Part of the change to multitasking on the iPad actually will remove the Split View and Slide Over, two multitasking interface options that have existed on the iPad since the dawn of time.
Basically, with iPadOS 26, you can have multiple app windows, each resizable freely on your display. This useful feature will work on all iPad models that support the new OS update; however, there are still some limitations on how many apps you can open at once.
For example, on older iPads, the limit is four apps at a time. Of course, newer iPads can have more open app windows, understandably.
These app windows can be resized and even moved on top of each other. You can also rearrange them as you’d like, just like you can do on a Mac. On top of all that, there are tiling options so you can see two to four apps side-by-side, and this feature is reminiscent of Split View.
Also, each window will retain its last position and size when you shut off the iPad or close the app. Meanwhile, you can see all your open apps with a swipe-up gesture, which will show you an Exposé-style view. These windows sport the Mac traffic-light controls (red, yellow, green) and from there you can also resize apps and close them. Also, with iPadOS 26, iPad apps feature Mac-style menu bars which allow you to tweak settings. If that’s not a lot, there’s also a feature for running system-intensive tasks in the background.
Obviously, this new interface replaces Slide Over and Split View, but for the better, in my opinion. The new multitasking is much more powerful and seamless.
Slide Over is the feature that allows you to keep an app in a smaller, floating window on the side of the screen, while Split View is the option to have two apps simultaneously opened next to each other on your display. Personally, I never used Slide Over on my iPad, so I am far from sad that it’s soon going to be gone.
iPadOS 26 is now in developer beta, with a public beta opening in July. The official release will be in the fall, and supported iPads are:
- iPad Pro (M4)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd gen and later)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (1st gen and later)
- iPad Air (M2 and later)
- iPad Air (3rd gen and later)
- iPad (A16)
- iPad (8th gen and later)
- iPad mini (A17 Pro)
- iPad mini (5th gen and later)
