iPadOS 26 is a huge deal for everyone who wants Apple to just do MacBook already with touch screen. The update is a major overhaul for multitasking, introducing macOS-like windows, a macOS-like menu bar, and macOS-like file management. There's even a Preview app on the iPad for crying out loud – although, to be fair, same as iPhone.
Apple has toed this line with its tablets for years, introducing features and capabilities that make the experience more like using a computer, but never fully focusing on it. In that sense, iPadOS 26 probably won't replace your MacBook, but it comes pretty close. If your main problems are with things like window and file management, this update will probably work for you. But even though the new iPad era seems like a more traditional computing experience, Apple is going a little backwards, but in a very good way: The latest iPadOS update brings back a fan-favorite multitasking feature: Slide Over.
Slide Over makes window management easier
Before iPadOS 26, Slide Over was a cornerstone of multitasking on Apple tablets for years. While you could have multiple apps open at once in windows of different sizes, Slide Over allows you to designate an app window to more closely resemble an iOS shape—specifically, something long and vertical. As the name suggests, this window could slide to the display side when needed, and could easily slide back when not needed. It was perfect for keeping your social media feed or messaging app handy while working on something else: imagine having two windows open on your iPhone, one for Safari and one for Google Docs, but whenever you need to send a text, you can pull out the Messages window from the right side of the screen and swipe it away when it's time to get back to work.
Of course, the Mac has no equivalent to this since it uses standard window management. Perhaps Apple thought that if iPadOS 26 included more standard window management, it wouldn't need Slide Over anymore. So the company removed the feature as part of its big iPad update this fall. It's unclear whether Apple received negative feedback for this omission, or whether the company decided it too missed the feature, but regardless of the reasons, Slide Over returns in iPadOS 26.1..
The Slide Over feature is slightly different in iPadOS 26.1.
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However, this feature does not work as well as before. To use it, you need to use the iPad in Stage Manager or Windowed mode, which you can select from Control Center or Settings > Multitasking and gestures.
From here, open the app you want to use Slide Over for. Long-press on the window controls in the top-left corner of the application window, then select Enter Slide. The app will be placed in an iOS-like window on the right side of the screen, and you can close it by swiping your finger across the screen. You can also resize the window to any shape or size while still being gliding. In the image above, you'll see that I've shrunk the Apple Music window down to a square, but you can make it as large as you want, although that might defeat the purpose of setting it as a Slide Over window.
How to update iPadOS to version 26.1 (and later)
If you haven't already, you can install the 26.1 update right now from the website Settings > General > Software Update.. Apart from Slide Over, you will find some other useful features and changes such as ability to control the appearance of liquid glass on your iPad. If you're a beta tester, you'll skip iPadOS 26.1 right away because Apple is currently testing iPadOS 26.2.. public beta is available now and allows you to add alarms to reminders for the first time.
