Thanks for the clarification. Did Apple explicitly state that the windowing was for mouse/trackpad use? I could have sworn the keynote demo showed people using it with touch….but I might be wrong.
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iPadOS 26 is an Absolute Mess
- Thread starter tweaknmod
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I mean you can use it with touch and they can demo it as such but as you noticed it makes for a very clunky experience, it doesn’t seem like they considered the finger experience at all while designing it. It’s marginally better with the Apple Pencil.
if you’re wondering why so many of us are complaining about the new multitasking system, this video succinctly demonstrates why.
These icons look like someone has pinched them off a website and didn’t know how to use the tool correctly and left a band round them.
If you use photos with trees in the photo you can’t see the menu, don’t know who thought that was a good idea.
i’ve reduced transparency and it still looks a mess.
If you use photos with trees in the photo you can’t see the menu, don’t know who thought that was a good idea.
i’ve reduced transparency and it still looks a mess.
Everyone will have differing opinions on what is the right or wrong way to use the iPad. Neither one of us is wrong… people will claim Windowed mode/Stage Manager is better suited for Magic Keyboard… when my experiences differs from that claim.
I keep Stage Manager enabled… actually think it’s better to use via touch because of the flick gestures (for SplitView).
taking away a feature that was simple and effective is not a difference of workflow. this new approach is a worse workflow in every possible way. the windows dont solve a single problem and actually introduce new ones.
And that’s according to you. Not everyone is going to like it, I like this new approach… decided long ago I prefer using Stage Manager over SplitView/SlideOver because of the flexibility it provides.
What a terrible idea removing splitview and slide over was especially on the mini or 11 inch screens.
It's absolutely insane on the Mini in particular.
A fully windowed OS experience is not better on such small screens.
FFS -- at least leave them as optional toggles!
Arguably it is almost as poor on 11-inch iPads. Slide over and Split View have been the cornerstone of iPad multitasking since iOS 9. Add whatever windowing you like, but keep the older one!
This is appalling by Apple. It’s a little like the clock font. You cannot make the clock on iOS/iPadOS 16 look like iOS 15. If you are adding customization, why not allow those who like the older design to keep using it? Is it so difficult to maintain the clock font? Obviously multitasking is worse because it is far more impactful, but those little things would be quite nice to have.
Yeah I feel like the options should be Tiling, Windowed, and Stage Manager.
I haven’t read the entire thread so I apologize if this repeats earlier discussion, but holy crap did Apple ruin iPadOS for the way I use my iPad mini.
I am now seriously considering a switch to Android.
Just a few of my issues:
I’ll look into workarounds but maybe it’s time for another look at Android. I don’t remember Apple making such wanton UI changes before and I’ve been using Macs since the 80s.
I am now seriously considering a switch to Android.
Just a few of my issues:
- Text size. Parts of app UIs and even the keyboard itself are too small. I’m sure they’re fine on a larger iPad, but Apple sold me a mini. They should support it.
- Files app: unusable. I have vast stores of short PDF and JPG files organized into folders. Previously in Files I could open one to reference it and then swipe through all the other files to browse images or docs. Now I must open each one in Preview to read/view, then switch back to Files and open the next, etc. It’s too gesture-intensive to be useful.
- Excessive transparency: transparent displays have been technically feasible for years but they have no market share because users want to see what their display is displaying. Apple should take note.
I’ll look into workarounds but maybe it’s time for another look at Android. I don’t remember Apple making such wanton UI changes before and I’ve been using Macs since the 80s.
Turning Safari on and off fixed one issue, the posting of comments in news articles is a big with the website and iOS 26, website said they are working on it.
Don’t agree with your other points but plenty of posts that show you can easily revert the Files app back to using Quick Look (previous behavior) by using the “Open With” option.
The easiest thing to do is downgrade to iOS 18 while you still can (while they are still signing it).
Don't wait on that. They rug pull signing support rather quickly these days.
My Mini is staying on 18 ... well, so is my iPhone Mini actually, as well as staying on Sequoia with my Mac Mini.
Everything I have is a "mini" ... all mini's are staying behind.
Liquid Glass, as well as the multitasking changes, are an incredible turn off to me.
Thanks… wasn’t aware of this. I do wish Apple would have this on by default though… I had to find the option at the bottom when I used “Open With” (had to scroll down since I have quite a lot of apps downloaded).
Yeah default or something like Windows 11 when you try to open a "mailto" link where it asks what you want to open with and to set as default.
I also wish it were for ALL types. Unfortunately, you need to do it for each file type.
Yeah, that’s what Android does as well… only task I use Preview for is adjusting size of an image. I think Preview app is redundant in iPadOS because Files app can handle “previewing.” I have apps better suited to handle the file types I really want opened, but I am glad the Preview app exist though.
Not as bad as it seems though... luckily, Apple provided the option. Because I wasn't aware of this at all... I've been holding down (or right click) to use "Quick Look."
But my file manager of choice is FileBrowser... mostly use the Files app as a means to move files across apps.
I was on the beta ipad OS26, and have since turned off betas and am using the public release. I have an iPad Air 4th gen and it’s behaving oddly. It has trouble waking up. Sometimes I have to close the cover, reopen it and then there is a big delay waking up. Very annoying.
I don’t think iPad OS 26 is a mess. I think it’s pretty awesome at least as far as I know here on my iPad Air M2. I have to admit it is different from the past though.
iPadOS 26 is pretty much a mess as nothing is where it should be, there are features that used to exist and were accidentally removed and there are weird bugs that make no sense. Here’s a few examples:
- Try to figure out how to block quote text in Notes. Hint, the option is missing from the pop up menu format submenu.
- Try to copy text from one app and paste it into another using the onscreen keyboard paste icon.
- Try to close the last tab in Safari.
- Try to view an email message full screen in Mail.
- Try to use slideover, which is still listed as a feature on Apple’s help pages.