iPadOS 26: The Biggest iPad Update Ever
At WWDC on June 9, 2025, Apple unveiled iPadOS 26, its most transformative update yet. Here’s what you need to know:
Liquid Glass: A New Unified Look
- A sleek “Liquid Glass” design brings translucent, refraction-based UI elements to the iPad—echoing the aesthetics seen in iOS, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26 .
- Translucent icons, menus, and vibrant layering refresh the overall feel of the interface.
Windowed Multitasking: True Desktop Power
- iPads now support free-form, resizable windows complete with familiar “traffic light” controls to close, minimize, or full‑screen .
- A Mac‑style menu bar appears when swiping from the top.
- Exposé-style tile views and window tiling help manage multiple apps at once.
- Legacy multitasking modes—Stage Manager, Split View, Slide Over—are deprecated or removed in favor of this unified system.
Files & Dock Upgrades
- Folders in the Dock allow quick access to often-used file sets.
- The Files app now features a customizable list view, richer sorting, and organization tools.
Preview App & PDF Markup
- Introducing a Preview app on iPad, matching its macOS counterpart, with PDF annotation using Apple Pencil and AutoFill support for forms.
Four New Mac‑Grade Apps
iPadOS 26 brings four apps previously exclusive to Mac or iPhone: Journal, Games, Preview, and Phone.
- Journal supports handwriting, sketches, inline media, and geo‑tagging.
- Games features a central hub for browsing, challenges, and in‑game overlay chats.
- Phone adds Call Screening, Hold Assist, and on-device call translation for one-on-one calls.
Apple Intelligence: Smarter iPad
- Live Translation now works across FaceTime and Messages.
- Genmoji and Image Playground, part of Apple Intelligence, offer creative visual expression in-app.
- Shortcuts get smarter with deeper integration and suggestion capabilities.
Pro‑Level Creative Tools
- Background Tasks, audio input selection, and local capture enhance workflows for video/audio creators.
- Preview and Files are now tuned for creative and professional use.
Compatibility & Release Timeline
- This update drops support for the 7th‑gen iPad (2019).
- Apple Intelligence features require M1/A17 Pro and newer.
- Full release is expected this fall (around September/October).
What Critics Are Saying
- Tom’s Guide hails the windowing system as “a productivity game changer”.
- TechRadar affirms this as “the upgrade iPad users have been waiting for,” praising the menu bar, Dock folders, and background tasking.
- Meanwhile, Wired highlights Liquid Glass and the new multitasking model as top-tier additions.
Our Opinion
This is a great update coming to enable menu bars on your iPad apps. But you need to be ready before September when the iPad update will roll out.
Steve Hilton
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