iPadOS 26 has arrived. And just like iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe, it, too, features a Liquid Glass design, along with plenty of new features and enhancements.
From a new windowing system and improved Dock to several minor features, such as a new cursor pointer and support for background tasks, iPadOS 26 packs some standout features that make upgrading your iPad worth it.
Windowed Apps
Until iPadOS 18, multitasking on an iPad heavily relied on opening apps in Split View and Slide Over. While Stage Manager enabled working with several apps at one time and provided a relatively better multitasking experience, it lacked extensive controls and felt limiting for complex workflows.
Apple’s all-new Windowed Apps mode in iOS 26 addresses these shortcomings and significantly improves the multitasking experience on the iPad. For one—and perhaps the biggest change—it now allows you to work with even more apps at once than before; the number of apps you can open depends on your iPad’s screen size.
Similarly, unlike before, the app windows support fluid resizing, which enables you to resize them to any size as required. You can also choose to place app windows precisely where you want. The best part? The system remembers the window size and position, and opens apps in the exact size and position the next time.
Additionally, iPadOS 26 also adds a new multitasking menu to app windows. It’s the same one you get on macOS, with buttons to close, minimize, and maximize apps. And just like on a Mac, you can also use these controls to tile windows on the screen or open them in different split views with other apps.
Similar to Mac-like window controls, Apple also brings the macOS menu bar to iPadOS 26. This makes the menus and commands available in an app more accessible, saving the hassle of navigating various sub-menus, as you had to do in previous iPadOS versions.
Accessing an app’s menu bar is easy. Swipe down from the top of an app window or drag the cursor there. You’ll see a ribbon with different menu items. Tap or click on a menu to reveal all the related options.
On most apps, you’ll also see a Help menu in the menu bar. Tapping or clicking it will give you a search bar, which you can use to find a specific command or option.
Improved Dock
Alongside improving window management and multitasking, Apple has also made several changes to the Dock in iPadOS 26. For starters, the Dock now supports more app icons than before and dynamically resizes based on the number of apps it holds.
Then, there’s the ability to add folders to the Dock. So, if you need to access certain files, documents, or folders frequently, you can put them on the Dock and quickly access them from anywhere, without having to go into the Files app and navigate through folders. To do this, drag and drop the folder onto the Dock.
Once added, accessing the files and folders is easy. Tap or click a folder in the Dock to view its contents in a pop-up window. If it’s a file, tap or click it, and it’ll open it in the default app. To remove the folder, tap and hold or Control-click the folder and select Options > Remove from Dock.
Another welcome change is that you can now drag and drop files directly onto an app icon on the Dock to open it. This can save you multiple steps you’d have to go through to import a file into an app before you can start working on it.
A More Capable Files App
The Files app serves as the main file management app on an iPad, enabling you to browse, organize, and manage files stored locally or on an external drive. Although it evolved over the years, it still had several notable shortcomings. iPadOS 26 addresses most of them.
To begin with, Apple has updated the List view in the Files app. It now supports sortable and resizable columns—kind of like Finder on macOS—which makes viewing detailed file information much easier. Then, it has made sub-folders under the current folder collapsible. This simplifies navigation within nested folders, saving you extra taps or clicks.
Apple is also offering the ability to customize folders in the Files app. As such, you can choose a custom icon or an emoji as a folder icon. In addition, you can apply a specific color to the folders, making them stand out more easily among other folders. This is especially useful if you sync folders across devices over iCloud.
Last but not least, iPadOS 26 lets you choose which app you want to open a file in, or set the default app for a file or file type. To open a file in a specific app, long-tap or Control-click on the file, select “Open With,” and choose an app from the list. Alternatively, to change its default app, long tap or Control-click on it and select “Get Info.” Then, tap or click on the dropdown next to “Always Open With” and select an app from the list.
A Brand New Preview App
Besides improving the Files app, Apple has also introduced a couple of new apps in iPadOS 26. Preview is one such app. It’s essentially the same Preview app you get on macOS, and it simplifies a wide range of tasks on an iPad.
For example, you can use Preview on your iPad to view images or documents and get more details about them, such as their EXIF metadata. Similarly, it’s useful when you want to remove the background from images. You also get the ability to create an image out of a copied image or object in other apps.
Other actions the Preview app in iPadOS 26 facilitates include scanning documents, filling out forms, and annotating and signing documents. Besides, it also includes tools for editing images. For times when you need it, there’s the option to export PDFs and images in different formats and sizes.
A Brand New Games App
Games is another new app for iPadOS 26. You can think of it as a central hub for all game-related information, like in-game events, upcoming major events, or games your friends are playing. The app holds your entire game library, including new and past downloads from the App Store and Apple Arcade, so you can quickly launch and play them.
Apple also serves personalized recommendations for new games in the Games app, based on the games you enjoy playing. It even makes solo games a shared experience, allowing you to invite friends to compete with you in different challenges across various games. You can set the rules to customize challenges as you deem fit.
Background Tasks
iPadOS 26 also brings the much-needed support for background tasks. Thanks to it, you can continue using your iPad as normal while downloading files from Safari or transferring documents between your iPad and an external drive; you don’t have to stay in that app for the task to finish. As the task continues in the background, you can track the progress with Live Activities.
A More Precise Cursor
Apple has long used a circular cursor on iPadOS, rather than an actual pointer, to help highlight and interact with content on the screen when using a trackpad or mouse. However, it always felt imprecise and didn’t offer the best user experience in tasks like photo editing, where precise selection is required. iPadOS 26 fixes this by replacing the circular cursor with a pointed arrow icon, which is more responsive and enables precise selection.
App Exposé
For times when you want to switch windows, Apple has brought the App Exposé feature from macOS to the iPad. Thanks to it, you can swipe up and hold halfway on the screen, or perform a three-finger swipe up gesture on the trackpad, to quickly view all your open apps. Then, tap or click on an app window to bring it to the front.
Those are all the notable highlights in iPadOS 26. Beyond what we’ve covered above, the latest iPadOS update includes many additional features and changes worth knowing about. Most of these are shared with the newest iOS update. Check out the hidden features in iOS 26 to learn more about them.