I am usually not bothered by updates and I consider myself a reasonably facile apple user, but this latest update is making me crazy. The removal of the ease with which you could use split screen, something I did all the time, is terrible and the three dots? please, too small and in most cases have added an extra step or two to most things I do. First time I’ve ever posted, so you can tell my level of aggravation is high.
iPad Pro
Retopp4 wrote:
I just want to say this is the stupidity. I should be able to multitask in full screen apps. I work for a school and to have access to guided access we are recommended to use full screen apps but then we can’t multi task. Fix it Apple.
First, please understand 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 such, any comments that you post here will not be seen by anyone that can influence change.
Contributors have no more direct influence over Apple's development and design decisions than you. However, Apple does invite submission of constructive feedback and feature requests via it Product Feedback portal. If you would like to see changes or enhancements within a future update to iPadOS, this would be the most effective channel through which to direct a request to Apple:
While you are perhaps unlikely to receive a personal reply in response to your submission, we are assured that all feedback is logged, analysed and passed to the appropriate team(s) for consideration.
Returning to your potential issue, you can multitask in full-screen mode, just as before, but the controls are a little different. To expand a window to full-screen view, simply tap the traffic-light multitasking button at top-left of the App window to expand the control - then tap the green button to expand the window to its full-screen view. The yellow button will minimise the window, but leave the App running, whereas the red button will close the App entirely.
In iPadOS 26, side-by-side split screen view remains - although it is accessed a little differently to previous versions of iPadOS. The new implementation is actually more flexible, as the relative proportions of the split view are no longer constrained to 25:75 or 50:50 or 75:25 windows; the divider can now be freely dragged to adjust the relative window proportions.
The video inset within this link quoted to the author of the original post was the easiest way to demonstrate both how to use iPadOS 26 multitasking - and to demonstrate the new flexibility offered with split and slide-over views.
Multitask on iPad with iPadOS 26 - Apple Support
Here is an additional explanation as to how to use split-screen and slide-over with iPadOS 26...
You can have two or three App windows side-by-side - or a spit the screen into four quadrants. To access split-screen, assuming that the current App window is not maximised; touch-and-hold the traffic-light icon at top-left of the App window to expose the Fill & Arrange options:
From here, tap the arrangement option that matches the action that you would like achieve. The current App window will move aside, allowing you to open another App; the selected view will open the selected Apps in their own windows - which can be resized laterally, as before, by dragging the divider to left or right.
If the App window is already maximised, swipe downwards from the top-edge of the screen to expose the new menu bar - then use the traffic-light icon as described above.
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
Selecting Full-Screen Apps disables multitasking capabilities. Selecting Windowed Apps enables Split Screen, Slide Over and Windowed Apps - noting that a Windowed App can still be viewed full-screen.
Retopp4 wrote:
I just want to say this is the stupidity. I should be able to multitask in full screen apps. I work for a school and to have access to guided access we are recommended to use full screen apps but then we can’t multi task. Fix it Apple.
First, please understand 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 such, any comments that you post here will not be seen by anyone that can influence change.
Contributors have no more direct influence over Apple's development and design decisions than you. However, Apple does invite submission of constructive feedback and feature requests via it Product Feedback portal. If you would like to see changes or enhancements within a future update to iPadOS, this would be the most effective channel through which to direct a request to Apple:
While you are perhaps unlikely to receive a personal reply in response to your submission, we are assured that all feedback is logged, analysed and passed to the appropriate team(s) for consideration.
Returning to your potential issue, you can multitask in full-screen mode, just as before, but the controls are a little different. To expand a window to full-screen view, simply tap the traffic-light multitasking button at top-left of the App window to expand the control - then tap the green button to expand the window to its full-screen view. The yellow button will minimise the window, but leave the App running, whereas the red button will close the App entirely.
In iPadOS 26, side-by-side split screen view remains - although it is accessed a little differently to previous versions of iPadOS. The new implementation is actually more flexible, as the relative proportions of the split view are no longer constrained to 25:75 or 50:50 or 75:25 windows; the divider can now be freely dragged to adjust the relative window proportions.
The video inset within this link quoted to the author of the original post was the easiest way to demonstrate both how to use iPadOS 26 multitasking - and to demonstrate the new flexibility offered with split and slide-over views.
Multitask on iPad with iPadOS 26 - Apple Support
Here is an additional explanation as to how to use split-screen and slide-over with iPadOS 26...
You can have two or three App windows side-by-side - or a spit the screen into four quadrants. To access split-screen, assuming that the current App window is not maximised; touch-and-hold the traffic-light icon at top-left of the App window to expose the Fill & Arrange options:
From here, tap the arrangement option that matches the action that you would like achieve. The current App window will move aside, allowing you to open another App; the selected view will open the selected Apps in their own windows - which can be resized laterally, as before, by dragging the divider to left or right.
If the App window is already maximised, swipe downwards from the top-edge of the screen to expose the new menu bar - then use the traffic-light icon as described above.
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
Selecting Full-Screen Apps disables multitasking capabilities. Selecting Windowed Apps enables Split Screen, Slide Over and Windowed Apps - noting that a Windowed App can still be viewed full-screen.
Start here with the excellent video intro:
Multitask on iPad with iPadOS 26 - Apple Support
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. You would be well advised to review 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.
Work with multiple windows at once on iPad - Apple Support
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
I just want to say this is the stupidity. I should be able to multitask in full screen apps. I work for a school and to have access to guided access we are recommended to use full screen apps but then we can’t multi task. Fix it Apple.
All help on split screen appreciated.
