iPadOS 26 is an Absolute Mess

[GhostPepper]

I think Samsung Dex handles it a lot better.

100%

Dex clears this by a mile. OneUI is actually awesome these days and a worthy iPad alternative. Mainly because they ripped off everything from iPad that made it great, then just added Dex as an entirely separate mode.

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Things I’ve never said to myself holding an iPad in my hand: I wish this looked and felt more like MacOS

Things I have said to myself using an iPad with a keyboard and mouse: I wish this looked and felt more like MacOS

It’s a separate thing for me, and Samsung Dex was able to solve this conundrum. Which is a shame because Apple could make such an incredible Dex alternative given how great iPadOS was as a tablet and how great macOS is as desktop.

 

[GhostPepper]

I am with you with a nice gesture for that - in the meantime one might consider creating a simple or more elaborated shortcut:
View attachment 2538662

I am aware that is not not exactly the same - you run that either from spotlight or from a share menu and - if you do not do fixed combo-shortcuts (fixed as app 1 & 2 predefined) - it’s at least one more click for app selection.

Having to resort to creating a shortcut to do basic Split Screen multitasking, a 10 year old feature that has roots for a lot of users, is a step backward and therefore a failure in UI design. Respectfully.

 

[dimon2242]

I run the iPadOS 26.0 (23A5318f) beta on 2nd gen 11” iPP A12Z Bionic (that is your hardware too, isn’t it?) - and it is actually a delight. no lags - where do you experience that?
GUI Inconsistencies on the other hand it something where all that feedback filed hopefully at least sometimes will have some effect.

>where do you experience that?
Unlock animation stutters, rotation animation, laggy safari scrolling...

 

[Slartibart]

>where do you experience that?
Unlock animation stutters, rotation animation, laggy safari scrolling...

the unlock animation?!? You are missing out - I really enjoy that, particularly the transition from the appearance of the field for pin entry - that wobble of the glass buttons 😃- to the home screen. No lag there in the developer beta 6.

The scrolling in Safari has something like stutter if on a long page I switch quickly moving the page up and down… there is a loss of momentum for the lack of a better word… it is no real stutter…

 

[GDF]

Only for those stuck on how they used to do something instead of learning what's new.

Has nothing to do with learning something new. I usually always love what Apple does, but this new OS is a step backwards. Apple made it too complicated and too sloppy to quickly learn something new. None if it makes sense. Wait till this rolls out to the masses. They will be so confused. Big swing and miss from Apple. Can’t believe people actually believe this is a step forward.

The iPad is not a mac and nor should it ever be one!

 

[GDF]

Having to resort to creating a shortcut to do basic Split Screen multitasking, a 10 year old feature that has roots for a lot of users, is a step backward and therefore a failure in UI design. Respectfully.

Totally agree. Shortcut is no where as easy as Split Screen was either. Apple needs to just bring Split Screen back to Full Screen Apps Mode, which is more like iOS 18 used to be.

 

[xraydoc]

I just downloaded iPadOS26 Public Beta — still learning my way around. When in windowed mode, is there an easier way to exit an app other than the two-step process of taping the mini 3-button icon then tapping the red close button? Swiping up from the bottom doesn't exit the app anymore. I guess it's really not meant for single-app usage, eh?

 

[01cowherd]

tapping the red close button

That’s another flaw (“design choice” for the charitable): The red close button quits the app when the last window closes. Apple has always said that one shouldn’t quit apps on iOS unless the app is not responding, but here they are putting it front and center.

 

[GhostPepper]

I just downloaded iPadOS26 Public Beta — still learning my way around. When in windowed mode, is there an easier way to exit an app other than the two-step process of taping the mini 3-button icon then tapping the red close button? Swiping up from the bottom doesn't exit the app anymore. I guess it's really not meant for single-app usage, eh?

No.

Welcome to the convo! Don’t worry, some enthusiasts on here will convince you that the extra steps are good for you! Or just use a trackpad or keyboard shortcut, but don’t get twisted, this redesign is not better suited for a trackpad and keyboard. But rest assured, everything is better this way.

 

[Macintosh101]

Honestly, I think Samsung Dex handles it a lot better. Especially with how there are separate touchscreen and keyboard + mouse multitasking modes.

In my view, iPadOS 26 would be elite if windows were only active when the Magic Keyboard was attached, and if it reverted to Split View + Slide Over when using the touchscreen only.

