iOS 27 Rumored to Include Split-Screen App Adaptation Feature

[MacRumors]

Apple is working on a split-screen app landscape adaptation feature for iOS 27, according to a known leaker.

In a new post on Weibo, the leaker known as "Fixed Focus Digital" said Apple is developing a "Parallel View" capability for iOS, aimed at solving the platform's longstanding weakness with large-screen and landscape layouts. Parallel View is a feature in Huawei's HarmonyOS that automatically adapts smartphone apps for wide displays at the system level, without requiring developers to redesign their apps.

Fixed Focus Digital appears to be using the term as a reference point for the type of solution Apple is pursuing, rather than suggesting Apple is directly replicating Huawei's implementation. The leaker pointed to iPadOS as Apple's own existing example of the approach, noting that Apple already handles landscape adaptation at the system level on the iPad. iOS has never had an equivalent mechanism.

The feature appears to be aimed squarely at the foldable iPhone, whose 7.8-inch inner display will expose a fundamental limitation of iOS: virtually every iPhone app is designed for a tall, narrow screen. Without a system-level solution, those apps would appear letterboxed on the larger display. Fixed Focus Digital acknowledged that iOS is "indeed excellent" while noting its large-screen adaptation has consistently fallen short.

The claim corroborates earlier reporting from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who reported in March that iOS 27 would support two apps side-by-side on the foldable iPhone's inner display, with an iPad-like layout and left-side navigation bars in supported apps.

Apple is expected to unveil iOS 27 at WWDC 2026 later this month, ahead of a fall release alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models and the foldable iPhone.

Article Link: iOS 27 Rumored to Include Split-Screen App Adaptation Feature

 

[sniffies]

Better not be exclusive to iPhone Ultra.

 

[Anonymous123]

Finally.

Having said that, I’d still trade it for bug fixes and reliability improvements first (looking at you, keyboard).

 

[The Game 161]

finally at long last. funny if it they only enable it on the foldable

 

[Ctrlos]

Sounds an awful lot like what a folding phone would do….

 

[zerocustom1989]

What is this person on about?

iOS supports the same wide layout APIs that iPadOS does, going back to when the max size phones had horizontal home screens and would show sidebar style views of apps that would show sidebars on iPadOS. (Like settings or email)

 

[mulatosnarf]

Like on Galaxy s phones?

 

[The Game 161]

Like on Galaxy s phones?

like on all android phones since like 2000

 

[Kylo83]

only for the fold

 

[ReliableSource]

I'd be surprised if this came to anything but the foldable, but I wouldn't mind a way to run two apps side-by-side on a Pro Max. It does feel like there's very little enthusiasm around anything landscape on iOS.

 

[Pezimak]

Yeah I bet this is for the Fold only..

 

[iSmoggie]

Could easily do this for pro max if they wanted.

 

[klasma]

It would have been surprising if it didn’t, for the Ultra.

If it’s similar to the old iPad Split View & Slide Over mode, it would be nice to bring it (back) to iPadOS as well.

 

[Spinarelo]

Ugh! I’ve been wishing for this on PM phones for years….. I’m 98% sure this will be a fold only feature knowing Apple

 

[Taq'aix]

Available in 2054.

 

[mulatosnarf]

like on all android phones since like 2000

S well before that

 

[alexgowers]

I love PIP on my iPhone, I sure would love to be able to have an app float in from like the iPad, plenty of ram and specs to do this easily. This will probably never reach the non-foldable and that makes me super sad.

 

[orbital~debris]

Of all the MacRumors posts that have a mockup, this is an example that would actually benefit from one.

 

[platinumaqua]

It’s the developers disabling the wide/landscape layout nowadays, not iOS not supporting it. Auto Layout already fixed most of the dynamic size issues.

 

[Arislan]

I thought we were focusing on stability and bug fixes plus Siri's overhaul. This sounds like a potential bug ridden feature that should be left for iOS 28 or even 27.5 if it's needed for foldie.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Better not be exclusive to iPhone Ultra.

It absolutely will be

 

[dannyyankou]

Of all the MacRumors posts that have a mockup, this is an example that would actually benefit from one.

It’s AI, but this gives you an idea-

 

[TwoBytes]

I want a DeX experience so you can expand those apps on a monitor!

 

[subjonas]

All apps on both iOS and iPadOS (as well as all UIs in the OS itself) should be required to support both portrait and landscape orientation. People switch in and out of apps and UIs on these devices constantly. It’s very jarring and annoying seeing a sideways UI when switching between UIs that only support one or the other orientation and having to rotate each time—or worse, apps that force you to rotate the device within the app itself, like video streaming apps that have a portrait-only main UI and landscape-only video player. It’s annoying enough rotating the device when you’re holding it, but people often put these devices on stands and mounts which makes it even more of a chore taking the devices off to rotate them. It’s a terrible UX. Granted some apps are more ideal in one orientation over the other, but I have yet to see an app that would be unusable in either orientation, and it would be a far better UX than constant rotating.

 

[Taq'aix]

This is never going to be implemented for standard iPhones.