iPadOS 16 concept: Apple, here's how iPad multitasking should be

iPadOS 15 multitasking is still roughly the same as it's been for years. You can enable Split View, with two apps sharing the screen, which looks like this:

Unfortunately, you can't split the screen between more than two apps, but are forced to either replace one of your open apps or switch between app screens. Also notice – no app dock – you always need to slide from the bottom to reveal it, and that's just one extra step preventing you from accessing your apps quickly.

iPadOS 15 also supports Slide Over, which is essentially a popup carousel of apps (or a single app), that awkwardly hovers over your current open apps, so you still basically only have access to two apps at a time. In addition, if you choose to reveal the app dock, the whole thing becomes a huge mess like so:

But iPadOS multitasking doesn't need to be this convoluted and unintuitive. Let's take a look at my iPadOS 16 concept images based on how I envision future versions of iPadOS.

iPadOS 16 concept: Multitasking with three apps and an app dock

Above we have a multitasking concept where three apps (and why not even four?) can share the iPad screen at once. When you drag an app from the app dock to a corner of the iPad's screen, iPadOS should offer to snap it in that corner for you. That's what I'd like to see.

Imagine running a VLC video or Netflix in the top right corner while you browse the internet on the left and chat with your friends through a messaging app at the bottom right. I know that's a scenario I'd often find myself in, if only iPadOS was capable.

In addition, I always envisioned a three-app split screen mode where all three are in windows about the size of an iPhone – tall and narrow, sharing horizontal screen space. This mode (shown below) would be fantastic for research.



Aside from research and general work, imagine your social media game if you could run three apps like that on your iPad. Open Instagram on the left, Twitter in the middle, YouTube on the right, get an iPad keyboard and go to town with your influencer marketing or just plain old socializing.

And of course, I'd like to at least have the option to pin the dock at the bottom of the screen, similar to how it is on MacOS, instead of it hiding as soon as you open any app like is currently the case on iPadOS 15.

Will this become a reality? Or is the iPad doomed to be a secondary device

This is how I envisioned iPadOS 15 to be like, and since that one was rather underwhelming, I sure hope iPadOS 16 at least comes close. But whether Apple will match or even surpass this iPadOS 16 concept – we can only speculate.

As I mentioned earlier, I fear Apple is afraid that making the iPad any more desktop-like will harm MacBook sales, and if so, many of us hardcore iPad enthusiasts are in for a disappointment year after year. But I choose to remain positive, and still have big hopes for iPadOS 16 next year.

What about you? Do you like this concept, or do you envision iPadOS 16 in another way? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!