As of now, the OS is fantastic with the Magic Keyboard, but it’s not a good experience with only the touchscreen.

This hasn’t been my experience. I’ve found using windowed mode on y 13” iPP with Magic Keyboard less useful and satisfying than when using my Macbook, but I have found windowing really useful in tablet mode and when using the Apple Pencil.

 

[richpjr]

Has nothing to do with learning something new. I usually always love what Apple does, but this new OS is a step backwards. Apple made it too complicated and too sloppy to quickly learn something new. None if it makes sense. Wait till this rolls out to the masses. They will be so confused. Big swing and miss from Apple. Can’t believe people actually believe this is a step forward.

The iPad is not a mac and nor should it ever be one!

When the roll it out to the masses, most users will never notice as they use full screen apps.

 

[Agathon]

Which power grants Stage Manager exactly? 🧐😆

The ability to group apps around different tasks. I use this all the time on my Mac because I usually have silly numbers of windows open and I have multiple things on the go at once. It’s been a boon to me. The windowed mode won’t work for me because it’s essentially a single space. I could see myself using it for browsing and listening to music at the same time but not for work.

 

[TigerMSTR]

Regarding external display support on iPadOS 26, a few annoyances:

The dock is hidden when apps take up the full height of the display. This leaves no straightforward way to open apps on the external display. The best you can do is (1) open the app on the iPad, (2) right click the traffic lights, (3) select “Move to [External] Display”

There is no way for the menu bar to always see visible, either on the external display, or on the iPad. So to view the menu bar, you have to do a click-and-drag-down gesture from the top of the screen.

The display scaling on a 4K monitor is terrible. Websites are obscenely oversized. They do not render like Safari on Mac at all.

The whole system has a very slight input lag. Typing characters, clicking the mouse, feels like it has a 50 to 100 ms delay to it, that doesn’t exist on macOS. It makes typing slightly challenging.

Moving and resizing windows on the external display is very imprecise. It’s like moving jello. Like, the windows are slow to move, and it’s very unpredictable where they’ll land up.

The windowing system on the external display resembles macOS, but window manipulation on macOS is still far superior than it is on the iPad. Even on the external display, with a mouse and keyboard, iPadOS 26 has the most challenging window manipulation I’ve seen of any operating system, and it hasn’t really improved since iPadOS 18. I’d use an external display with the iPad as a last resort, but this shouldn’t be the primary means of using the iPad.

This system resembles macOS in the most superficial way, but I cannot emphasize enough that this user experience is nothing like using a Mac desktop.

 

[DaSal]

Regarding external display support on iPadOS 26, a few annoyances:

The dock is hidden when apps take up the full height of the display. This leaves no straightforward way to open apps on the external display. The best you can do is (1) open the app on the iPad, (2) right click the traffic lights, (3) select “Move to [External] Display”

There is no way for the menu bar to always see visible, either on the external display, or on the iPad. So to view the menu bar, you have to do a click-and-drag-down gesture from the top of the screen.

The display scaling on a 4K monitor is terrible. Websites are obscenely oversized. They do not render like Safari on Mac at all.

The whole system has a very slight input lag. Typing characters, clicking the mouse, feels like it has a 50 to 100 ms delay to it, that doesn’t exist on macOS. It makes typing slightly challenging.

Moving and resizing windows on the external display is very imprecise. It’s like moving jello. Like, the windows are slow to move, and it’s very unpredictable where they’ll land up.

The windowing system on the external display resembles macOS, but window manipulation on macOS is still far superior than it is on the iPad. Even on the external display, with a mouse and keyboard, iPadOS 26 has the most challenging window manipulation I’ve seen of any operating system, and it hasn’t really improved since iPadOS 18. I’d use an external display with the iPad as a last resort, but this shouldn’t be the primary means of using the iPad.

This system resembles macOS in the most superficial way, but I cannot emphasize enough that this user experience is nothing like using a Mac desktop.

This is all spot on. A lot of these issues have been a thing since Stage Manager though. Window movement and resizing has always felt both slow and jittery at the same time, especially on an external display for some reason.

I tried it a few times, even setup my iPad to be docked to my monitor instead of my MacBook to see how that goes…

But for some reason the external monitor experience on an iPad just makes me feel nervous, jittery and irritated. It’s like everything feels off and is just fussier and requires more effort than on MacOS or Windows and it makes it feel like you’re the problem or you’re having some weird motor issues or something. It’s just really off and it requires a lot of work.

