Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I honestly had to go watch the How to use Slide Over on your iPad video to see what this feature is! I'm a Mac user primarily. So those three dots at the top of my iPad mini, only served to flummox me when I just wanted to look at the Notifications screen and swiped from the top edge to the bottom, always had to avoid the dots after training myself to swipe from the middle. I've put apps in split view accidentally several times, however tapping those three dots for slide over? It never occurred to me (and if I did it was non-obvious what it did)! It never seemed intuitive or discoverable (in a good way) just something to avoid!
 
  • Like
Reactions: jouster
I hope it is still possible to choose, like in Goodnotes, to present one note per screen mirror while a second or third one is only visible on the iPad screen.
 
I actually use Split View a lot. I hope that functionality is just as simple to do in 26.
Same. I regularly use Notes and YouTube in Split View whilst cooking, with Notes having the recipe and YouTube for the entertainment. Whilst I like the look of the new multitasking, 99% of my iPad use otherwise is in ‘tablet mode’ with a single app full screen and swiping between themm. Hoping I can quickly get to a Split View style arrangements without having to change modes (full screen apps to windowed, then start arranging windows would be more involved than the current drag to snap)
 
I'm going to miss slide over. It's where my notes app usually lives on the iPad. It's perfect for quick access to add a few words or paste some text. I'm not going to miss split view too much though.

The window metaphor is clearly useful when you want to do more serious multitasking on the iPad. For me, the iPad is still mostly a consumption device for the web, audio and video. For more complex tasks I still prefer to grab a MacBook.
 
Last edited:
Slide Over was a big thing keeping me on iPad over Samsungs tablets, it was actual multitasking.

What’s the point of making multitasking harder to use on the device? Could have just replace stage manager with the new windows instead.
 
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: turbineseaplane
Did it ever occur to you that people use their devices in different ways? What you see as a “vast improvement” others see very differently.

Because it’s most definitely a massive downgrade to me. Slideover is quite possibly the single most useful feature of the iPad, so much so that I’ve often wished it would come to the iPhone.

And now it’s gone. Multitasking is useful, but it’s now far, far, clunkier to access than Slideover ever was, and thus makes the iPad far less suitable for multitasking than ever for a lot of users.
Exactly, people use them for different use cases. I always found slide over to be pointless and a waste of time, same as stage manager, but that's my use case!
 
The unique advantage of SlideOver was that you could use it on Apps that doesn’t even support multitasking at all!
Like Streaming Apps in fullscreen. Usually these want you for example to watch an Ad you can’t skip. With SlideOver you could just pull in something to do meanwhile, or pull in a chat and answer someone.
Or Apps that doesn’t support splitview, you could pull in SlideOver to copy information from another app.
 
SlideOver really needs to be an option still for those us using & preferring the traditional single app in fullscreen iPad experience.
 
  • Like
Reactions: resonator
SlideOver really needs to be an option still for those us using & preferring the traditional single app in fullscreen iPad experience.
Exactly, the fullscreen option should just default to allow slideover, then you have the new options if you want to switch away from that. I think the vast majority of us who use slideover still use full screen apps (without using Split View)
 
  • Like
Reactions: resonator
I do not have access to the beta, but it seems it is possible to have an app in full screen which other apps under it. If so, it basically does similar thing than slideover, but instead of recalling the slideover app from the side, you temporarily resize the full screen app.
 
I do not have access to the beta, but it seems it is possible to have an app in full screen which other apps under it. If so, it basically does similar thing than slideover, but instead of recalling the slideover app from the side, you temporarily resize the full screen app.

That sounds like a functional downgrade in experience 😑
 
This is a very interesting thread. If you took your cue from YouTubers and podcasters, you’d believe that every iPad user was desperately hanging on for this update and that the only acceptable outcome was for iPad OS to transform into Mac OS. Turns out that’s *not* the case! Split View has its fans—I’m one of them—as does Slide Over. In fact, it’s because of this thread that I took the time to learn Slide Over, and now I’m disappointed it’s going!

Great job, all. Excellent thread!
 
  • Love
Reactions: turbineseaplane
This is a very interesting thread. If you took your cue from YouTubers and podcasters, you’d believe that every iPad user was desperately hanging on for this update and that the only acceptable outcome was for iPad OS to transform into Mac OS. Turns out that’s *not* the case! Split View has its fans—I’m one of them—as does Slide Over. In fact, it’s because of this thread that I took the time to learn Slide Over, and now I’m disappointed it’s going!

Great job, all. Excellent thread!

It's definitely not the case!

Same with people excited to "finally" be able to do all your podcast recording on your iPad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jouster
It's pretty simple to still accomplish more or less the same thing, yes.


I remember when Slide Over and Split View were introduced. Who else remembers how you had to swipe up and down a list of large app icons for things that supported it? (edit: picture added below)

I don't miss those days at all.

View attachment 2518561


With iPadOS 26, Apple is introducing major changes to the way that multitasking works, and part of that update will see the removal of Split View and Slide Over, two multitasking interface options that have long existed on the iPad.

ipados-26-multitasking.jpg

iPadOS 26 allows for multiple app windows, each of which can be resized freely on the display. The feature works on all iPad models able to run iPadOS 26, though there are limitations on how many apps can be open at once. On older iPads, for example, you're limited to four apps. Newer iPads can have more open app windows.

You can change the size of iPad app windows, move them on top of each other, and rearrange them as desired, much like on the Mac. There are also tiling options so that you can see two to four apps side-by-side, a feature that's similar to Split View.

Windows retain their positions even when you shut off your iPad or close an app, and you can see all of your open apps with a swipe up gesture that activates an Exposé-style view.

iPad app windows feature the Mac traffic-light controls, and these can be used for resizing and closing apps. iPad apps also have Mac-style menu bars for tweaking settings, and there's a feature for running system-intensive tasks in the background.

The new multitasking feature that replaces Slide Over and Split View is much more robust, so it is unlikely that most iPad users are going to miss these options.

Article Link: iPadOS 26 Multitasking Update Gets Rid of Split View and Slide Over
Slideover was my fidget-spinner. I’m so lost, now…
 
I actually use Split View a lot. I hope that functionality is just as simple to do in 26.
I am using the developer preview. It is not quite as easy, but is possible. You will have to use stage manager though, as far as I can work out from using it so far.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fatTribble
I hope they solve the problem I have all over the place—I want window X on top of window Y, but I want to interact with window Y. I do NOT want interactions with Y to cause Y to be raised over X. Slide over allows this, sort of, sometimes…
 
Hopefully there is a way to keep Slide Over. It is extremely useful as a musician for organizing set lists and having them ready in an instant for live gigs/broadcasts/streaming etc. You can have a full screen document of a song open, have a set list of song documents organized in the Files app as the slide over. You can then quickly swipe to view the set list, select the next song for full screen and swipe back without ever leaving full screen mode. You can also have a stack of Files apps organized in Slide Over for different genres, instruments, etc for very quick access.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.