iOS 26.2 and Accessibility Issues

iPad Pro 3rd gen, 1TB

Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad

iOS 26.2.1 (regrettably)

I am having significant accessibility issues with iOS 26.2. This isn't just an "I don't like change" thing or a "getting used to a new OS" thing (trust me, I have used exclusively Apple products my entire life, and my family as a whole has used them for over 30 years, so I've absolutely been there on both counts). This is an "actually interfering with my ability to use my iPad, which is also my source of income" thing.

The core issues are as follows:

• the new screen splitting function requires you to either adjust the size of the current window and of the other window you want to see, or to drag and hold. Both of these are physically difficult for people with motor issues including tremor or proprioception difficulties. Though I appreciate the ability to resize windows easily and to switch between windows is definitely useful to many people, there was no major issue with the previous three-dots that necessitated its complete removal. This could be remedied by allowing users to choose which they prefer.

• while there is the option with the Magic Keyboard (and presumably other trackpads) to use the new drop-down menus, again this requires movements which are too precise for some people with even minor motor defects. Many of us do not have the funding available, or -- previously -- the need, to get motor-assistive devices. Previously, my iPad worked perfectly fine without any assistive technology and the fact that now it does not is not a minor issue but a fundamental accessibility failure.

• similarly, the coloured x - + buttons are very MacOS but deeply unhelpful and unnecessary on an iPad interface. They are floating and thus get in the way of necessary functional buttons on certain apps in split-screen mode.

• I am aware of the "reduce motion" option in the system settings. The issue there is that you either: turn "reduce motion" on, and reduce parallax effects and the "liquid glass" effect; OR keep "reduce motion" off, and have a UI that is responsive to trackpad and touchscreen gestures such as moving from one app to another, or closing an app. The issue is, for some people who find the parallax and liquid glass effects problematic due to vestibular issues, sensory overload, or vision issues, any sense of delay between gesture and action -- even just the fade-across effect that replaces the motion in "reduce motion" mode -- is also physically nauseating. This isn't psychological (although of course psychosomatic symptoms are no less physical and are not at all simple to control), this is neurological and cannot be overcome by thinking differently or reducing anxiety etc. This could surely be very, very simply amended, if there were separate controls to toggle parallax, and if the liquid glass effect could simply... be turned off.

• app scroll state is not preserved when you switch between apps. This is ridiculous! Apparently, quite a few people had this issue in late 2024, but I have never had this issue, until upgrading to iOS 26.2; now this is an almost-global issue. It also occurs within apps: if I switch tabs even briefly on browsers; or if I am browsing on a property app and click on a listing, then return to the search results. I can only imagine how problematic this is for people who rely on VoiceOver, but it is bad enough at my level. Apps like Zoopla are rendered practically unusable. Switching between tabs in the middle of a work task, or switching from browser to other apps, means that I have to then scroll back to wherever I was in my work task even when all I have done is check a definition mid-typing.

These are the most frustrating issues at present, and yet each one of them is trivially fixable. I have spent years recommending Apple products to other disabled people / people with disabilities, and people who work from home. Yet if I had the money right now, I would have traded in my iPad immediately and gone elsewhere.