 

[achappy]

External monitor support is best with a Thunderbolt 3 or higher cable if you want full resolution at 60Hz. I've been using one periodically for a few years (portable external 2K 16" monitor) and I experimented with a 32" 4K for a few days before selling my 5K iMac when iPadOS 26 hit. Using it with the 4K monitor is what finally convinced me to sell off my iMac

It was and still is really smooth on an external monitor. On 18 I only used it mainly for videos/TV while working on the iPad because Stage Manager limited the space unless the app didn't do full screen like Netflix. But on 26 it's been used significantly more.

 

[DaSal]

External monitor support is best with a Thunderbolt 3 or higher cable if you want full resolution at 60Hz. I've been using one periodically for a few years (portable external 2K 16" monitor) and I experimented with a 32" 4K for a few days before selling my 5K iMac when iPadOS 26 hit. Using it with the 4K monitor is what finally convinced me to sell off my iMac

It was and still is really smooth on an external monitor. On 18 I only used it mainly for videos/TV while working on the iPad because Stage Manager limited the space unless the app didn't do full screen like Netflix. But on 26 it's been used significantly more.

What nonsense. Thunderbolt 3 isn’t required for 4K 60hz and your monitor likely doesn’t been support it. It’s going to be some flavour of upstream USB3 type-c support.

 

[achappy]

What nonsense. Thunderbolt 3 isn’t required for 4K 60hz and your monitor likely doesn’t been support it. It’s going to be some flavour of upstream USB3 type-c support.

What's nonsense is your reading skills. I didn't say "required" nor did I say 4K 60Hz. I said "Full resolution" which is going to be determined by what iPad you are using and what monitor you are connecting to. Also, I know exactly what my monitors support and what was needed to get the 4K@60Hz.

iPad USB-C Connection "To connect your iPad to high-resolution displays, use a USB-C cable that supports high-bandwidth connections, such as the cable included with the display, the Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Cable (USB-C to USB-C), or the Apple Thunderbolt (USB-C) 4 Pro Cable (sold separately)."

 

[richpjr]

One thing I wish I could do on my iPad is control the volume of an audio interface with the keyboard volume buttons, like you can on a Mac. That and simultaneous audio would solve a few nagging issues and let me use my Mac a lot less.

 

[Agathon]

I just downloaded iPadOS26 Public Beta — still learning my way around. When in windowed mode, is there an easier way to exit an app other than the two-step process of taping the mini 3-button icon then tapping the red close button? Swiping up from the bottom doesn't exit the app anymore. I guess it's really not meant for single-app usage, eh?

Swiping down from the top of the window?

 

[xraydoc]

Swiping down from the top of the window?

Never tried that. Will see what happens when I get home to my iPad. In all previous versions of iPadOS, it was a swipe up from the bottom (or, of course, a tap of the home button).

 

[xraydoc]

No.

Welcome to the convo! Don’t worry, some enthusiasts on here will convince you that the extra steps are good for you! Or just use a trackpad or keyboard shortcut, but don’t get twisted, this redesign is not better suited for a trackpad and keyboard. But rest assured, everything is better this way.

I'll probably switch between windowed mode and full-screen mode often, but I was just curious as to whether or not I was missing an easy way to exit the app and get back to the home screen. Doesn't need to completely force-quit the app... just exit like swiping up on the home bar used to do (and still does in full-screen mode).

I'm also not certain as to the difference between hitting the yellow minimize button and the red close button. Is the red close button actually force-quitting the app completely? I presume then that the yellow minimize button then is more akin to swiping up on the home bar in full-screen mode?

 

[GhostPepper]

I'll probably switch between windowed mode and full-screen mode often, but I was just curious as to whether or not I was missing an easy way to exit the app and get back to the home screen. Doesn't need to completely force-quit the app... just exit like swiping up on the home bar used to do (and still does in full-screen mode).

I'm also not certain as to the difference between hitting the yellow minimize button and the red close button. Is the red close button actually force-quitting the app completely? I presume then that the yellow minimize button then is more akin to swiping up on the home bar in full-screen mode?

I was being sarcastic. There's been a lot of back and forth in this forum about how they've removed some gestures/features to make way for new ways of doing things that required another tap to accomplish, or a keyboard shortcut.

