Genuinely surprised at how weak iPadOS 26 is

[richpjr]

The switch to a proper curser is enough for me to update when the public beta comes out.

LOL - I was always kind of surprised when people downplayed the lack of a real cursor before. While not a huge deal, it was a big irritant.

 

[Ludatyk]

LOL - I was always kind of surprised when people downplayed the lack of a real cursor before. While not a huge deal, it was a big irritant.

And I was one of those people… because it didn’t change how I interacted with iPadOS. Don’t get me wrong, I like the change and obviously I’m not against it… but folks made it seem they couldn’t use iPadOS at all due to the lack of a proper cursor.

 

[richpjr]

And I was one of those people… because it didn’t change how I interacted with iPadOS. Don’t get me wrong, I like the change and obviously I’m not against it… but folks made it seem they couldn’t use iPadOS at all due to the lack of a proper cursor.

Just goes to show that there are different strokes for different folks.

 

[jonnyb098]

Its the worst ever. Looks like a childrens tablet.

Everyone called iOS 7 “Fisher Price”. Change is hard.

 

[papbot]

LOL - I was always kind of surprised when people downplayed the lack of a real cursor before. While not a huge deal, it was a big irritant.

There may not be many who enable Assistive Touch under Accessibility, but for those who do, the cursor reverts to the previous circle. I enable this when I’m in the Windows mode so that I can have the virtual button always onscreen to take a screenshot. I do much prefer the new cursor form, but with Assistive Touch I can deal with the circle cursor.

 

[zakarhino]

I have owned and used iPads since the very first one came out. This week marked the first time EVER that I willingly used my iPad more than I used my personal MacBook Pro -- yes, even for productivity related stuff! That is a sentence I never thought I would write, yet here we are.

It's not perfect but it's getting there. Plugging it into an external monitor no longer feels like a sluggish and limited gimmick. Now it feels like I'm getting a desktop class multitasking experience with very few compromises. I think another few generations of hardware/software is needed before I consider buying a Mac Studio and using an iPad as my general purpose portable computer instead of a MacBook Pro.

But wow... never have I ever felt the yearn for 100% of my work to be do-able on iPad. I am finally beginning to understand what the rest of you feel. If I can somehow run a macOS-class terminal and my preferred dev environment on this thing in a couple years it might be game over.

 

[throAU]

I didn't encounter a single new feature. I'm not saying I encountered new features that I didn't use. I just didn't come across anything that wasn't just different for the sake of being different. Everything worked the same, but was made worse by the new UI.

Using it with a mouse, keyboard and external display is way better than 18.

If you're not doing that.... yeah stick with 18. The above is the whole point really.

 

[richpjr]

Using it with a mouse, keyboard and external display is way better than 18.

If you're not doing that.... yeah stick with 18. The above is the whole point really.

I have an 11" that I use stand alone and a 13" that I use with a keyboard and external monitor. I agree that the update is more useful with the keyboard and external monitor, but am kind of liking be able to use windowed mode on the 11 from time to time. This is what we are "stuck" with so I'm embracing rather than fighting it.

 

[MrTSolar]

Everything just feels harder to do on iPad. Navigating Files requires double clicking on folders now, SlideOver is sorely missed, Preview app just gets in the way (deleting it means PDF files open in Books instead, but what was wrong with it opening in Files?), and with two apps in the new split view, you can no longer close one of the apps by dragging the divider to the edge of the screen. One app has to be made full screen or the other one closed. With an external monitor, the snappy window sizes made making multiple apps the same size easy. Per-pixel sizing, especially with the bouncy UI, is more challenging, though Beta 4 will auto-size apps to line up as long as you get them close first.

Some people like the new cursor. I’m still mixed. I kinda liked how the old one would snap to app icons and buttons (at least with a trackpad). Of course, the interface is still too buggy to get a solid feel on the new cursor.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

I like the way it works in docked mode (connected to a keyboard, mouse and monitor) a lot more now.

On the iPad itself, I wish they'd kept the slide-over - but it's not a deal breaker.

 

[richpjr]

I like the way it works in docked mode (connected to a keyboard, mouse and monitor) a lot more now.

On the iPad itself, I wish they'd kept the slide-over - but it's not a deal breaker.

Agree - it's far more usable for me now. I have a 13" that I primarily use on my desk with a keyboard, mouse and monitor and windows are fantastic. I have an 11" that is my walk around media consumption device that I keep in full screen mode. Very happy with how both work.