iPadOS 26.2 Beta 3 Adds New Drag and Drop Multitasking Functionality

[Unregistered 4U]

Yep. The first time I did this in the beta I rolled back to iOS 18 and haven’t been tempted to ‘upgrade’ since. Sounds like they’ll finally be back to how it was working in another couple of points releases! 👍

I wouldn’t count on it! 😀

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

You can just drag an app from the dock now. Previously what I used to to do was pull 2 apps in minimized view and used the fill and arrange button to fill the windows out for me instead

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This looks great but why did it not work the second time , and instead went into a 2/3 and 1/3 window?

 

[Rogifan]

If this brings back Split View, that will be great.

Now is Apple ever going to force apps to support PiP (looking at you YouTube)?

 

[MysteriousStain]

I wish there was a toggle for seniors so it could be a simple interface like it used to be. Cleaning up my mum's iPad every few weeks is a chore I shouldn't need to do.

 

[DribbleCastle]

I wish there was a toggle for seniors so it could be a simple interface like it used to be. Cleaning up my mum's iPad every few weeks is a chore I shouldn't need to do.

Is this what you are wanting? Full screen apps is as simple as it gets. No split view, no slide over. The only thing you might be missing is a physical home button. If Mum is like most older parents out there, they will still find a way to muck things up a bit. They just have a special talent for that.

 

[DribbleCastle]

If this brings back Split View, that will be great.

Now is Apple ever going to force apps to support PiP (looking at you YouTube)?

Split view never went away; it was just a little different in iOS 26. This new multitasking option is a bit more like the older interface from iOS 18 and prior. Thats why people like me are happy to see it return.

YouTube and YoutubeTV both support PiP. It's a paid feature. Youtube has supported it for years. If you use YouTube a lot, I highly recommend YouTube Premium. It's by far my favorite paid service, and it would be the absolute last service I would drop if money was tight.

 

[svish]

Very happy to see this. Think slide over should now work much like how it was before. Will try it out soon after updating. Multiple options for multitasking are now possible!

 

[DunedinD]

I think you just described how it’s not there in any convenient way.

Indeed, it isn’t as convenient as it could and should be, hence why I called out the irritation of the traffic light buttons not being visible until an app is

I think you just described how it’s not there in any convenient way.

Indeed, I wasn’t saying it’s convenient, only that it is still there. That’s why I called out the irritation of the traffic light buttons not being visible when an app is full screen in windowed mode. Change that and windowed mode and the preset sizes and positions would immediately become convenient and practical.

 

[baryon]

I didn’t like this style of multitasking on my 11-inch iPad Air M3. Maybe if I had a 13-inch, my experience would be better. I just prefer the old-style split-screen method.

Same, imagine that on an iPad Mini. Now you have to choose between no multitasking whatsoever and "drag gestures, drag gestures everywhere!". You can't do anything now without accidentally resizing a window. And doing the things you could do in iOS 18 is more complicated. You could just put two apps in split screen with a single tap, now you have to resize both one by one and flick each one to either size one at a time, it's ridiculous.

 

[sdz]

That’s a pretty horrible description of it. As long as you have at least one app open and have enabled Windowed Apps or Stage Manager…

One of the most awkward things about Slide Over in 26.1 is that you can’t use it when Full-Screen Apps is enabled. Apple is far too literal by not allowing Slide Over in that mode.

The UX is a convoluted mess.

 

[zhenya]

I think you just described how it’s not there in any convenient way.

Describing how to perform a new process in words is not necessarily easy. I spent YEARS writing out descriptions here to people who had no idea split view and slide over were even a thing because those actions that Apple is now adding back in were anything but intuitively discoverable. People had to be taught.

Unfortunately in this case many of the loudest complainers never even tried the new system - let alone gave themselves a real chance to adapt to it - before the incessant whining began.

 

[justin.d]

does this restore previously functionality i.e. allow you to swipe between slideover apps, iphone style?

 

[Mrbiggestman]

Same, imagine that on an iPad Mini. Now you have to choose between no multitasking whatsoever and "drag gestures, drag gestures everywhere!". You can't do anything now without accidentally resizing a window. And doing the things you could do in iOS 18 is more complicated. You could just put two apps in split screen with a single tap, now you have to resize both one by one and flick each one to either size one at a time, it's ridiculous.

You won’t have to in the 26.2 update since they brought back the one drag gestures.

 

[Mrbiggestman]

This looks great but why did it not work the second time , and instead went into a 2/3 and 1/3 window?

I resized the window so then when I pulled the second window up it put the second window in half view while the other resized window in place

 

[NativeMac]

Sounds like Apple is finally understanding how people want to actually use their tablets vs how they have been trying to force people to use their tablets for the last decade. I’m excited to see continuous improvements to the iPad software and the number of walk backs Apple is making. I just hope more developer tools and software comes to the iPad and also the large 15” variant.

 

[sdz]

Sounds like Apple is finally understanding how people want to actually use their tablets vs how they have been trying to force people to use their tablets for the last decade. I’m excited to see continuous improvements to the iPad software and the number of walk backs Apple is making. I just hope more developer tools and software comes to the iPad and also the large 15” variant.

Agree. A Terminal App and Apple Containers would be welcome as well

 

[Unregistered 4U]

does this restore previously functionality i.e. allow you to swipe between slideover apps, iphone style?

No.

 

[groove-agent]

Apple should simply enable a window style UI when viewed on an external monitor and fullscreen/ slide over when viewed on the iPad screen.

 

[DribbleCastle]

Apple should simply enable a window style UI when viewed on an external monitor and fullscreen/ slide over when viewed on the iPad screen.

The newly released system can do that if you want it to. When you use your iPad, just ignore the window drag handle and traffic light buttons. When you use the external monitor, use them.

 

[pdaholic]

I have been disappointed with iPadOS 26, but this is a big improvement for me. Much quicker to drop an app into one of the Split View sides. The OS remembers the location, so all you need to do is tap the app in the dock and it replaces what app is present. I’m definitely less disappointed. Now if we could put more than one app in slide over, all will be good.

 

[justin.d]

No.

thank you. no update from me then!

 

[AlanMarron]

The change in windowing is complicated by the three sizes of iPads.

The new way is probably great on Pappa Bear, but is close to unusable on Baby Bear. Difficult but doable on Mama Bear.

Overall, there are certain operations that beg for a pencil on Baby Bear, even using iPadOS 18.

 

[baryon]

You won’t have to in the 26.2 update since they brought back the one drag gestures.

My issue is that you can't disable the drag gestures (resizing windows from corners + making the menu bar appear from the top). I keep accidentally resizing windows (the Mini screen is small – windowing makes no sense, but doing it accidentally is annoying). So if I want to make use of the new gestures, I have to keep the whole windowing system enabled.