The iPad’s Changing Identity ⇥ birchtree.me

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

The iPad’s next major software update, iPadOS 16, will have a redesigned multitasking interface that makes it easier to see what apps are open and switch between tasks, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the changes aren’t yet public. It also will let users resize app windows and offer new ways for users to handle multiple apps at once.

Matt Birchler:

This is why I can sit here and see a rumor that the iPad is getting more powerful multitasking this year and not freak out about the iPad losing its soul. Time and time again, Apple has added feature that used to only exist on Macs, that people insisted should not come to the iPad, and now we love them on the iPad. Absolutely nothing in the history of the iPad tells me that this time will be any different.

Well said.

One reason I think it has taken so long for the iPad to begin feeling like a fully capable device is that Apple has avoided the allure of jamming MacOS interactions into the iPadOS interface. When it added cursor support to iPadOS, it was in a way that fully appreciated the context of the platform. There are many Mac things I wish were implemented in iPadOS, but I do not expect them to mindlessly be jammed into a touch-first system.