iPadOS 26 is an Absolute Mess

[Mrbiggestman]

Officially going to be selling off my iPad A16 and my mac mini M4.

iPad A16- A mix of different sizes with different compromises, the trackpad in the 11 inch range is just to small though I didn't want to size up to the 13 inch and feel like everything is a massive slab at the expense of having a big trackpad. iPadOS though really good in concept, it needs work to get all the features to work cohesively and the friction between apps.

Mac mini M4- In reality, never fit into my workflow, I mostly work at college (UK) and so there isn't much portability but it was the first device that got me in MacOS. I was also never that productive, the big 27" screen was distracting and screen real estate was overbearing. The most I was honestly doing was watching videos and gaming, the rest of the time it felt like a liablity sitting around.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Is iPadOS/iOS 26 great yet?

 

[Kal Madda]

Is iPadOS/iOS 26 great yet?

I think it is. 🙂👍🏻

 

[SnowCrocodile]

I'll just post it here.

So much for attention to detail and creating a premium experience...

 

[Kal Madda]

I'll just post it here.

So much for attention to detail and creating a premium experience...

View attachment 2616351

What version of iPadOS are you on? I’m not having that problem on 26.4 (never had it on any of the other versions of 26 either). iPadOS 26.4 just dropped today, so that may fix the bug for you. Also, if you haven’t closed Safari in a while, that may be helpful. 👍🏻

 

[SnowCrocodile]

It is 26.4. But it was happening before as well.

That doesn't happen all the time, and indeed restarting Safari helps for a while. Some websites may be causing this behavior. But it shouldn't be happening at all. I don't remember having these kinds of basic annoying visual bugs in the previous versions and I've been on iOS since 6.

 

[Kal Madda]

It is 26.4. But it was happening before as well.

That doesn't happen all the time, and indeed restarting Safari helps for a while. Some websites may be causing this behavior. But it shouldn't be happening at all. I don't remember having these kinds of basic annoying visual bugs in the previous versions and I've been on iOS since 6.

Are you on the beta, or the public version? Yeah, I ran into a bug like that back in iPadOS 17 I think it was. I haven’t encountered anything like that since though. Out of curiosity, are you using multi-windowing? Could be a bug relating to multi-windowing. I hope it gets fixed for you. 🙂👍🏻

 

[I7guy]

I'll just post it here.

So much for attention to detail and creating a premium experience...

View attachment 2616351

Corrupt installation. On every device I have that page renders ok. iPhone, iPad and Mac.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Are you on the beta, or the public version? Yeah, I ran into a bug like that back in iPadOS 17 I think it was. I haven’t encountered anything like that since though. Out of curiosity, are you using multi-windowing? Could be a bug relating to multi-windowing. I hope it gets fixed for you. 🙂👍🏻

Public version.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Corrupt installation. On every device I have that page renders ok. iPhone, iPad and Mac.

That's a whopping sample of one iPad.

 

[I7guy]

That's a whopping sample of one iPad.

As is yours a whopping sample of one iPad.

 

[Kal Madda]

That's a whopping sample of one iPad.

Yeah, but in all fairness, so is yours. 👍🏻. I personally haven’t encountered this issue in iPadOS 26 either. But I get bugs can be frustrating. If it’s multi-windowing related, perhaps resizing the window would help? I hope it gets fixed. Unfortunately can’t really think of anything else to possibly fix it off the top of my head, but I’ll look into it and see if I can find anything that might be helpful. 🙂👍🏻

 

[SnowCrocodile]

As is yours a whopping sample of one iPad.

So between a whopping sample of two iPads, we have a 50% rate of buggy UX.

 

[I7guy]

That's a whopping sample of one iPad.

I tried this on my IPP M1 and the page rendered properly. Out of curiosity did you clear cache and cookies and try again?

 

[Kal Madda]

So between a whopping sample of two iPads, we have a 50% rate of buggy UX.

No, we have a sample of at least 4 iPads (I have two iPads (one of which is even on the Dev Betas which dramatically increases odds of running into bugs), neither of which have this issue), and @I7guy has at least one that isn’t having the issues. So 3 iPads without the issue to 1 with it. And that’s just an extremely small sample anyways, so it really has zero statistical significance… 🤷🏼‍♂️

I sympathize with your situation, and would like to help you find a solution, but this clearly does not seem to be an issue that’s affecting most users, so I disagree with you there.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Yeah, but in all fairness, so is yours. 👍🏻. I personally haven’t encountered this issue in iPadOS 26 either.

Sure, but I am not the one claiming that the problem is somehow unique or non-existent.

I am more than willing to admit that many, perhaps most, users won't run into it. But I also doubt that it's limited to my iPad only. It is a bug and it does exist.

