Apple is deploying its Stage Manager window management system in iPadOS 16 for iPads with an M1 soc. It allows users to resize windows. It is the first time that apps on iPads do not work in full screen by default.
Stage Manager makes it possible to make windows smaller and overlap windows. Four of these can be on a screen. Recently opened apps are on the left, while the dock remains visible at the bottom of the screen. That should allow easy switching between apps under iPadOS 16.
There will also be better support for external displays. After connecting it is possible to drag elements and apps to the new screen. The external display gets its own dock and Stage Manager system to manage windows separate from the iPad screen. Stage Manager only works on iPads with an M1 soc, so last year’s iPad Pros and this year’s iPad Air.
Stage Manager is the main new iPad feature in iPadOS 16, but smaller features are coming as well. For example, there are customizable toolbars in various apps, something that is not possible under iPadOS 15. Users can adjust the layout of the buttons in it themselves. It is also possible to adjust the scaling and thus make text and interface elements smaller. The Files app contains functions to see the size of folders and change file extensions. Those changes should make the iPad more like a computer.
Apple also announced several features that will work on iPhones and Macs in addition to iPads. Below that is the Freeform app, which most closely resembles a modern incarnation of Google Wave from 2009. Users can collaborate in it and put text, images, links and videos on a digital board, among other things. This should work, for example, during brainstorming sessions.
The new version of iPadOS will be available as a beta from Monday and will be released as a stable version in the fall. All iPad Pros get the new versions. For iPads, this includes all versions since the 2017 release, as well as the newer versions of the iPad Air and mini that appeared since 2019.