iMore:
iOS 9 takes multitasking from the background and puts it right up front on the iPad.
Apple calls it Multitasking for iPad. The iPad, of course, has always multitasked at the system level, and over the years has gained background tasks and refresh and other forms of third-party multitasking as well. With iOS 9, however, the iPad is getting more than just the ability to do multiple things at once—it’s getting the ability to show multiple apps at once. It’s getting Slide Over and Split View.
Both Slide Over and Split View allow you to have two apps on-screen at the same time—a “primary” app and a “secondary” app. The primary app is the one you start with, full screen. The secondary app is the one you bring in that either overlays a part of the screen in Slide Over or takes over part of the screen in Split View.
This new functionality might actually get me using my iPad more. It’s been gathering dust since I got the iPhone 6 plus but Slide Over and Split View sound like the kinds of features I’m looking for to help the iPad get closer to a laptop in terms of useability.
Honestly, I don’t want my tablet to be like a laptop for reasons. Having said that, I can see Slide Over and Split Screen being useful in a handful of cases, namely being able to use a chat room while watching a videocast. The number of cases are so small and specific, however, I worry iOS will begin to become a big bloated mess trying to fit in other specific use cases.
Time will tell. And I was fantastically proved wrong in my opinion of Expose when that was rolled into OS X and broke my WindowShades haxie (I thought it wouldn’t be as good, but it was much better and improved over time), so, what do I know? 🙂
They are nice features, but nothing that really makes the iPad better. I did just fine swiping between apps. Use my iPad for 90% of my computing tasks.
I just wish that they could bring this on to the 6+ for landscape views – it’s got the processing power and yes, it may be fiddly for some apps, but it’ll b be nice to have the PIP feature or slide over 🙁
Split views, easier multitasking, and vastly better keyboard support all look really good. I’m can’t wait for this update for my iPad.
I wonder if people will use the iPad in landscape mode more?