new update?

Before posting your question, did you take the time to read any of the guidance that I have already provided within this thread?

In brief, iPadOS multitasking has received a significant makeover from that to which you may be accustomed in iPadOS 18.x and earlier - and may take a little time to learn and adjust your workflows. This short video may help you to understand how to use the multitasking system:

https://cdsassets.apple.com/vid/live/hls/7WUAS350/videos/93ad67d2_1759269510.m3u8

You would also likely benefit from reviewing the official iPadOS User Guide and the many available online tutorials (such as YouTube) to become better acquainted with the new multitasking interface and associated gestures and controls:

Multitask on iPad with iPadOS 26 - Apple Support

Work with multiple windows at once on iPad - Apple Support

OS - iPadOS 26 - Apple

The three-dot multitasking button with which you are no doubt familiar from earlier versions of iPadOS has been replaced with the traffic-light button to access and control the revised window-based User Interface.

facest wrote:

I’m not sure what your stake in this is, but I have no idea why you keep directing people to a post you made that doesn’t address the issue at all. Did you ever use the feature pre-iOS26?

The new 3-dot button isn’t the same as the old one, it’s the equivalent of the macOS window controls and only lets you maximise, hide, or close the window. The friction now is that you used to be able to just drag an app to the side or tap the 3-dot button and choose side-by-side and have it snap into split-screen view automatically but now have to either manually resize and move both windows or swipe down and choose to snap each window through a menu once for each of the two windows you want to have up side-by-side.

The flick (but don’t drag!) gesture to snap windows is so unintuitive that I imagine most people won’t even know it exists, you’d only discover it by accident.

Yes, I use iPadOS multitasking features heavily - and have done so ever since its initial very cumbersome implementation some years ago. iPadOS multitasking has developed over the years, latterly introducing the three-dot button at top-centre of App Windows...

The iPadOS 17/18 multitasking control implementation that you seemingly favour also had its fare share of just criticism - a common complaint being that the fixed button location interfered with, or was too close to, other screen elements, making many Apps difficult (or impossible) to use. A further criticism was the very limited window resizing and positioning when using Stage Manager - availability of this feature being limited to only the more powerful models of iPad and iPad Pro with adequate resources.

Apple has significantly reworked multitasking to address many of the earlier limitations of the entire OS, making the iPad significantly more flexible and multitasking available over a wider spread of iPad models. Yes, it is arguably true that the revised multitasking trigger-button now requires an extra tap or two to access some of its capabilities.

Split Screen is, as you have described, a little more complex to efficiently master. As with all prior implementations of iPadOS multitasking, you can expect the new controls and capabilities to evolve and morph over the lifespan of iPadOS 26.x - at least one such change being anticipated in the not so distant future.

Apple does invite submission of constructive feedback, comments and feature requests via its Product Feedback portal. If you have any feedback to offer, or changes that you might like to see in a future update of PadOS 26, this would be the most appropriate channel through which to communicate your thoughts to Apple:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

For the record, I use iPad and iPadOS heavily - choosing the flexibility and portability of iPadOS in preference to more traditional laptop and desktop computing platforms. iPad (in particular iPad Pro) has evolved into true alternative to Mac and Windows PC. While there are still a small number of tasks and usage cases that do not translate well to iPad, they are in the increasing minority.

Returning to your first question...

My stake in this? I - like all other contributors here - am an end-user. Other than using Apple's product, I have no direct affiliation with Apple. Yes, like you, I have frustrations with iPadOS - but look deeper at the many advantages and benefits of the vastly improved capabilities of this platform bought by iPsdOS 26.

As with every major version release that comes before it, the early release comes with some problems that will be worked-out in the early dot-releases; while speculative, if consistent with prior versions, iPadOS 16.1 and 16.2 are perhaps likely to have worked-out the initial kinks and functional issues, benefiting from feedback (such as yours) from the many millions of users worldwide.

I encourage you to experiment and work with the new interface. With practice, it becomes second nature. Provide constructive feedback to Apple as already suggested; while you are unlikely to receive a reply, we understand that all feedback is logged, analysed and forwarded to the relevant areas of Apple and its Development teams.

LotusPilot wrote:

The iPadOS 17/18 multitasking control implementation that you seemingly favour also had its fare share of just criticism - a common complaint being that the fixed button location interfered with, or was too close to, other screen elements, making many Apps difficult (or impossible) to use. A further criticism was the very limited window resizing and positioning when using Stage Manager - availability of this feature being limited to only the more powerful models of iPad and iPad Pro with adequate resources.

Apple has significantly reworked multitasking to address many of the earlier limitations of the entire OS, making the iPad significantly more flexible and multitasking available over a wider spread of iPad models. Yes, it is arguably true that the revised multitasking trigger-button now requires an extra tap or two to access some of its capabilities.

Split Screen is, as you have described, a little more complex to efficiently master. As with all prior implementations of iPadOS multitasking, you can expect the new controls and capabilities to evolve and morph over the lifespan of iPadOS 26.x - at least one such change being anticipated in the not so distant future.

Dragging windows to snap into Split View or Slide Over was always easier than using a menu. Meaning the three-dot menu was more of a way for people to discover the Split View feature than to actually use it to arrange windows. Using a menu to arrange windows is always a more indirect than just moving the window to where you want it to be. It’s the difference between using menus and keyboard shortcuts on a desktop system, common tasks are done by the latter.

Take for example the action to switch which side both windows in Split View are on. In iPadOS 18, you just dragged either window to the other side and they would re-arrange. In iPadOS 26, you have to long press on the traffic lights on the window on the right and select the second icon in the second line to move it to the left. That is because all the promised ways to easily arrange windows in iPadOS 26 were bolted on features only accessible via menus.

