The chances of iPadOS 16 becoming an impressive update have increased slightly with this discovery. To better use the iPad for productivity tasks, it would help if the windows could float and be resized, like on a Mac. Because both operating systems (macOS and iPadOS) are increasingly converging, this should be feasible in the long run. A developer has now found evidence that floating iPad windows may be on the way. There are hints in the browser engine for the iPhone and iPad. If so, we should expect the announcement quite soon, with the unveiling of iPadOS 16 at WWDC 2022.
Professional iPad users would like the tablet to behave more like a Mac. While Microsoft releases a hybrid device with the Surface, Apple maintains a strict distinction: the iPad has a touchscreen and a fixed arrangement of windows, which you can only slightly adjust with Split Screen. Slide Over allows you to slide windows slightly over each other, but that is not enough for many people.
Developer Steve Troughton-Smith discovered in WebKit hints for a new multitasking mode in iOS that allows you to freely resize windows. Earlier, there were rumors that iPadOS 16 will get a new multitasking interface, and a rumor has it that support for floating windows is in development. The only question is whether it will be ready to show to the general public in June.
I know better than to get excited about improvements to iPad, because we've been burned so many times…
But WebKit just added infrastructure for a ‘multitasking mode’ on iOS that sure looks like it’s a system toggle that enables freely-resizable windows https://t.co/NBNGhHiaxB
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) May 26, 2022
If true, it would be a big improvement for iPadOS. WebKit is the browser engine Apple uses for Safari and should be used by third party browsers as well. The code is open source, which allowed Troughton-Smith to study all the ins and outs. He discovered the text: “Adjust some viewport behaviors when multitasking mode is enabled”. According to him, this multitasking mode can be changed at runtime so that apps can go in and out of this mode while using it. This might resemble the ’tablet mode’ in Windows 10, where you can switch at any time between operation via the touchscreen and with mouse and keyboard.
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Troughton-Smith is wary: there have been clues before, but they never came true. If Apple does, then all kinds of new variants of the iPad are possible, such as with a larger screen or a laptop that runs on iPadOS. Maybe even a desktop or external monitor on iPadOS.
Enough reason to get ready for the WWDC livestream on June 6, so you can see for yourself the improvements coming to the iPad. And of course we also report meticulously on iCulture.