But I get bugs can be frustrating. If it’s multi-windowing related, perhaps resizing the window would help? I hope it gets fixed. Unfortunately can’t really think of anything else to possibly fix it off the top of my head, but I’ll look into it and see if I can find anything that might be helpful. 🙂👍🏻

Thanks. It's not there all the time. I think this happens when I visit some specific sites and use multiple windows. Restarting Safari fixes the UI until it happens again.

 

[Kal Madda]

Sure, but I am not the one claiming that the problem is somehow unique or non-existent.

I am more than willing to admit that many, perhaps most, users won't run into it. But I also doubt that it's limited to my iPad only. It is a bug and it does exist.

I don’t think anyone here is saying you’re the only one encountering it or that it’s non-existent. I mentioned I’m not encountering it for two reasons: 1. To suggest iPadOS 26.4 may fix the issue if you were on 26.3 still, and 2. To clarify that I can’t test any of these potential solutions myself, as I am not encountering the same issue. It was far from my intention to suggest you were the only one encountering the bug or that it’s non-existent.

Thanks. It's not there all the time. I think this happens when I visit some specific sites and use multiple windows. Restarting Safari fixes the UI until it happens again.

Ok, that makes sense. I’ll look into it and see if I can find anything that may be helpful to fix it. 🙂👍🏻

 

[SnowCrocodile]

No, we have a sample of at least 4 iPads (I have two iPads, neither of which have this issue), and @I7guy has at least one that isn’t having the issues. So 3 iPads without the issue to 1 with. And that’s just an extremely small sample anyways, so it really has zero statistical significance… 🤷🏼‍♂️

So a 25% failure rate?

It doesn't have enough statistical significance to be able to claim that the problem is either extremely isolated, or widespread. It does however prove that the problem exists.

I sympathize with your situation, and would like to help you find a solution, but this clearly does not seem to be an issue that’s affecting most users. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I appreciate the sentiment.

Given that the degradation in battery performance does seem to affect most users, and Apple has so far been unable to bring the battery life back to iOS18 levels, I don't have much hope in them ever fixing this.

I also have a problem where Spotlight on the iPhone will not bring up any Settings results. That one has been well documented going back years. Sometimes I am able to fix it for a while but it always comes back.

When I switched from Android way back in 2014, iOS felt like a luxurious upgrade. Now, it's just the least bad choice.

 

[Kal Madda]

So a 25% failure rate?

It doesn't have enough statistical significance to be able to claim that the problem is either extremely isolated, or widespread. It does however prove that the problem exists.

Again, I don’t think anyone here is claiming the problem doesn’t exist. I wouldn’t be trying to help you solve it if I didn’t believe it existed… 🤷🏼‍♂️. I don’t know why you seem to have come to the conclusion that someone is claiming your not really encountering the issue, I’m sorry if anything I’ve said came across that way to you, but that is far from my intention.

I appreciate the sentiment.

Given that the degradation in battery performance does seem to affect most users, and Apple has so far been unable to bring the battery life back to iOS18 levels, I don't have much hope in them ever fixing this.

I also have a problem where Spotlight on the iPhone will not bring up any Settings results. That one has been well documented going back years. Sometimes I am able to fix it for a while but it always comes back.

When I switched from Android way back in 2014, iOS felt like a luxurious upgrade. Now, it's just the least bad choice.

Is an OS version with more features and functionality using a bit more battery really a bug though? Maybe it’s just me and the way I use my iPhone 15 Pro Max, but I end a day with plenty of battery left to spare, and that’s even with it being used with like around 85% total battery capacity according to the Settings app.

Personally, I think any OS will inevitably have some bugs, it’s just the way things work. Sadly there’s no such thing as a perfect system… 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Again, I don’t think anyone here is claiming the problem doesn’t exist. I wouldn’t be trying to help you solve it if I didn’t believe it existed… 🤷🏼‍♂️. I don’t know why you seem to have come to the conclusion that someone is claiming your not really encountering the issue, I’m sorry if anything I’ve said came across that way to you, but that is far from my intention.

I never implied that it was. I am talking with two people here so perhaps something got criss crossed. As I said, I appreciate you trying to help.

Is an OS version with more features and functionality using a bit more battery really a bug though?

For me, and a large percentage of users, the remarkable battery life has always been one of the main features of Apple hardware. Sacrificing it to provide different features is not a trade off I personally was willing to make, and since there's no setting that I know of that I could turn on or off to bring the battery life back, it seems like a bug to me. Or, even worse, a deliberate poor design choice.

Maybe it’s just me and the way I use my iPhone 15 Pro Max, but I end a day with plenty of battery left to spare, and that’s even with it being used with like around 85% total battery capacity according to the Settings app.