Thankfully iPadOS 26.1 and 26.2 brought back two things: Slide Over and dragging gestures for Split View and Slide Over. But one cannot drag anymore to move a window from Slide Over to Split View or vice versa, one has to use the traffic lights menu (and that only let’s you move a window into the left side on Split View, to move it to the right, see the paragraph above).

And yes, Stage Manager before iPadOS 26 was so limited that probably only masochists used it on the built-in screen (once you add an external screen and a pointing device, a windowed system makes sense).

Just be on an app you want to work with, open the dock by just swiping slightly, then drag an app all the way to left or right and then WELCOME TO SPLIT VIEW!

alexander287 wrote:

The new stage manager is absolutely frustrating .

I use my ipad for work and use two Apps on screen everyday and most of the time. But now my fast workflow is much slowed down.

Please Apple. Go let the user decide if they want Split View or the new Stage Manager.

Here is a great example that shows how complicated the new Stage Manager is compared to the old Split View.

https://youtu.be/spOPvD6R53g

This is a user-to-user technical community. Contributors here are all end-users, just like you. Other than the site Moderators, Apple neither monitors nor participates within this Community. As such, your comments here will not be seen by Apple.

Apple invites submission of constructive comments and feature requests via its Product Feedback portal. For iPad and iPadOS:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

As for your difficulty with Split Screen, please see my earlier replies to this thread. Once the revised controls are understood and practiced, using Split Screen is both straightforward and quick. While your initial frustration is fully understood, persevere a little...

Just like you, I initially found the new controls to be a hinderance. With a little practice, learning how to use the three-dot traffic light button and how the windows will simply snap to either edge of the screen with a simple flick, the new system is as intuitive as it is powerful. 🙂

You can’t find the three white dots at the center top but if you swipe down, you will find that now they are visually a traffic light button. Find the traffic light right the top left because I am on iPadOS 27. But in 26 you will find it at the top, a little to the left but Split View has improved since iPadOS 26.

See After updating my iPad to iPadOS version … - Apple Community on the split screen problem.

I’m not sure what your stake in this is, but I have no idea why you keep directing people to a post you made that doesn’t address the issue at all. Did you ever use the feature pre-iOS26?

The new 3-dot button isn’t the same as the old one, it’s the equivalent of the macOS window controls and only lets you maximise, hide, or close the window. The friction now is that you used to be able to just drag an app to the side or tap the 3-dot button and choose side-by-side and have it snap into split-screen view automatically but now have to either manually resize and move both windows or swipe down and choose to snap each window through a menu once for each of the two windows you want to have up side-by-side.

The flick (but don’t drag!) gesture to snap windows is so unintuitive that I imagine most people won’t even know it exists, you’d only discover it by accident.

This is a tablet device OS that now has a more cumbersome window manager than both Windows and macOS do; it's a bad change to have made without leaving in the equivalent drag-snap functionality that we’ve had and loved for years. What reason would anyone have for having a window only partially open with the Home Screen visible behind it? Apple had it right already.

CatherineM53 wrote:

Please please please bring back split screen. The new update is atrocious.

Apple doesn't read here in this user-to-user forum for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Maybe I’m thick, but I think the three coloured dots (green, yellow, and red) refer to Apple desktops, and laptops, not iPad’s. Again, maybe I’m stupid, but I think this whole thread starts with how can I split my iPad screen. The 3 coloured dots aren’t on iPads. What most people seem to be asking about is the 3 small black dots that used to allow iPad users to have two different windows open on their iPad screens. That was incredibly useful before it was taken away. If you found the removal of this feature on the iPad painful, and if you happen to also use an Apple Watch, when you update to watchOS 27, there was a feature I used all day everyday, that has now been removed. What fun!

firstyke wrote:

Maybe I’m thick, but I think the three coloured dots (green, yellow, and red) refer to Apple desktops, and laptops, not iPad’s. Again, maybe I’m stupid, but I think this whole thread starts with how can I split my iPad screen. The 3 coloured dots aren’t on iPads. What most people seem to be asking about is the 3 small black dots that used to allow iPad users to have two different windows open on their iPad screens. That was incredibly useful before it was taken away. If you found the removal of this feature on the iPad painful, and if you happen to also use an Apple Watch, when you update to watchOS 27, there was a feature I used all day everyday, that has now been removed. What fun!

iPadOS has come a long way - and since the release of iPadOS 26, does have significant similarities to macOS.

The three coloured buttons - red, yellow and green - are indeed both a visual element and functional controls of iPadOS windowing. The screenshots included within my previous replies to this thread were taken directly from iPadOS 26.

iPadOS 27, released just this week, has even closer similarities to macOS. The iPad User Guide provides appropriate documentation:

Work with multiple windows at once on iPad (iPadOS 26) - Apple Support

Work with multiple windows at the same time on iPad (iPadOS 27) - Apple Support

Ok calm down! See, LotusPilot just copies search results from Google and pastes it in the Post box which are vague and unclear. Let me explain, so with iPadOS 26, the three multitasking activation dots are now moved to the top where they are invisible and they now visually are a traffic light button. You just need to swipe down and long press that button and select your mode of multitasking. It can be side by side, top and below or one full app and a Slide Over. Before that, Go to Settings, Multitasking & Gestures and check if the version is to Windowed apps or Stage Manager. If it is on one of the both, you can follow the procedure. Or even more simple. Just be on the app you like, swipe up slightly and stop mid way immediately when you see the dock, long press an app and drag it to left or right and that is it. Welcome to Split View!