I am unsure what the difference is between the yellow and red button myself.

 

[DaSal]

That’s another flaw (“design choice” for the charitable): The red close button quits the app when the last window closes. Apple has always said that one shouldn’t quit apps on iOS unless the app is not responding, but here they are putting it front and center.

It's also inconsistent with how the buttons work on MacOS, which makes it even more braindead of a choice.

For instance: on MacOS when pressing the red button it doesn't quit the app, it only closes the window. Even if the last window is closed, the app remains running. On iPadOS when the last window is closed it actually quits the app.

So if you're playing music with Apple Music on MacOS and you close the last Music app window with the red button, the music keeps playing. When you press the red button on iPadOS the Music app is quit and the music stops playing.

The yellow button on iPadOS actually doesn't act like minimize, which it's meant to represents, but it acts like the red close window button does on MacOS. (Meaning using the yellow button you can close every window of an app and still keep the app running). Meaning; if you want to close every Apple Music window but keep the music playing, on MacOS you have to close it using the red button, and on iPadOS you have to close it using the yellow button. Make it make sense.

To compare:

Red button
MacOS: close window (CMD+W behavior)
iPadOS: force quit app (CMD+Q behavior)

Yellow button
MacOS: minimize (CMD+M behavior)
iPadOS: close window (CMD+W behavior)

iPadOS doesn't have a true minimize even though that's what the yellow button is meant to be.

I can't believe they designed it like this. This really highlights how much they're just trying to give iPadOS the sheen of being like MacOS, by making it look like MacOS, to appease all the people asking for it. But really, the design makes no sense in iPadOS. That's the buttons don't actually make sense and aren't consistent. They forced a UI onto an OS that isn't designed to work like that. That's probably why the whole multitasking experience is such a mess (and why so many of us hate it).

If anyone is still on the beta, maybe send feedback for this behavior? Because it's ridiculous. I downgraded myself I don't want to subject myself to iPadOS26 anymore.

 

[TigerMSTR]

It's also inconsistent with how the buttons work on MacOS, which makes it even more braindead of a choice.

For instance: on MacOS when pressing the red button it doesn't quit the app, it only closes the window. Even if the last window is closed, the app remains running. On iPadOS when the last window is closed it actually quits the app.

So if you're playing music with Apple Music on MacOS and you close the last Music app window with the red button, the music keeps playing. When you press the red button on iPadOS the Music app is quit and the music stops playing.

The yellow button on iPadOS actually doesn't act like minimize, which it's meant to represents, but it acts like the red close window button does on MacOS. (Meaning using the yellow button you can close every window of an app and still keep the app running). Meaning; if you want to close every Apple Music window but keep the music playing, on MacOS you have to close it using the red button, and on iPadOS you have to close it using the yellow button. Make it make sense.

To compare:

Red button
MacOS: close window (CMD+W behavior)
iPadOS: force quit app (CMD+Q behavior)

Yellow button
MacOS: minimize (CMD+M behavior)
iPadOS: close window (CMD+W behavior)

iPadOS doesn't have a true minimize even though that's what the yellow button is meant to be.

I can't believe they designed it like this. This really highlights how much they're just trying to give iPadOS the sheen of being like MacOS, by making it look like MacOS, to appease all the people asking for it. But really, the design makes no sense in iPadOS. That's the buttons don't actually make sense and aren't consistent. They forced a UI onto an OS that isn't designed to work like that. That's probably why the whole multitasking experience is such a mess (and why so many of us hate it).

If anyone is still on the beta, maybe send feedback for this behavior? Because it's ridiculous. I downgraded myself I don't want to subject myself to iPadOS26 anymore.

Also, the yellow button acts differently depending on whether you have Stage Manager enabled

Stage Manager enabled: Pressing yellow button move the app to a new stage l

Stage Manager disabled: Pressing the yellow button “minimizes” the app into the app icon. And to be completely honest, I still haven’t figured out the difference between the yellow and red buttons in this mode.

 

[DaSal]

Stage Manager disabled: Pressing the yellow button “minimizes” the app into the app icon. And to be completely honest, I still haven’t figured out the difference between the yellow and red buttons in this mode.

The difference is that when you press the red button the app quits, so it stops running in the background. If you press yellow it ‘minimizes’ into the app icon. But yea like I pointed out above this is not how MacOS behaves with those same buttons.