With 26, I've experienced battery life degradation on all of my Apple devices. iPhone was the least problematic, because it would still last through a full day and I am placing it on a charger every night, so having less battery at the end of the day, while annoying, was rarely a problem.

iPad and MacBook are a different story. I am not used to having to recharge them as often, I do not have an established routine for daily charging, I grew accustomed to just picking them up & having enough battery to do what I wanted, so this is not a welcome change from my perspective.

Personally, I think any OS will inevitably have some bugs, it’s just the way things work. Sadly there’s no such thing as a perfect system… 🤷🏼‍♂️

Granted. But it's the frequency and severity of bugs compared to other systems that matter here. Switching from Android to Apple was a very good experience and made me feel OK with paying the "Apple Premium" prices because I was undoubtedly getting extra value for my money. Now 12 years later, I feel that this value is eroding. I am not thinking of switching back, primarily because the Android ecosystem has bits and pieces that I don't really care for (e.g. neither a Chromebook nor a Windows laptop is something I want, I like Apple TV over other similar devices, and I think that AW offers better functionality than any WearOS device I looked at). But if it was strictly choosing a phone and a tablet over another phone and a tablet, I'd have little incentive to pick one over another today.

 

[I7guy]

I never implied that it was. I am talking with two people here so perhaps something got criss crossed. As I said, I appreciate you trying to help.


For me, and a large percentage of users, the remarkable battery life has always been one of the main features of Apple hardware. Sacrificing it to provide different features is not a trade off I personally was willing to make, and since there's no setting that I know of that I could turn on or off to bring the battery life back, it seems like a bug to me. Or, even worse, a deliberate poor design choice.



With 26, I've experienced battery life degradation on all of my Apple devices. iPhone was the least problematic, because it would still last through a full day and I am placing it on a charger every night, so having less battery at the end of the day, while annoying, was rarely a problem.

iPad and MacBook are a different story. I am not used to having to recharge them as often, I do not have an established routine for daily charging, I grew accustomed to just picking them up & having enough battery to do what I wanted, so this is not a welcome change from my perspective.



Granted. But it's the frequency and severity of bugs compared to other systems that matter here. Switching from Android to Apple was a very good experience and made me feel OK with paying the "Apple Premium" prices because I was undoubtedly getting extra value for my money. Now 12 years later, I feel that this value is eroding. I am not thinking of switching back, primarily because the Android ecosystem has bits and pieces that I don't really care for (e.g. neither a Chromebook nor a Windows laptop is something I want, I like Apple TV over other similar devices, and I think that AW offers better functionality than any WearOS device I looked at). But if it was strictly choosing a phone and a tablet over another phone and a tablet, I'd have little incentive to pick one over another today.

My take. iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watch os 26, Mac OS Tahoe 26 and tv os 26 is installed on 8 devices. The iPhones and iPads are similar to iOS 18 with performance and battery life. They are working fine for our use cases. I understand ymmv and people should do what they need to do if they want to vacate Apple.

To be honest my iPhone is pretty stellar. My new IPP sips battery but standby life is terrible for reasons I can’t figure out.

 

[Morac]

iPadOS 26.4 is out and Apple still hasn’t fixed the copy/paste bug they introduced in iPadOS 26. They are ignoring my bug report.

Getting “x would like to paste from y” prompts for every copy /paste

I upgraded my M4 iPad Pro to iPadOS 26 today and since then every time I copy and paste anything I get a prompt. It happens every single unless I copy and paste within the same app. It’s maddening. I’m not seeing this on my iPhone. Pasting these 3 screenshots generated 3 prompts asking for...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Halbrand]

Months later iOS 26 is still awful on my 2021 M1 iPad Pro. The animations are so stutter when opening and closing apps.

I haven't upgraded my newest M4 iPad Pro yet, is it better?

 

[SnowCrocodile]

My take. iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watch os 26, Mac OS Tahoe 26 and tv os 26 is installed on 8 devices. The iPhones and iPads are similar to iOS 18 with performance and battery life. They are working fine for our use cases. I understand ymmv and people should do what they need to do if they want to vacate Apple.

To be honest my iPhone is pretty stellar. My new IPP sips battery but standby life is terrible for reasons I can’t figure out.

That's exactly what I am talking about. The battery drain while in use is not noticeably different than it was with iOS18 / macOS Sonoma. But the standby is significantly worse on both my iPad and MacBook. I am not a software guy, so I may be speaking out of my back orifice, but I don't think these two operating systems share code, they are too different. So the common issue with both of them that seem to have been introduced after update to the new version of OS has got something to do with added or changed features.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Months later iOS 26 is still awful on my 2021 M1 iPad Pro. The animations are so stutter when opening and closing apps.

I haven't upgraded my newest M4 iPad Pro yet, is it better?

I have noticed the very same thing today with my M1 iPad Pro 12.9". I was in windowed mode and switching between numbers and excel and WOW the lag. It was baaaaaad.