iOS 27 Rumored to Include Split-Screen App Adaptation Feature

[groove-agent]

This makes sense because of the iPhone ultra’s larger screen. What would be my dream is if you could hook up any pro iPhone to an external monitor and it extended the screen to the full width of that extended monitor. Imagine using you iPhone as a desktop computer like a Samsung Dex setup!

 

[ReliableSource]

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.

I’d love if there were some kind of PiP API for non-video stuff. I know some apps have it as a workaround; I use Yoink’s clipboard monitor that I think is a clever implementation, but it’d be nice if they could do more with the PiP window.

I don’t think I’d need two apps running side-by-side in landscape all that much, but if I could have little bits of things like a clipboard monitor or sticky notes that worked like PiP windows, I’d use them all the time.

 

[AlexESP]

Based on the description, it has nothing to do with split screen. Split screen on a phone display doesn’t make any sense. Targets are tiny, and interactions are awkward. I guess it’s a cool demo, but real usage must be ridiculous.

 

[QuarterSwede]

It’s AI, but this gives you an idea-

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And this is the only context in which it makes sense. It’s useless on a regular slab phone form facto even in landscape. Foldable and up (iPad) is where it’s useful.

 

[Premium1]

Could easily do this for pro max if they wanted.

They could do it for all of them. They had it on the iPhone 6 plus which was 5.5" Just another way for Apple to gate keep.

 

[DrJR]

Finally, the Max def needs some kind of better multi-tasking….. now do something for the watch.

 

[MrGunny94]

Told my wife the other day, I'd only consider an Ultra If I can have MS Teams and Excel open side by side.

 

[svish]

While split screen functionality is very much needed for a foldable iPhone, I would like to see it being available on a Pro Max too.

 

[mrr]

I still want my iPhone to support the Apple Pencil.

 

[MVMNT]

Foundational layer for a folding device.

 

[HazeAndHahmahneez]

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)

Maaaan that was the feature! Any idea or care to guess why they axed it?

IIRC it was only on plus sized phones and not the regulars..

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.

IMO That lack of enthusiasm is the result of all these social media apps where ppl just film everything and anything by holding the phone in portrait and not landscape orientation, it’s pathetic, they don’t realize the immersion of big clear videos when they watch their stuff on a big TV, they just wanna post on social platforms smh

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

Drag and Drop on iOS is really underrated, even with the awkward gestures you have to do to switch apps while holding files with your finger it beats using share sheets

Split screen would be a winner here

 

[pacorob]

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.

I totally agree. For now we have to ask / hope developers implement both.

I decided recently to create a list of audio apps that support landscape on iOS. I also approached some of these developers if they could add controller support to their apps as well or in the case of Broadcasts add landscape support on iOS (as that already has controller support) to be used with game launchers such as LudiHub when playing (emulator) games while listening to external audio apps and having your iPhone in a game controller such as the Backbone One.