According to MacRumors, Apple has quietly reintroduced the Slide Over multitasking feature in iPadOS 26.1, which started rolling out to compatible iPads on Monday. The feature was completely removed in the initial iPadOS 26 release, leaving many power users frustrated. Now it’s back, but with a significant limitation – users can only have one Slide Over app active at a time instead of the previous ability to cycle through multiple apps.
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How Slide Over works now
Here’s the thing about the new implementation – it’s actually more integrated with iPadOS 26’s window-based system than before. To activate Slide Over, you need to long press that window resizing icon (the one that looks like traffic lights) when you’re in fullscreen mode. Basically, you drag from the top of the screen to reveal the controls, then hold down on that icon and select “Enter Slide Over” from the pop-up menu. It’s not exactly intuitive if you’re used to the old swipe-from-the-edge gesture, but it does make sense within the new window management paradigm.
The trade-offs
So why bring it back with limitations? I think Apple is trying to balance familiarity with their new vision for iPad multitasking. The single-app restriction actually makes the feature feel more like a proper floating window rather than a separate app stack. But let’s be honest – losing the ability to quickly cycle between multiple Slide Over apps is a genuine productivity hit. Remember when you could have your messaging app, calculator, and notes all ready to swipe through? That workflow is gone now.
What this means for iPad power users
Look, the return of Slide Over is better than nothing, but it’s clearly a compromise. Apple seems to be slowly rebuilding the multitasking features that made the iPad Pro appealing to productivity users. The question is whether this piecemeal approach will satisfy people who rely on these features for real work. For now, if you depended on multiple Slide Over apps, you’ll need to adjust your workflow or stick with older iPadOS versions. It’s progress, but it’s definitely not the full solution many were hoping for.
